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Shannon Schmoll, director of Abrams Planetarium at MSU, has been an integral part of the international community of planetariums. She was recently elected in the succession to become the next president of the International Planetarium Society. She will serve a six-year term beginning this year—two years each as president-elect, president and past president. Pictured here is part of the proceedings at the Revolve IPS 2016 Conference in Warsaw, Poland.

September 5, 2023

MSU's Shannon Schmoll elected president of the International Planetarium Society

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Abrams Planetarium, International Planetarium Society, Physics and Astronomy, museum, national leadership

The stars aligned when Shannon Schmoll was elected to be the next president of the International Planetarium Society (IPS). Schmoll, director of Michigan State University’s Abrams Planetarium and an instructor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Natural Science, has been a leader in the planetarium community for many years. She will serve a six-year term beginning this year—two years each as president-elect, president and past president.

The Lyrid meteor shower is an annual meteor shower that is a result of debris that crosses our orbit from the long-period comet known as Comet Thatcher. It was last seen in our inner solar system in 1861, but the debris it left behind continues to cross our orbit. The Lyrids tend to occur each year in late April. Credit: vincentiu-solomon-ln5drpv_imi-unsplash

April 13, 2023

Ask the expert: What is the Lyrid meteor shower?

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Abrams Planetarium, Ask the expert, astronomy, meteor

Shannon Schmoll, science education and astronomy expert and director of the Abrams Planetarium at MSU, offers insight to the upcoming Lyrid meteor shower expected between April 16 and 25 in this Ask the Expert column.