IYA2009 News Round-up

17 October 2009

All hail the news round-up, for it is good.

Let's get some news at the source, via pr.com. Celestron, global sponsors of IYA2009, have given the big ol' thumbs up to President Barack Obama for his support of astronomy and science education. This is a result of the recent and very successful White House Star Party. No wonder Celestron are happy, Obama used one of their telescopes and, what's more, was photographed doing it. Goal!

BBC News must have been reading astronomy2009.org, for they are running the story about the Vatican hosting a Galileo exhibit. The BBC have taken the angle of the Catholic Church having once labelled Galileo a heretic, although the exhibit actually avoids that aspect. Still, good to see the event getting some coverage.

Next we visit projo.com, and Rhode Island News. Brown Library with the Brown Department of Physics, and the Ladd Observatory have joined together to make an exhibit displaying texts and images hundreds of years old, celebrating astronomy and things. The exhibit will be on display in the Main Gallery and lobby of the John Hay Library at 20 Prospect St. but only until 31 October, so you'd better get your skates on. The article has been penned by Journal Staff Writer Thomas J. Morgan. That middle initial certainly gives him more weight.

The catchily-named iol.co.za reports the happy story of undergraduate student Michelle Knights, of Joburg, winning the European Space Agency's "Be an INTEGRAL astronomer" competition, run as part of IYA2009. Says the article, "She doesn't have a particular recollection of her very first sighting through a telescope..." Don't you just *hate* it when the interviewee doesn't give you the answer you want? The wider story was written up on astronomy2009.org and it's good to see local sources taking up this success story. So well done iol.ca.za.

Oooh, here's a good one from The Daily Courier. They're the trusted news leader for Prescott, Arizona communities since 1882, don'tcha know? The Prescott Astronomy Club have invited the local community to help participate in the Great Worldwide Star Count. The article plugs IYA2009 and Dark Skies Awareness a lot, and for this they get our thanks, the greatest reward we can offer.

Time for a short but sweet one, courtesy of HeartlandConnection.com. Several schools in the Ottumwa School District had a visit from a local astronomer, as part of IYA2009 celebrations. Apparently the event didn't warrant a photographer so instead a stock image has been used-of some chemistry equipment? For shaaaaame, HeartlandConnection.com.

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