IYA2009 Updates

28 November 2009

IYA2009 movie and book achieves MEDEA Award 2009 finalist status
The MEDEA awards recognise, encourage, and reward excellence and creativity in media in education. Eyes on the Skies, the International Astronomical Union's DVD and book combination, has been marked as a finalist in the 2009 awards. http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/635/

.Astronomy 2009: Workshop on Astronomy and the New Media
Next week, from 30 November to 4 December, an unconventional workshop takes place in Leiden, The Netherlands, to discuss novel concepts of thinking and working in astronomy today. Participants of the .Astronomy conference (read: dot astronomy) will explore new ways of exploiting the data deluge that will be produced by upcoming surveys and instruments for the benefit of their science and of society as a whole. Novel ways of communicating science to a wide audience have burst onto the scene in recent years: the web 2.0, blogs, podcasts and social networking. http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/631/

The Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal #7 is out: http://www.capjournal.org/issues/07/index.php

NASA Images: an invaluable resource for sharing incredible pictures
NASA Images is a searchable database, useful for science communicators, educators, and general astronomy fans. Created under a Space Act Agreement between NASA and Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library, it offers unprecedented access to the largest collection of NASA media from a single, searchable site. NASA Images is constantly growing with the addition of current media from NASA, as well as newly digitised media from the archives of the NASA Centres. http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/624/

Learn about space probes with a new infographic
An interactive tool called Space Probes makes it easy to see the history of unmanned Solar System exploration. Keyboard controls allow you to zoom and strafe the Sun and planets, and an option menu can be used to skip straight to a specific mission. See the infographic (with Brazilian text) here: http://super.abril.com.br/multimidia/info_345143.shtml

Dark Skies book made into a Spanish video for IYA2009
Copies of Bob Crelin's book "There Once wasa Sky Full of Stars" were given to Chilean teachers and students as part of a kit from the Dark Skies Awareness Cornerstone project. Taking the initiative, these recipients then translated it into Spanish, and created a video. This has been put online, and is available for all to see and enjoy. See the video in Spanish (with English subtitles) here: http://concurso.educarchile.cl/index.php/videoteca?task=videodirectlink&id=189

Astronomy education Summer School for teachers, 26 November to 1 December
The European Association for Astronomy Education is the first all-European network for teachers interested in astronomy. This year the institution is organising a specific course for teachers in order to offer them access to new educational materials and methods and the chance to exchange experiences. This course is open to all secondary school teachers who work in European countries. http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/633/

U.S. winners of Cassini Scientist for a Day announced
The U.S. winners of the Cassini Scientist for a Day essay contest are now online. This international essay contest is an IYA2009 Special project. Students chose one of three images the Cassini spacecraft would take on a given date and time set aside for education, and they each wrote a 500-word essay explaining why their choice would yield the best science results. Winners and their classes are invited to participate in teleconferences with Cassini scientists. http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/632/

Galileo’s telescope back from space
On 18 December the replica of Galileo’s telescope launched into the space last May aboard the shuttle Atlantis will come back to Florence, at the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza (re-opening soon as Museo Galileo). The telescope will be officially returned by captain Scott Altman and mission specialist Michael Massimino during a public ceremony to be held in the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio, at 5:30pm. http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/630/

400 Years of the Telescope: educational video clips
Enjoy the insightful and educational video clips drawn from over 70 hours of interviews with the world's leading figures in astronomy, shot during the filming of 400 Years of the Telescope.
http://www.400years.org/en/video/video.php

IYA2009 Sessions at the D.C. AAS Meeting
http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/627/

The Spanish parliament is celebrating the closing ceremony of IYA2009 in Spain
The Spanish parliament is celebrating today [25 Nov] the closing ceremony of IYA2009 in Spain. The ceremony will be hosted by José Bono, president of the congress. Rafael Rodrigo, president of the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) and of the National Comission of Astronomy (CNA), Catherine Cesarsky, former IAU president, and Montserrat Villar-Martín, IYA2009 Spanish SPoC will also participate. http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/626/

14th Annual International Symposium “The Public Face Of Space”
During each academic year, the International Space University (ISU) organizes a three-day symposium as an interdisciplinary, international forum to help both the users and the providers of space-related systems to move forward from the discussion of problems to the formulation of innovative solutions. As an independent organisation, ISU has developed a winning formula for a "different kind of symposium". http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/625/

Scotland's Galloway Forest and Hungary's Zselic Landscape Protection Area awarded Dark Sky status
Congratulations to Scotland's Galloway Forest Park and Hungary's Zselic Landscape Protection Area, the first International Dark Sky Parks in Europe! The International Dark-Sky Association is proud to recognise the lighting retrofits, public education, and ongoing protection efforts that enhance the natural wonder and reclaim the ongoing heritage of dark starry nights in these unique regions. http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/617/

Galileo relics rediscovered: two fingers and a tooth
Three exceptional Galilean relics, deemed lost for over a century, have been found again by chance by a collector. http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/622/

Festival of astronomy in London celebrates IYA2009
The University College London is running a festival of astronomy for schools, families, and the general public. The aim is to celebrate IYA2009, and all events are free of charge. Activities include a spherical projection device, 14-metre timeline, handling ancient rocks, building scale Solar Systems, using telescopes, talking to astronomers about their work, Stars r'us (an interactive exhibit to show how stars are born, live and die) and much more. http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/621/