IYA2009 Updates
IYA2009 news from Uruguay
Dec 18, 2009
News has reached the IYA2009 Secretariat of several highly successful astronomy popularisation initiatives from Uruguay.
A mobile digital planetarium with a dome of 8 metre diameter travelled around the whole country throughout the year, providing sessions to 50,000 people, mainly children from local schools that never before had seen a planetarium session (http://www.kappacrucis.com.uy/).
Uruguay has been developing astronomy at high school since 1889 and recently with strong emphasis in observatories (http://astronomia2009.org.uy/aia/observatorios/observatorios-en-uruguay/). After several years of preparation, in 2009 astronomy was introduced in primary school also, from ages 4 to 11 years.
Uruguay held the Second Iberoamerican School of Astrobiology with lectures given by 20 prominent researchers in this field (http://www.astronomia.edu.uy/astrobiologia2009/).
In 2008 the Latinamerican Olympiads of Astronomy and Astronautics was founded, and the first implementation was in Brazil during IYA2009.
The sky is the limit for students in Hungary
Dec 18, 2009
To celebrate IYA2009, Hungary's Konkoly Observatory offered a opportunity to young enthusiasts of the starry sky. High-school students were invited to apply for one hour of telescope time to record their favourite celestial object with the 60/90/180cm Schmidt telescope and CCD camera located in Piszkesteto Mountain Station. This is one of Hungary's largest telescopes.
The best images were widely disseminated on the internet and popular science magazines. The goals were to:
- widen mathematical, physical and astronomical literacy;
- attract young talents to natural sciences and technology;
- allow students to use real astronomical instruments;
- teach the basics of image processing and astronomical data evaluation;
- repeat the "Galileo-experience'" but this time using modern astronomical instrumentation.
For more information, please see:
http://www.konkoly.hu/iya2009/eredm_kepek.html
http://hirek.csillagaszat.hu/egyeb_temak/20091126_hatar-a-csillagos-eg-eredmenyek.html
Generating Global Interest in Night Sky and Astrophotography
Dec 17, 2009
While TWAN exhibitions, workshops, and media contacts exposed many people to the beauties of the universal message of night sky, the project website displays an enlarging collection of over a thousand stunning images. From 2008 to the end of IYA2009 the website received about 4 million visits from 197 countries and territories including remote islands and bizarre locations such as the South Pole! TWAN attracted attention of photographers and amateur astronomers toward astrophotography and for the effort of reclaiming the night sky, the world's most prestigious award for scientific photography (Lennart Nilsson Award) was received by TWAN director and creator Babak Tafreshi in October 2009.
Taking The World at Night to the land of Himalaya
Dec 16, 2009
One of the last major TWAN activity during IYA2009 was a collection of programs including a night sky imaging workshop, public presentation and starparty, media contact, and imaging mission in the land of Himalaya. Through collaboration with a group of active young astronomers in the Nepal Astronomical Society, The World at Night traveled to Kathmandu and Mount Everest region of Himalaya during November 2009. While the first ever TWAN images of world's highest mountains under starry sky touched many around the world, another highlight of TWAN activity in Nepal was a major starparty together with the Nepal Astronomical Society in the World Heritage Site of Bhaktapur. Hundreds of local people gathered in the central square surrounded by dozens of amazing temples, to view the Moon and Jupiter for their first time through a telescope. The 8-inch motorized reflector which was brought and partly donated by TWAN is currently the largest amateur telescope in Nepal, and of the only few telescopes in the whole country.
http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2009/12/04/Features/Star-Gazers/2726/
http://astronomy-nepal.blogspot.com/2009/11/workshop-on-astrophotography-and-image.html
http://twanight.org/newTWAN/galleries.asp?Sort=Country&Value=Nepal&page=1
Science and the Public 2010
Dec 16, 2009
Call for Papers: Science and the Public 2010
Imperial College, London
3rd and 4th of July 2010.
Now in its fifth year, the Science and the Public conference aims to bring together the various strands of academia which consider science’s relationships with groups generally called ‘the public’.
Delegates come from a wide range of disciplines: science and technology studies, history of science, geography, psychology, cultural studies, media studies, sociology, development studies, English literature, science policy studies and more.
