IYA2009 Updates

Beyond IYA2009 Updates

12 November 2010

Last day: The Great World Wide Star Count
The Great World Wide Star Count encourages everyone to go outside, look skyward after dark, note the stars in certain constellations, and report what they could see online. Star Count is designed to raise awareness about the night sky and encourage learning in astronomy. All the information needed to participate is available on the Star Count Web site. Be sure to download the 2010 Activity Guide (available in 8 languages) to prepare your class for this project. More information: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/1087/

The World at Night Newsletter November 2010: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/1086/

International premier of the play ‘Bright Star’
In London UK, the international premier of the play 'Bright Star' about the life of Beatrice Tinsley, ground-breaking cosmologist, wife, mother,daughter and gifted musician. From 9 – 27 November at the Tabbard Theatre (near Turnham Green tube station).: http://www.brightstar-theplay.com

Schools Moonwatch: 10 – 18 November

The UK's Society for Popular Astronomy is holding its annual Schools Moonwatch from 10 – 18 November to encourage schools to dust off their telescopes and go out to look at the Moon and Jupiter. More information: http://www.popastro.com/moonwatch/moonweeks/index.php

Media in Education Newsletter:http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/1089/

MEARIM-II: the 2nd Middle-East and Africa Regional IAU Meeting
Cape Town Ritz Hotel, South Africa (April 10-15, 2011)
More information:http://mearim2.saao.ac.za

International premier of the play ‘Bright Star’

12 November 2010

In London UK, the international premier of the play 'Bright Star' about the life of Beatrice Tinsley, ground-breaking cosmologist, wife, mother,daughter and gifted musician. From 9 – 27 November at the Tabbard Theatre (near Turnham Green tube station).

http://www.brightstar-theplay.com 

Schools Moonwatch: 10 – 18 November

12 November 2010

The UK's Society for Popular Astronomy is holding its annual Schools Moonwatch from 10 – 18 November to encourage schools to dust off their telescopes and go out to look at the Moon and Jupiter.

http://www.popastro.com/moonwatch/moonweeks/index.php 

Media in Education Newsletter

12 November 2010

Highlights in this month's newsletter include:

  • how documentary film is being used to tackle integration issues in a learning project with significant social impact
  • Belgian teacher, Lucas Van der paer's account of a typical day in the life of the connected media-savvy teacher
  • Federica, the web-learning multimedia-rich portal of the University of Naples Federico II
  • an introduction to webcasting
  • MEDEA's new national contact point in Luxembourg
  • and plenty of other news items, notifications and announcements related to the use of media in education and training

 

MEARIM-II: the 2nd Middle-East and Africa Regional IAU Meeting

12 November 2010

Cape Town Ritz Hotel, South Africa     April 10-15, 2011

 

                                                http://mearim2.saao.ac.za

 

Building on MEARIM I, the astronomical community of the Middle-East and Africa will meet in Cape Town in 2011 to explore the advancement of the astronomical capabilities in the region. It has been brought to our attention that the first announcement was not received by all, so here follows the details of the conference again. Please note the extended deadlines for both abstract submission and financial support applications.

 BACKGROUND

The last decade has seen revolutionary advances in astronomical capabilities within the Middle-East and Africa.  In particular, the completion of HESS and SALT, together with the construction of KAT-7 and the bid to host the SKA, has transformed the region, bringing world-class capability in ultra-high energy gamma-rays, optical/near-IR and radio wavelengths to southern Africa.  The timing is thus ideal for MEARIM-2, to build on these developments and to exploit them for the benefit of the entire region.  The latter requires huge effort on the education and outreach front, which will be a significant topic at the meeting.

 The Scientific Organizing Committee is taking shape, and organization plans are advancing rapidly. Details can be found at the conference web site: http://mearim2.saao.ac.za

 

The conference organizing supporters are the IAU and the South African SKA Project (and we hope to receive support from the SALT Foundation and South Africa's National Research Foundation and Department of Science and Technology).  In this official announcement, we are contacting you with information on important deadlines, and inviting you to register, and submit an abstract for one of the science sessions listed below.

