About Us

The Wits Anglo American Digital Dome, formerly the Wits Planetarium, is a groundbreaking, high-tech, multi-disciplinary digital research and innovation facility hosted by the School of Physics in the Faculty of Science at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Anglo American partnered with the University in 2022 to support the refurbishment, expansion, and digitalisation of the then 62-year-old Johannesburg Planetarium to revolutionise how we understand and experience science, art, and culture.

The Digital Dome features high-resolution projectors, surround-sound technology, and auditorium seating to create a state-of-the-art immersive environment for pioneering storytelling with breathtaking displays and interactive educational resources, creating engaging experiences to captivate audiences of all ages and diverse interests. The Digital Dome is also equipped with a reconfigurable seminar room and meeting space for collaboration, seminars, and workshops for teaching and research. Collaborating with leading scientists, artists, and educators, we promote creativity and inspire curiosity, providing a platform for education, entertainment and artistic expression. We welcome everyone to experience the future of learning and entertainment as the Digital Dome embarks on a journey through the wonders of the universe and the richness of human creativity.

Meet the Team

o Dr Moumita Aich – Head of the Digital Dome

o Mr Constant Volschenk – Digital Dome supervisor

o Mrs Nomsa Mkhwanazi – Logistic Coordinator

History

The history of the Wits Planetarium begins in the year 1956, when the Festival Committee, instituted to organise the celebrations in that year of the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the city, decided that it would be most fitting to mark the occasion by raising the funds needed to buy and house a Zeiss Planetarium. Since timing was a matter of importance, and since it was soon found that it would not be possible to obtain a new instrument within a period of less than a year, it was decided to try and buy one of the existing instruments in Europe.

With the assistance of the manufacturers, and after prolonged negotiation, the Festival Committee succeeded in inducing the City Council of Hamburg to sell the instrument, which had been in use in that city since 1930, on condition that the projector would be fully modernised in the Zeiss factory at Oberkochen and that a new instrument would in due course be built for Hamburg.

The Hamburg projector was, therefore, immediately dismantled and moved to Oberkochen for a complete overhaul and, in time, was completely rebuilt while all the additional apparatus and improvements developed since it was initially built were added. The result was a Zeiss MkIII, an instrument as modern and complete as any in the world at the time.

In the meantime, however, the responsibilities of the Festival Committee had been taken over by the Johannesburg City Council who, after further negotiations, finally sold the projector to the University of the Witwatersrand for use in the formal instruction of students and as a public amenity for the citizens of Johannesburg and of South Africa in general. Plans for the building were drawn in 1958, and construction commenced in 1959.

Finally, the stage had now been reached when the instrument had been installed and adjusted by a team of Zeiss technicians, and the building was on the point of completion. On 12 October 1960, the first full-sized planetarium in Africa and the second in the Southern Hemisphere opened its doors to the public.

About Arthur Bleksley

Arthur Edward Herbert Bleksley (1908 – 1984) was a South African Professor of Applied Mathematics and an astronomer. His research in astronomy and astrophysics was on the detailed statistical and analytical investigation of stellar variability, including radially pulsating stars, long-period variable stars, Cepheid variables, and binary stars. He pioneered science awareness in South Africa through scientific press articles, radio broadcasts, and presentations at the Johannesburg Planetarium. He was respected by generations of South African scientists and engineers as an outstanding teacher of applied mathematics. The general public knew him as ‘Mr Science’ because of his ability to explain complicated scientific concepts to a layperson.

The Johannesburg Planetarium was the first full-sized planetarium in Africa and the second in the southern hemisphere. It was purchased from Hamburg, Germany, by the City of Johannesburg and established at the University of Witwatersrand in 1960 to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of Johannesburg. Arthur Bleksley was pivotal in establishing the Zeiss projector at the planetarium and for its purchase by Wits. Plans for a new building to house the projector were first drawn up in 1958. The planetarium finally opened on 12 October 1960, and he was appointed the first director of the Johannesburg Planetarium. Bleksley gave 2000 lectures during his years as director of the planetarium (1960–68). At that time of active space exploration, he informed the citizens of Johannesburg about the significance of the current events. Arthur Bleksley has a significant role in bringing the planetarium into being, ensuring its success as an educational amenity for the citizens of Johannesburg and their children, and for his guidance as the first director.