IYA2009 news round-up, 4 September

4 September 2009

Welcome to the round-up, this week written at the same time as consuming a full English breakfast in a Bristol cafe. All is well with the world.

And all is well with Space.com too, as they've pumped out an article about IYA2009. It gives an historical grounding by explaining Galileo's discoveries, and how important his telescopic observations were.

Rock on, UniverseToday! They've been reporting on a live webcast run by Israel's Bareket Observatory, to celebrate IYA2009. Special explanations by an astronomer and musical accompaniments helped to bring the event to a wide audience. Live observation sessions also get them bonus points. Nicely done, Barekat Observatory.

ThisisDerbyshire.co.uk has posted an article about space-themed outdoor classical concert in the UK. It links with IYA2009, but the journalist obviously thought that this was secondary to the story, as the main point of interest is the musicians' use of clothes pegs. Seriously. "'It's the wind," he [the conductor] says. ‘That's our chief enemy. We always have to bring a large supply of clothes pegs, as there's nothing better for keeping sheets of music on the stand.'" See?

BBC News were obviously interested in last week's The Great Look Up, as they've gone one better than writing just words, and have made a video about it. Watch it HERE. Hmm, news round-up videos... actually, some ideas are better left unrealised.

Attention all photographers. The Times has written about an astronomy photographer of the year competition, and it sounds worth getting involved in. The article has some useful tips for getting good shots. Definitely worth reading, especially as a warm-up to the upcoming Galilean Nights astrophoto competition.

Still on the photo theme, over to yourwestvalley.com, which is probably an American site, going by their spelling of the word "colour". An exhibit called "Focus on the Universe: A Photographic Exhibit Celebrating the International Year of Astronomy" will be on display, and on the final day the artists themselves will be present to talk with the public. Great idea, more places should do that.

So that's the round-up and breakfast done. Conclusion: the sausage was good, the fried egg superb, the beans as expected, and the bacon disappointing.

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