IYA2009 Updates

30 October 2009

Register for Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2010!
The 'Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2010' (CAP2010) conference will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, from 15 to 19 March, 2010. Following the previous conferences in this series, it aims to address the modern challenges in astronomy communication through a global perspective. Major themes of CAP2010 will be the outcome and legacy of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) as well as techniques for how to make public astronomical knowledge global and accessible to everyone across national, language, political, social and cultural borders and to those with impairment limitations. For more information and important dates, please visit: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/569/

Canada surpasses goal of 1,000,000 Galileo moments
Late on 27 October 2009 the Canadian IYA2009 partnership of amateur and professional astronomers and their many collaborators saw the "Galileo Moment" surpass the goal of having at least 1,000,000 Canadians enjoy an engaging astronomical experience during IYA2009. For more, see: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/564/

The EYE 3D - Life and Research on Cerro Paranal
The production companies parallax raumprojektion and fact&film, in close cooperation with ESO, have produced a unique 3D documentary about the most powerful visible-light telescope in the world, ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT). One of the world's largest telescopes, capable of taking some of the sharpest pictures of the night sky, the VLT is located in a breathtaking, arid environment, providing astronomers with superb sky conditions as they study the deep Universe. For more information and a trailer, please see: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/562/

Infinite suns, innumerable worlds: a special event held in Rome
"Infinite Suns exist. Innumerable worlds orbit those Suns, like the seven planets orbit our Sun. These worlds are inhabited by living beings". With these words, in 1584 Giordano Bruno foresaw by centuries one of the most fascinating frontiers of current research in astrophysics, the search for extrasolar planets, and also because of this idea he was accused of heresy. Just in the same place where the great Italian philosopher was burned at the stake, the historic square Campo dei Fiori, the Planetarium of Rome presented a public event called "Infinite Suns, Innumerable Worlds" on 8 October from 8:30pm to midnight. See more here: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/570/

The contribution of space science to astronomy
In the context of IYA2009, COSPAR is organising a symposium entitled "The Contribution of Space Science to Astronomy". Open to the general public, this symposium is co-organised by UNESCO. It is one of the closing events of IYA2009 and will be held on 14 and 15 January 20010 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. More information: http://www.iap.fr/cospar-iya/index_en.html

Latin-American astronomy journal helps improve education
Education is a vital part of society, and journals are an important way of disseminating information and best practises. A journal dedicated to astronomy education in Latin America is at the forefront of this effort. Aiming to reverse an apparent trend toward scientific illiteracy while enhancing debate within the science communication field, the Latin-American Journal of Astronomy Education is valuable reading material for many. Visit the journal's website here: http://www.astro.iag.usp.br/~foton/relea/english/index.htm

United Nations report for the International Heliophysical Year 2007 released
The book about the international aspects and achievements of the "International Heliophysical Year (IHY) 2007" can be regarded as a compendium of the fertile impacts of conducting research in this field. The main focus is international cooperation, which has emerged from this grassroots initiative. North and South, industrialised and developing countries have been coordinating their efforts and have been learning from each other in a mutual partnership under a joint understanding of sharing the scientific benefits. Through this, trans-border networks have been created and scientific as well as cultural exchange took place. For more information, please see: http://www.springer.com/springerwiennewyork/engineering/book/978-3-211-99179-4

Hungarian IYA2009-themed stamp design wins award
PostEurop, the association of European public postal operators, decided to mark IYA2009 by selecting astronomy as the theme of its 2009 stamp competition. Hungarian designer Peter Nagy emerged successful with a composition featuring a portrait of Galileo, a spacecraft, and Jupiter with its Galilean satellites. More information is available here: http://english.mti.hu/default.asp?menu=1&theme=2&cat=25&newsid=265195

Astronomy cartoons in Spain
The famous characters of Quino (Argentina), Schulz (USA) and some of the best Spanish cartoon artists (Forges, Ramón, Mingote, Jiménez) celebrate IYA2009. Mafalda, Charlie Brown, Manolito, Hipo, Popo... wonder about the great mysteries of the Universe in a series of cartoons donated by their creators. They share in this way their talent to communicate astronomy during this special year. See http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/563/ for more.

StarPeace newsletter
Read it here: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/561/

Scientific American's in-depth report about Galileo and IYA2009
The magazine Scientific American has released an in-depth report about Galileo and The International Year of Astronomy 2009. It looks at the legacy of Galileo Galilei, 400 years after the Italian astronomer turned his spyglass toward the heavens. Read more here: http://www.scientificamerican.com/report.cfm?id=galileo-iya-1609

European Society for Astronomy in Culture Conference
In an attempt to revive the astronomy vital role in our 21st century high technology culture, the European Society for Astronomy in Culture (SEAC) will hold its 17th annual meeting on 4-10 October 2009 at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), Alexandria, Egypt. This event will be an International Year of Astronomy (IYA 2009) activity. SEAC 2009 is to demonstrate the chronological evolution of astronomy throughout history and the rising and falling of different civilizations. SEAC 2009 has chosen the BA as located on the Mediterranean coast at the meeting point of Eastern and Western civilization. The conference organizing committee will allocate a day open to the public to present the conference's outcomes and the speakers' experiences in the field of astronomy. More information: http://www.archeoastronomy.org/

Presidential IYA2009 in Iran
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has given a speech during the 3rd International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad in Tehran. Pointing to designation of 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy, he said holding of such scientific events as the present Olympiad provided a chance for young scientists to develop a more vivid vision of man's future. More information about the 3rd International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad: http://ioaa2009.ir/

Twitter Moonwatch 26/27 October
As part of Autumn Moonwatch (24 October - 01 November 2009), IYA2009 in the UK, in association with Newbury Astronomical Society, ran Twitter Moonwatch on the evenings of 26 and 27 October 2009. See http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/557/ for more.

Report from the Women in Astronomy and Space Science conference
Read the report by Dr. Hashima Hasan (NASA IYA2009 Single Point of Contact) here: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/556/

International Earth and Sky Photo Contest on Dark Skies Importance
Two global projects of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, The World at Night and Dark Skies Awareness, jointly organise the International Earth and Sky Photo Contest. Participating photographs should focus on TWAN style. Therefore the photos must combine some elements of the night sky (e.g., stars, planets, the Moon or celestial events) set against the backdrop of a beautiful, historic, or notable location or landmark somewhere in the World. They must show both the Earth and the Sky. This style of photography is called "landscape astrophotography". More information: http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/news.asp?newsID=6029