IYA2009 Updates
New song: "Shoulders of Giants
23 October 2008
The Johannes Kepler Project and The Chromatics are happy to announce the release of the AstroCappella song "Shoulders of Giants". Read more.
Newsletter to SPoCs: Resources, projects and events
20 October 2008
Dear Friends,
The IYA2009 newsletter for this week:
Organisational Matters
IYA2009 is still growing! We would like to welcome Albania and Afghanistan, our latest National Nodes who bring the total to an impressive 129.
Resources
Official IYA2009 On-line Forum
Cloudy Nights Forums are the official forums of the IYA2009. Keep in touch: http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?Cat=
IYA2009 Brochure available in Arabic
The IYA 2009 Brochure v.3 is now available in Arabic: http://www.astronomy2009.org/resources/brochures/detail/brochure03_ara/
Kindly translated by Abdelkader Oueslati (Abdelkader.Oueslati@cst.rnu.tn)
Media Partners
In order to promote our activities, the IYA2009 Secretariat is establishing a network of media partners that will write and report on IYA2009 activities around the world. Please check our current media partners: http://www.astronomy2009.org/organisation/structure/partners/media/
Projects/Activities
The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is a project that will publish one podcast per day, 5 to 10 minutes in duration, for all 365 days of 2009. The podcast will be made available through an RSS feed. The podcast episodes will be written, recorded and produced by people around the world. http://365daysofastronomy.org/
A message from Helen Sim (SPoC in Australia and Chair of I the YA2009 New Year's Eve Events):
Dear all,
In Australia, we intend to mark the beginning of IYA using a pulsar as a clock to count down to the moment of midnight on 31 December.
I'm writing to ask for expressions of interest in receiving a video feed of this event, as described below.
Sydney Observatory is an old historical observatory, now a museum of astronomy, situated on the edge of Sydney Harbour, Australia.
About 300 km inland is the Parkes radio telescope. We now have a regular program in which high-school students can control the telescope over the internet and take meaningful data.
On 9 December, we will start a symbolic countdown to midnight 31 December at Sydney Observatory, using a display of a specific pulsar's pulse train. (The pulsar has been chosen.)
On the 31 December, we will have students who have previously used the Parkes telescope control it from Sydney Observatory. They will observe the pulsar that has been "counting down" through December.
From Parkes we would send an audio and video feed of the astronomers in the control room and the pulsar's signal. This would go to Sydney Observatory, where it would be combined with a feed from Sydney Observatory.
At the moment of midnight, following the pulsar countdown, the time ball at Sydney Observatory will be dropped.
At the same time, the fireworks on Sydney Harbour will start.
We expect to be able to make the video signal of the countdown and the timeball dropping available at standard videoconferencing resolution, to up to ten other countries: to access it, you would dial into an mcu unit as if you were running a videoconference.
We would also be able to provide access for foreign media organisations at both Sydney Observatory and the Parkes Observatory.
If you are interested in either of those possibilities, could you let me know within days?
Because the videoconferencing is limited to ten countries, we'll be able to give access only to the first ten countries that reply.
Best wishes for your respective plans for IYA -
Helen
Public Relations and Media Liaison
CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility (email: Helen.Sim@csiro.au)
and
Anglo-Australian Observatory (email: hsim@aao.gov.au)
Tel: +61-2-9372-4251
Mob: +61-419-635-905
IYA2009 EVENTS
· IYA2009 Opening Event, 15-16 January 2008 - http://www.astronomy2009.fr/opening
· International Astronomical Union Symposium 260: "The Rôle of Astronomy in Society and Culture" UNESCO, Paris 19-23 January 2009 - http://iaus260.obspm.fr/index.php
This conference will bring together many individuals who strive to ensure that astronomy is present at all levels in education, society and culture worldwide.
Summary from the Education and Popularisation of Astronomy Session in 10th APRIM, the 10th Asian-Pacific Regional IAU Meeting, held from 3-6 August 2008Report by Avivah Yamani: http://www.astronomy2009.org/resources/documents/detail/documents_aprim2008/
As always, if you have any questions then please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards,
Pedro and Mariana
IYA2009 Secretariat
Cloudy Nights - Official Forums of the IYA2009
16 October 2008
Evaluation guide for IYA2009 projects
15 October 2008
Read more about it on: http://www.astronomy2009.org/resources/documents/detail/evaluation_guide_for_spocs/
Summary from Education and Popularisation of Astronomy Session in 10th APRIM
13 October 2008
Summary from Education and Popularisation of Astronomy Session in 10th APRIM
Report by Avivah Yamani
http://www.astronomy2009.org/resources/documents/detail/documents_aprim2008/
IYA2009 Brochure in Arabic
10 October 2008
IYA2009 Brochure in Arabic
http://www.astronomy2009.org/resources/brochures/detail/brochure03_ara/
Newsletter to SPoCs: IYA2009: New website, Resources, Cornerstone Projects and Events
2 October 2008
Dear SpoCs and Chairs,
The IYA2009 newsletter for this week:
Organisational Matters
The IYA2009 is still growing: we have 126 National Nodes and we would like to take this opportunity to welcome the Republic of Belarus and DPR Korea, our latest National Nodes, to IYA2009.