SCIENCE SESSION TOPICS

S1: Galaxies and Large-Scale Structure

S2: Space Astronomy & High Energy Astrophysics

S3: Sun, Stellar Interiors & Heliosphere

S4: Virtual Observatory & Data Handling (including the African VO, pipeline processing, archival research)

S5: Optical/NIR Telescopes & Instrumentation (including SALT, robotic facilities)

S6: Astronomy for the Developing World (linked to the IAU plan)

    A - Astronomy Research/Cooperation in Space/Education in Africa

    B - Training for MEA young astronomers

S7: Radio Telescopes & Instrumentation (including SKA, MeerKAT, HartRAO, C-BASS, PAPER)

S8: Stellar Astrophysics & Galactic Structure:

    A - stellar evolution

    B - interacting binaries

    C - star formation

S9: Planetary Astronomy & Exoplanets

S10: Theoretical Cosmology

S11: Observational Cosmology

 

FORMAT

 

Participants would arrive by the Sunday afternoon when there will be a welcome reception that evening at SAAO. It is then planned to cover the sessions listed above over the following 5 days, with the mid-week (Wednesday) afternoon free for excursions and other activities. In order to maximise interactions between different fields, there will be morning plenary (including invited) talks and the remainder in parallel sessions, with the detailed scheduling amongst the session topics to be decided based on the abstracts submitted.

 

REGISTRATION FEE

 

The deadline for early registration is February 22, 2011.  The early-registration fee is equal to R2500 (R3000 for later registrations).  This fee will cover the conference room, all coffee breaks, lunches, the reception on the evening of April 10, and the proceedings.

 

If you need to cancel your registration, the LOC must be notified by 15 March 2011 for a refund of registration costs (less a R200.00 processing fee). 

 

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

 

Limited financial support is available, preferentially to support students and those presenting an oral or poster paper.  A completed application, which is part of the registration form, must be received by 15 December 2010.

 

IMPORTANT DATES/DEADLINES:

 

17 September 2010         Registration opens

 

15 December 2010                           Abstract submission & financial support application deadline

 

31 December 2010        Deadline for hotel bookings at conference rate

 

22 February 2011                              Early bird registration closes

 

22 March 2011         Registration closes (earlier if meeting is oversubscribed)

 

CONFERENCE HOTEL AND ACCOMMODATION

 

The conference will take place at the Cape Town Ritz Hotel, located in Sea Point, Cape Town, very close to the promenade, and with access to the V&A Waterfront area.  Full details can be found at http://www.africanskyhotels.com/hotels/cape-town-ritz-hotel

 

A set of rooms has been reserved at the hotel for conference participants at very favourable rates, which will be available until the end of this year (or until fully booked!).

 

Rooms can be secured at this special rate by using reservation code "SAAO":

. R650.00 per single room per night (incl. breakfast & taxes)

. R750.00 per double room per night (incl. breakfast & taxes)

 

You have to book your room directly with the hotel by contacting Micky Rudolph by email at ritz@africanskyhotel.com or by phone on +27 (0)21 439 1162.

 

Sharing Rooms

 

We have also set up a system on the registration page through which participants interested in finding room-mates can pair up.

 

More accommodation options can be found on the Cape Town Tourism website at http://www.capetown.travel/accommodation/

 

SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

 

This is still being constructed, but will essentially bring together the organisers of the parallel science sessions.  Those committed so far, together with their relevant sessions (and session panel members) are:

 

Phil Charles (chair)

Erwin de Blok           S1     (Renee Kraan-Korteweg, Hartmut Winkler, David Block)

Piet Meintjies          S2     (Okkie de Jager, Ramotholo Sefako)

Thebe Medupe            S3     (Chris Engelbrecht, Stefan Ferreira)

Sudhanshu Barway        S4     (Steve Crawford)

David Buckley           S5     (Darragh O'Donoghue)

Kevin Govender          S6A    (Carolina Odman)

Peter Dunsby            S6B    (Patricia Whitelock)

Justin Jonas            S7     (Roy Booth, Anja Schroeder)

Patricia Whitelock      S8A    (Mike Feast)

Patrick Woudt           S8B    (Brian Warner, Phil Charles, Steve Potter)

Amanda Gulbis           S9     (John Menzies)

Chris Clarkson          S10    (Peter Dunsby)

Kavi Moodley            S11    (Bruce Bassett)

Ahmed Hady              MEARIM-1 co-ordinator

 

and we are hoping for involvement in all the session panels from astronomers throughout the MEA region, as well as from the IAU itself.  We welcome further volunteers to join the session panels.

 

Please contact relevant SOC members above with suggestions/proposals regarding potential plenary topics/speakers and content for the parallel sessions.

 

LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

 

Please contact the LOC at info@mearim2.saao.ac.za , if you have any queries.

 

Phil Charles

Shireen Davis (chair)

Simon Fishley

Thembela Mantungwa

Nazli Mohamed

Glenda Snowball

Last day: The Great World Wide Star Count

12 November 2010

The Great World Wide Star Count encourages everyone to go outside, look skyward after dark, note the stars in certain constellations, and report what they could see online. Star Count is designed to raise awareness about the night sky and encourage learning in astronomy. All the information needed to participate is available on the Star Count Web site. Be sure to download the 2010 Activity Guide (available in 8 languages) to prepare your class for this project.