The range of topics covered may include (but are not limited to):
- PUS, PEST, PR.
- Surveying public knowledge and attitudes.
- Science and the arts (including science fiction).
- Science, publics and personal identity.
- The role of industry and/ or the third sector in public engagement
- and scientific research.
- The challenges of ‘upstream’ engagement.
- Popular science and professionalization.
- Specific public-science issues: e.g. climate change, MMR, energy policy, GMOs.
- Studies of specific media: e.g. film, books, the internet, museums, radio.
- Science, religion and the ‘New Atheism’.
- Politically engaged scientists.
- Churnalism vs. investigative science journalism.
- Edu-tainment.
- Scientific advisers, spin and secrecy.
- Patients and publics in health services.
- Science and the sceptics.
- Amateur science.
Potential contributors should email a 300 word abstract to scienceandpublic@googlemail.com by 1st March2010. Please include full contact details (name, affiliation, email) of all authors.
Panel proposals should include a panel abstract and individual abstracts for each of the papers on the panel as well as contact information (name, affiliation, email) of the presider (moderator) and all panel members.
All submissions should be emailed to scienceandpublic@googlemail.com 1st March 2010. All other enquires also to this address.
Index to Astronomy in Scientific American Magazine
Dec 16, 2009
Scientific American magazine often presents readable overviews of new ideas and discoveries in astronomy. However, astronomy articles are randomly scattered among the magazine's coverage of all other fields of science and the titles of articles do not always provide a perfect guide to their contents. As a service to the astronomy education community, we have compiled a subject index of astronomy articles in the magazine from the late summer of 1999 to the late summer of 2009, with brief descriptions of their contents.
The index is published in the on-line journal, Astronomy Education Review, at:
http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/AER2009060
Galilean Nights: Astrophotography Competition shortlist announced!
Dec 15, 2009
On 22-24 October 2009, the Galilean Nights Cornerstone Project took place all over the world and was a great success, with over 1300 events in almost 90 countries. Alongside the public observing sessions where hundreds of thousands of people looked to the night sky, many also turned their cameras to the stars and took part in the Galilean Nights Astrophotography Competition.
There was a strong response to the competition and the quality of entries was extremely high. The judging panel had a tough task and after assessement of the entries, a shortlist has been selected for both categories. Those on the shortlist have been contacted requesting further information on their photographs for the final assessment to select the winners. Congratulations to everybody on the shortlist, and good luck for the next round of judging.
Beyond Earth
Isastro: M42-0-LRGB_4
richiejarvisuk: 2009-10-26-M45-L5100-RGB700-Process2-Large
Bill Snyder 51: 101809-WO80-M42-LRGB+Ha-PS1-GF-for-Gallien-Nights++
ANIC asociación de niños indagadores del cosmos: Moon Waning
AztecastroMcJ: Mare Serenitatis NE Mosaic 8.10.09
ANIC asociación de niños indagadores del cosmos: Jupiter in the sky Colombian
Bill Snyder 51: 101809 M42 Orion Nebula
Silvia Kowolik: Jupitersnapshot
SkoobyJohn: M45 - The Pleiades
nemark: IMG_8654-Antares occultation
Earth and Sky
masahiro miyasaka: Milky Way waterfall
masahiro miyasaka: Venus Saturn Mars Zodiacal light
masahiro miyasaka: Pleiades of autumn
Microlensing: Pleiades Dances
pdiezvig: CTBA 07:45
Stefano De Rosa: Moon, Venus and Saturn over the Monate Lake
Isastro: Moon_Alentejo_Portugal
The North West Of Nowhere: The shadow of the day
ANIC asociacion de niños indagadores del cosmos: Three meetings Nocturnes
Microlensing: Twilight Jupiter and Galaxy
Cosmos in the Classroom Symposium
Dec 15, 2009
As you are planning your 2010 calendar and budget, we wanted to let you know that plans are moving along for the 122nd Annual Meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP), July 31 - Aug. 4 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, in one of the most beautiful settings in the U.S., and featuring two concurrent 3-day conferences Aug. 2 - 4:
* Cosmos in the Classroom 2010: A Hands-on Symposium on Teaching Introductory Astronomy
* Making Connections in Education and Public Outreach: A Meeting for Those Working in EPO.
