IYA2009 weekly update

27 March 2009

100 Hours of Astronomy Update

Less than one week to go!!! Check the updates on: www.100hoursofastronomy.org

NEW - Sky maps for April 2009 form Skymaps.com
http://Skymaps.com/downloads.html

NEW 100HA Partner - Yuri's Night - April 4-12 in 2009
www.yurisnight.net

"How to Register your event" Arabic translation
http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org/eventsmain

Opening Event and Science Centre Live Webcasts - Start Times updated
The 100HA Opening Event start time has been revised - 2 April 2009, 11.00 EST (16.00UT) The science centre webcast start time has been updated and revised. - 1.00pm EDT (17:00 UTC)
http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org/program

100 Hours of Astronomy: 100 Hours of Remote Astronomy
A new public programme has been added to what is already the largest science outreach event in history, taking place from 2 to 5 April. 100 Hours of Remote Astronomy involves you signing up to control a telescope online and take pictures or have them taken for you, all with telescopes in remote locations that can be controlled from anywhere on Earth. No astronomical knowledge is required and it's all free!
http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org/component/content/article/34-site-navigation/228-100-hours-of-remote-astronomy

Cosmic Diary: Greenwich 1894 article
Astronomy Now has released an article about the Cosmic Diary sub-blog, Greenwich 1894.
http://www.astronomy2009.org/static/archives/documents/pdf/astronomy_now_greenwich.pdf

Two Small Pieces of Glass - Planetarium Show Update
More information is available about traditional and full-dome shows.
http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/210/

Cosmic Diary featuring on CSSBased.com
The Cosmic Diary website has been featured on CSSBased, a project providing web designers a gallery of well designed CSS-based websites from all around the world.
http://cssbased.com/showcase/5057/cosmic-diary

First Dark Sky Discovery Sites Announced in Scotland
To celebrate the International Year of Astronomy 2009, the world's first Dark Sky Discovery Sites were unveiled yesterday at Newbattle Abbey College in Dalkeith.
http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/208/

Galileoscope Update: Galileoscope Orders
As announced last month by the IYA2009 Secretariat, orders for the Galileoscope are now being taken at www.galileoscope.org, and delivery of telescope kits will commence in late April. We've received many queries from SPoCs asking if they need to place a new order now, or if the earlier pre-order will suffice. The answer is, YOU NEED TO PLACE A NEW ORDER NOW (if you haven't already done so); filling out the pre-order form was NOT the same as placing an actual order.

To initiate a large order of 100+ kits, if you haven't already done so, please fill out the Request for Quotation form at https://www.galileoscope.org/gs/sites/galileoscope.org.gs/files/Galileoscope-RFQ.doc and send it by e-mail to freight@galileoscope.org.

New History/IYA2009 Video
Check out the new video! http://www.astronomy2009.org/resources/multimedia/videos/detail/iya_history_partnership/

International Year of Astronomy 2009 and St Patrick's Day
Astronomy was the theme for St Patrick's Day parades in all major cities of Ireland. In Dublin, this year's theme for the festival Parade was ‘The Sky's the Limit!'. Over 675,000 people lined the Dublin streets and over six million were watching either live on RTE or through the internet. The Cork Parade, announced by Blackrock Castle Observatory in conjunction with the International Year of Astronomy 2009 in all television, radio and press coverage, saw over 65,000 people celebrating the theme of ‘Cosmic Chaos'.
http://astronomy2009.ie/official_press_releases/iya_2009_Ireland.html

Moon for all Mankind
The IYA2009 Malta Committee have established a new project aimed at encouraging different countries to work together, creating a mosaic image of the Moon.
http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/203/

StarPeace Update
The first newsletter of IYA2009 Special Project StarPeace is out now.
http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/202/

The World at Night Exhibitions on Six Continents
The World at Night exhibitions expand to six continents in March and April 2009.
http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/201/

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2009
The Royal Observatory of Greenwich is proud to present Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2009 - a brand new, free competition and exhibition for everyone who loves the night sky.
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year/

UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science
The UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science is an international distinction created by UNESCO in 1952 following a donation from Mr Bijoyanand Patnaik, Founder and President of the Kalinga Foundation Trust in India.
Who may apply: http://www.unesco.org/science/psd/prizes/kalinga/who_apply.shtml
How to apply: http://www.unesco.org/science/psd/prizes/kalinga/to_apply.shtml

2009 International Youth Camp on Astronomy and World Heritage Welcomes You
A Summer Camp is open to all nationalities and young students between 16 years and 20 years old who are interested in Astronomy and World Heritage.
http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/197/

Havana Planetarium and Science Centre: International Partnerships for Astronomy Cooperation
This summer the Cuban Capital, Havana, will open a new planetarium and science centre, the Centro Cultural de Ciencia y Tenologia "Rosa Elena Simeón". The centre is being built as part of the renovation of the Old Town of Havana (Habana Vieja) declared Human Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. This project is managed by astronomer Oscar Alvarez, of the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment (CITMA: Ciencia, Tecnologia, y Medio Ambiente), the IYA2009 Single Point of Contact in Cuba.
http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/list/2/

News round-up
The latest summary of IYA2009 stories making the headlines is now out.
http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/212/

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