Participation involves use of a simple protocol and an easy data entry form. During the first three years, over 31,000 individuals from 64 countries and all 7 continents participated in this campaign to measure light pollution globally.

At the conclusion of the event, maps and datasets will be generated highlighting the results of this exciting citizen science campaign. Mark your calendars and plan on joining thousands of other students, families, and citizen scientists counting stars this fall.

The Great World Wide Star Count will be held from October 29 - November 12, 2010. For more information visit starcount.org or email starcount_info@ucar.edu.

The World at Night Newsletter November 2010

7 November 2010

News and Report

 

New Publications: TWAN Book in German and Dutch: The World at Night has its first official book published in Europe. The large coffee-table book is illustrated with some of the most beautiful TWAN photos.

Top Viewed Photos July-September 2010:

See the most visited photos on TWAN website during summer 2010.

New Topics Galleries:  Each month there will be new topical galleries on TWAN to make searching through TWAN enlarging archive easier. The new topical galleries are Moon, Milky Way, Meteors, Comets, Eclipses, Aurora, and stunning Virtual Reality animations of night sky.

Join TWAN fans on Facebook: Learn about the latest updates on the project and communicate with TWAN photographers at The World at Night page on Facebook page.

  

Latest Photos and Videos

There are new stunning photos and time-lapse videos on the TWAN website, featuring starry nights of our planet's landmarks from around the world:

Africa

Algeria

The Galaxy above Our Ancient Ancestors  by Babak A. Tafreshi

Sahara under Moonlight  by Babak A. Tafreshi

The Celestial Bears above Sahara  by Babak A. Tafreshi

Tanzania

Sky from Slopes of Kilimanjaro  (VR/video) by Kwon O Chul

Meteor and Alpha Centauri  by Kwon O Chul

Galactic Bulge above Kilimanjaro  by Kwon O Chul

Americas

Canada

Aurora Panorama and Strange Dark Bands  by Yuichi Takasaka

Aurora Mystery  by Yuichi Takasaka

Curtains of Green Light  by Yuichi Takasaka

Chile

360-degree View of The Very Large Telescope  by Stephane Guisard

The Very Large Telescope in Virtual Reality  (VR/video) by Stephane Guisard

Waves in the Sky  by Stephane Guisard

Moonlit Night of a Volcano  (VR/video) by Stephane Guisard

Darkest Possible Sky  by Stephane Guisard

Darkest Sky in Virtual Reality  (VR/video) by Stephane Guisard

Darkest Sky 360-degree Panorama  by Stephane Guisard

Morning Twilight in Patagonia  by Stephane Guisard

USA

Comet Over Cottonwood  by Doug Zubenel

Night at Devils Tower  by Wally Pacholka

Comet over Monument Rocks  by Doug Zubenel

Haunted Moonrise  by Dennis Mammana

Desert Sky Shooter  by Dennis Mammana

Desert Wildflowers & Star Trails  by Dennis Mammana

Desert Stars on a Full Moon Night  by Dennis Mammana

Moon Rocks  by Doug Zubenel

Natural Frame  by Doug Zubenel

Asia

Nepal

Lonely Stupa in Himalayas  (VR/video) by Babak A. Tafreshi

Australia and Pacific

Australia

Deep Impact of 300,000 Years Ago  by John Goldsmith

Panoramic View of Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater  by John Goldsmith