You can now sign up to be notified as program and registration information becomes available at: http://www.astrosociety.org/events/meeting.html.
As in previous Cosmos and EPO conferences hosted by the ASP, we will devote much of the time to hands-on workshops, where we can "practice what we preach". We will also have panels, poster papers, a "share-a-thon" room for putting out materials we are proud of, and time for formal and informal networking with people who teach or work in settings similar to yours.
Cosmos attendees will include astronomy instructors from high schools, community colleges, liberal arts colleges, state universities, research universities, and informal science institutions. We especially welcome those who are teaching part time or are just starting to teach.
EPO conference attendees will include scientists, K-12 teachers, university educators, informal educators (e.g. museums, planetaria, parks), public communicators, science writers, and other EPO professionals. All are welcome who work on or support EPO projects in space science or earth science (including such fields such as physics, astrophysics, heliophysics, planetary science, and astrobiology).
Besides facilitating networking opportunities within each conference’s respective audience, the 2010 ASP Annual Meeting will feature plenary sessions aimed at bringing both groups together, and enabling greater dialogue and interactions among all attendees. We will arrange sessions joining instructors and EPO professionals, focusing on what kinds of information and what kinds of materials are most useful in classrooms, and how Astro 101 and EPO professionals can collaborate to their mutual benefit. A set of weekend workshops (July 31-August 1) will precede the two conferences.
We are working to make scholarships available to educators whose budgets would not ordinarily allow them to come, but these will be limited in number. If you can apply for travel through your own institution, we hope you can pursue that.
A method of proposing sessions and papers will be available at the ASP web site in early 2010. In the meantime, we hope you will start thinking about the kinds of activities you would like to see and do at the meeting. If you have suggestions for interesting approaches for the meeting program committee to consider, please contact one of the undersigned directly.
Andrew Fraknoi (Cosmos Program Sub-committee): fraknoiandrew@fhda.edu
Greg Schultz (EPO Program Sub-committee): gschultz@astrosociety.org
Last Cosmos Meeting Papers Available at a Discount
For a limited time, the package of handouts and papers from the last Cosmos in the Classroom symposium (held in the summer of 2007) are on sale for 1/3 off -- but only while supplies last.
Go to:
http://www.astrosociety.org/events/cosmos.html for a description and click the last line on that page to order.
Ethiopian astronomers bring IYA2009 to the masses
Dec 15, 2009
The Ethiopian Space Science Society (ESSS) has been celebrating IYA2009 throughout the year. In the case of Ethiopia, it is considered a prime way of promoting astronomy by stimulating interest, especially among young people and as well using the appreciation of the inspirational aspects of astronomy.
Several high-profile activities have been run. The first was a one day open nationwide conference of celebration held at Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. More than 400 people with different backgrounds including government higher officials, higher educational institute representatives, school community, artists and many of the young community participated. The event was highlighted with an educational seminar, history of Ethiopian Astronomy and culture, and public discussions on space science and astronomy in Ethiopia.
Public sky tours have also been operating, entertaining and educating visitors. Around 250 people have celebrated astronomy through sky observation with four portable telescopes at Entoto Mountain, just on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, where ESSS is constructing an observatory.
ESSS has been helping communities in different regions by encouraging activities and providing seed funding. Other initiatives have been conducted with financial support from the International Astronomical Union. Many brochures in English and Amharic (one of the Ethiopian languages) have been distributed, outlining the aims of IYA2009.
This is just a sample of Ethiopian IYA2009 projects. The Secretariat would like to congratulate all those who have been involved in making IYA2009 such an unforgettable year in Ethiopia.
IYA2009 logo adorns German observatory
Dec 15, 2009
IYA2009 enthusiasts from Dresden, Germany, decided to go one step further than most in celebrating this special year. They took it upon themselves to decorate their observatory by painting the IYA2009 logo, and inscribing the slogan on the side. Anyone passing by will be left in no doubt as to IYA2009's importance.
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