IYA2009 Questionnaire to SPoCs
We have received questionnaires from most of you, and are now processing the data before a short report will be produced. Thank you very much to all of you who have sent the questionnaire.
IYA2009 New Website
After weeks of hard work the astronomy2009.org website has undergone an overhaul and now boasts improved design, functionality, navigation and resources! Receiving over 1500 visitors every day, it is gaining popularity and we are sure that this number will grow with time. More user-friendly than ever, the site provides an easy way to keep in touch with IYA2009 developments. We are always eager for your feedback, so please feel free to e-mail us at iya2009@eso.org with any suggestions. I would like to express my gratitude to the IYA2009 and ESA/Hubble team for the hard work! Please note that now you can’t update your National page, so if you need to update your contact details, please send us an e-mail. It’s our hope that all the National Nodes will have a National webpage before the end of the year.
IYA2009 Resources
On the IYA2009 website you can find various resources that will help you promote IYA2009 in your community: http://www.astronomy2009.org/resources/
IYA2009 Cornerstone Projects
100 Hours of Astronomy:
The 100 Hours of Astronomy global Cornerstone project has created a mailing list that will be used to keep everyone informed of plans and news. If you want to know the latest on what is happening with this major event in IYA2009, sign up for this free service on the 100 Hours of Astronomy website at www.100hoursofastronomy.org .
Universe Awareness:
International News:
* The world of UNAWE
* Visits to the website
* New tools website
* Presenting UNAWE
* Other resources
Country News:
* India - Netherlands
* Skies above China - UANWE Italy
* Cuentos de Estrellas - a Book by UNAWE en Espanol
* Giant astronomy games in Indonesia
* A Cartoon in Tunisia
* A Planetarium for Venezuela
* UNAWE Ireland is taking off
Download the PDF newsletter here: http://tinyurl.com/unawe-news-Sept2008
Cheers,
Carolina
IYA2009 EVENTS
· IYA2009 Opening Event, 15-16 January 2009 - http://www.astronomy2009.fr/opening
Report from European Planetary Science Congress Session: International Year of Astronomy 2009
With IYA2009 seeming to approach faster than ever, preparations have gone into over-drive. Europlanet’s European Planetary Science Congress, held this year in the German city of Münster,Germany is well-known for its sessions on public engagement. The session “Outreach and Amateur Astronomy” was dedicated to IYA2009 talks, read the full report from Lee Pullen on the IYA2009 website: http://www.astronomy2009.org/resources/documents/detail/iya2009_epsc_report_lp/
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards,
Pedro
IYA2009 Secretariat
TWAN seeks venues
19 September 2008
Exhibit The World At Night
TWAN calls for the best world-wide venues to host exhibitions and educational events during International Year of Astronomy 2009 and beyond.
The World at Night (TWAN) as a Special Project of International Year of Astronomy 2009 (UNESCO/IAU) is seeking venues for major exhibitions worldwide during IYA2009. These exhibitions will enhance the offerings of any museum or public space exhibit with eye-catching images created by the TWAN team of specialized photographers. The exhibitions are designed to be shown either indoors or outdoors in interesting settings and can be standalone or in conjunction with other IYA2009 exhibits and activities.
For more information, please go to http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/news.asp?newsID=6016
New IYA2009 website is online
10 September 2008
After weeks of hard work the astronomy2009.org website has undergone an overhaul and now boasts improved design, functionality, navigation and resources! Receiving over 1500 visitors every day, it is gaining popularity and we are sure that this number will grow with time. More user-friendly than ever, the site provides an easy way to keep in touch with IYA2009 developments.
We are always eager for your feedback, so please feel free to e-mail us at iya2009@eso.org with any suggestions.
Newsletter to SPoCs - 09 September 2008
9 September 2008
Dear SpoCs and Chairs,
The next IYA2009 meeting will take place in Vienna, Austria, 10 and 11 September at JENAM2008. During this meeting we will have two sessions dedicated to the IYA2009 programme:
* Thursday, 10 September, 9:00 - 10:20 - plenary talk, with talks from Catherine Cesarsky (IAU President and IAU IYA2009 EC WG Chair), Lars Lindberg Christensen (IAU IYA2009 EC WG Secretary), Pedro Russo (IYA2009 Coordinator) and Thomas Posch (Austrian IYA2009 SPoc).
* Friday, 11 September, 9:30-12:35 - Symposium 2 - Education and Communicating Astronomy in Europe - Preparation for IYA2009
More information: https://www.cosmic-matter.org/indico/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=6
An informal IYA2009 dinner will be held on Thursday, 10 April. SpoCs and their representatives are invited to participate. We will give more information regarding the dinner on site.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I will be available on my mobile number: +4917661100211
Kind regards,
Pedro Russo
Search IYA2009 Updates
National Nodes: 148
Organisational Nodes: 40
Organisational Associates:33
National Websites: 111
Cornerstone Projects: 12
Special Task Groups: 11
Special Projects:16
Official Products:8
Media Partners:22
IYA2009 Patron