Sky Motion above Wolfe Creek Crater  (VR/video) by John Goldsmith

Moonset on a Meteorite Crater  (VR/video) by John Goldsmith

Anglo-Australian Telescope  by Kwon O Chul

Sky above Uluru  by Kwon O Chul

A Galactic View of Ayres Rock  by Kwon O Chul

Starry Sky above the Heart of Australia  by Kwon O Chul

Cook Islands

Island Planets  by Tunc Tezel

Europe

France

Sky Friendly Village  by Laurent Laveder

Mira above Brittany  by Laurent Laveder

Greece

Acropolis Moon  by Anthony Ayiomamitis

Traditional Village and Modern Lights  by P-M Heden

Hungary

Milky Way above Hungary  by Tamas Ladanyi

Night at Sunflowers  by Tamas Ladanyi

Castle Moonset  by Tamas Ladanyi

Moonset in Balaton Uplands  (VR/video) by Tamas Ladanyi

Fall Colors under Moonlight  by Tamas Ladanyi

Palace Stars  by Tamas Ladanyi

Mira Looks at Mira  by Tamas Ladanyi

Sweden

Welcoming an Approaching Comet  by P-M Heden

Astronomy Heritage of Lund  by Babak A. Tafreshi

Moonlight on River  by P-M Heden

Old Church in a Full Moon Night  by P-M Heden

Full Moon Rises in an Autumn Evening  by P-M Heden

Trails and Aurora Borealis  by P-M Heden

Middle East

Iran

The Rose of Night Sky  by Babak A. Tafreshi

Double Crescents  by Babak A. Tafreshi

Meteor Watch  by Babak A. Tafreshi

UFO Cloud?  by Babak A. Tafreshi

If We Had Super Eyes  by Babak A. Tafreshi

Spotlight on TWAN  by Oshin D. Zakarian

Stars and Colors of Autumn  by Oshin D. Zakarian

Winter Milky Way  by Babak A. Tafreshi

Mount Damavand Star Trails  by Amir H. Abolfath

Stars Trail above Desert Landscape  by Amir H. Abolfath

Cave Frame  by Amir H. Abolfath

Startrails above Isfahan  by Amir H. Abolfath

Big Dipper above the Gate of All Nations  by Amir H. Abolfath

Seven Sisters and California Nebula  by Babak A. Tafreshi

Watching a Celestial Pair  by Babak A. Tafreshi

A Moment with Hafez  by Oshin D. Zakarian

Sky Prayer  by Oshin D. Zakarian

Autumn Twilight  by Oshin D. Zakarian

The Orion Nebula  by Amir H. Abolfath

Turkey

Unusual Streaks  by Tunc Tezel

Antipodes Milky Way  by Tunc Tezel

All Sky from Both Hemispheres  by Tunc Tezel

Mediterranean Jupiter  by Tunc Tezel

Jupiter from Izmir Seaside  by Tunc Tezel

Polar Regions

USA

Lunar Corona on a Snowy Night  by Dennis Mammana

Crown of Color  by Dennis Mammana

 

The Guest Gallery is a well-received section on the TWAN website, featuring selected outstanding Earth and sky photos by non-TWAN creative photographers from around the globe. If you have such remarkable photos to share with the TWAN Guest Gallery then please contact us. There are new featured photos in the Guest Gallery:

Montado Star Trails  (Barrancos, Alentejo, Portugal) by Goncalo Lemos

Star Trails over Koohpanah  (Mt. Koohpanah, Tafresh, Markazi, Iran) by Abdolhossein Hashemizadeh

Milky Way trails above Hatu  (Hatu, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, Indian Himalayas) by Ajay Talwar

Totality from Mauna Kea  (Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii, USA) by Richard Wainscoat

Star Trails and Star Party  (Seqaleh, Iran) by Amirreza Kamkar

Summer Milky Way over Zion  (Zion National Park, Utah, USA) by John A Davis

Stars over the Caspian Sea  (Caspian Sea, Mazandaran, Iran) by Mojtaba Moghadasi

Springtime with Hyades, Venus, and Pleaides  (CAST Observatory, Talmassons, Friui, Italy) by Marco Candotti

Lunar Eclipse and Desert Landscape  (Phoenix, Arizona, USA) by Marion Haligowski

Moon and Venus Conjunction Panorama  (Kermanshah, Iran) by M. Saber Karimi

Spotlight on Bryce Canyon  (Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA) by Ben Cooper

Lisbon Light Pollution Panorama  (Almada, Lisboa Portugal) by Miguel Claro

Satellite Trail above the Northern Forests  (Sea to Sky Highway, British Columbia, Canada) by Masoud Rafiei

Inside the Shadow of Mauna Kea  (Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii, USA) by Richard Wainscoat

Monumental Leonid Storm  (Monument Valley, Utah/Arizona, USA) by Sean M. Sabatini

Night at 69-degrees North  (Andenes, Nordland, Norway) by Terje Nesthus

Venus over Spitzkoppe  (Spitzkoppe Campsite, Namibia) by Michael Steffen

Milky Way above Balanced Rock  (Arches National Park, Utah, USA) by Marco Meniero

A Dream House with Stars  (Vila Boim, Alentejo, Portugal) by Miguel Claro

Perseids and Lightning  (Montevenere, Bologna, Italy) by Michele Brusa

Trails with Peace and Beauty  (Gouvia Marina, Corfu, Greece) by Vasilis Metallinos

Perseid and the Pleiades (Alborz Mountains, Firooz Kouh, Iran) by Mohammad Reza Zaman Sani

