Meeting with the universe in Brno. The Planet Festival attracts more and more visitors

Model of Mars – Marsmeloun|Photo: Michal Bernátek, Brno Observatory and Planetarium

“Definitely don’t hesitate and meet the universe, which begins right here in Brno. You won’t get another chance for such a meeting, unparalleled in the world, until a year from now,” invites to August Festival Planet its organizer – Brno Observatory and Planetarium.

The Brno Planets Festival was created in 2019 as an unobtrusive commemoration of the 50th anniversary of man landing on the moon. The Moon model called Lunalón was the first to be created. In 2020, a model of the planet Earth – Terralóna was added to it, then Marsmeloun (2021), Heliosphere (2022), Temnalóna (2023) and finally Astrosphere (2024).

Jiří Dušek, director of the Brno Observatory | Photo: Zdeňka Kuchyňová, Radio Prague International

Astrosphere shows the complete form of the starry sky, including the area around the southern celestial pole, where people from the Czech Republic cannot see. “He is an original that has no analogues in the world. People can really see such an imprint of the universe only here in Brno,” said Jiří Dušek, director of the Brno observatory.

The basis for the Astrosphere print was a database of 1.3 billion stars whose position and brightness were measured by the European probe Gaia. Between 2014 and 2016, it was given the task of compiling the first three-dimensional map of the surroundings of our Sun, and since then it has improved and refined its measurements many times over.

In addition to the Astrosphere, visitors to the sixth year of the popular Festival of the Planets will also enjoy the inflated Terralón, Temnalón and Lunalón.

Brno Planet Festival The festival is organized by the Brno Observatory and Planetarium with the contribution of the statutory city of Brno and the South Moravian Region. The staff of the Brno planetarium cooperate with the studio of multimedia architects VISUALOVE on the preparation of all models and the realization of their exhibition. The studio is behind many light installations exhibited in the Moravian metropolis and elsewhere in the Czech Republic as well as at the Expo World Exhibition in Dubai.

People can even touch the models. “Visitors can, of course, touch the models and take pictures with them. Except in the case of bad weather conditions, especially in strong winds, because it is 10 meters after all. In case of bad weather, it is necessary to observe certain safety measures. The model is actually secured by mooring lines,” said architect Michal Okleštěk from the studio VISUALOVE.

For the observatory, the festival is the most demanding project to organize every year, the organizers plan it more than half a year in advance. In a few years, however, the event also became the most successful in terms of audiences. It is visited by tens of thousands of people.

“I was there last year and it was an amazing experience, plus the music… I’m definitely going again this year; It is a wonderful experience of a day full of experiences for young and old; This beauty cannot be seen anywhere else; Thank you very much, it was fascinating; It was great, thanks a lot for the opportunity; Great day and night; Amazing place. Very pleasant atmosphere. I already know today that we will come again” evaluated by people on social networks.