Star Trails over Esfahan  (Abyaneh, Esfahan, Iran) by Ata Moghtaderi

Hyakutake over Rabbit Island  (Oahu, Hawaii, USA) by Richard Wainscoat

Kilimanjaro beneath the Milky Way  (Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania) by Ted Ressell

Norway Aurora  (Andenes, Nordland, Norway) by Terje Nesthus

The Quest for Dark Skies  (Hanle, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India) by Ajay Talwar, Vikrant Narang, Raghu Kalra

 

Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD), a NASA’s world-known website, has featured new images by TWAN photographers:

- Mirach’s Ghost by Anthony Ayiomamitis

- Venus After Sunset by Tunc Tezel

 

TWAN is featuring 13 special galleries:

Latest Images
Cosmic Motions

Our Cosmic Neighbor (Moon)

Milky Way

Meteors

Comets

Eclipses

Aurora

Virtual Reality

Dark Skies Importance
World Heritage Sites
TWAN APODs

TWAN on National Geographic News

TWAN is a global program of Astronomers Without Borders (www.astrowb.org) and a Special Project of International Year of Astronomy, an initiative by IAU and UNESCO. The World at Night is to produce and present a collection of stunning photographs of the world's most beautiful and historic sites against the nighttime backdrop of stars, planets and celestial events. The eternally peaceful sky looks the same above all symbols of different nations and regions, attesting to the truly unified nature of Earth as a planet rather than an amalgam of human-designated territories.

 

Building bridges through the sky
The World at Night
www.twanight.org

Beyond IYA2009 Updates

5 November 2010

Nominations Invited for 2011 ASP Educational Awards
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific is now accepting  nominations for the Society’s 2011 awards honoring accomplishments in astronomy education and public outreach.  Recipients receive a cash award and engraved plaque, as well as travel and lodging to accept the award at the Society’s 2011 Meeting, to be held in Baltimore, Maryland July 30 - Aug. 3. More information: http://www.astrosociety.org/membership/awards/awards.html


IAU Commission 46: Astronomy Education and Development:  The latest C46 newsletter is available:http://www.iaucomm46.org/content/newsletters

John Dobson Webcast Space Available
John Dobson, popularizer of the widely-used Dobsonian telescope design that now bears his name, will be interviewed in the first episode of a new series of webcasts, Astronomers Without Borders' Living Legend Series on Saturday, November 13. More information: http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/projects/living-legend-series.html

Discover ESO's Hidden Treasures: An Astronomical Images Competition
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is proud to present Hidden Treasures — a free competition for everyone who enjoys making beautiful images of the night sky using real astronomical data. The competition has some extremely attractive prizes for the lucky winners who produce the most beautiful and original images, including an all expenses paid trip to ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Cerro Paranal, in Chile, the world’s most advanced optical telescope. And the winner will have a chance to participate in the nightly VLT observations under the crisp Chilean skies. More information: http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/hiddentreasures/

John Dobson Webcast Space Available

5 November 2010

John Dobson, popularizer of the widely-used Dobsonian telescope design that now bears his name, will be interviewed in the first episode of a new series of webcasts, Astronomers Without Borders' Living Legend Series on Saturday, November 13.

Reserve your space now. First priority will be given to groups holding events to maximize the number of people taking part in the live webcast. Affiliates of Astronomers Without Borders, the groups that are a part of the AWB global community, will be given top priority. Registration as an AWB Affiliate is free and open to astronomy clubs, advocacy groups, manufacturers, retailers, university departments and more - ALL groups related to astronomy and space.

Reserve your space in the live webcast

Learn more about AWB Affiliates and register your group

A limited number of groups will be able to take part in the webcast and ask questions to John Dobson directly.

Full information on the webcast on the AWB site

Nominations Invited for 2011 ASP Educational Awards

4 November 2010

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific is now accepting  nominations for the Society’s 2011 awards honoring accomplishments in astronomy education and public outreach.  Recipients receive a cash award and engraved plaque, as well as travel and lodging to accept the award at the Society’s 2011 Meeting, to be held in Baltimore, Maryland July 30 - Aug. 3.

More information: http://www.astrosociety.org/membership/awards/awards.html

« Previous 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 Next »
Showing 41 to 50 of 1068

Organisational Associates:
ESO AAS INSU CAS STRW NOVA STFC SCNAT SPA NRC MEC CNES DLR ESA JAXA NAOJ APL PS ESF ISRO ICRAN NLSI NOT U Cluster NASAEAS ASI NRAO CEA  KASI EAE SPA AUI CROSCI



The International Year of Astronomy 2009 is endorsed by the United Nations and the International Council of Science.