IYA2009 Updates

400 years of the Telescope to be shown on PBS

26 March 2010

IYA2009 Special project 400 Years of the Telescope is an exciting multimedia celebration of Galileo's first telescopic observations of the cosmos, and the resulting journey of discovery for humanity.

An upcoming PBS broadcast in the USA on 9 April 2010 means that it will reach an even wider audience. Check your local TV listings for details.

For more information about the film, please visit: http://www.400years.org/en/

New astronomy book drives

26 March 2010

The purpose of the project “Astro Book Drive” is to cultivate astronomy education in developing countries by donating excess books. Through Astro Book Drive, it is hoped that many will benefit. Now new book drives have been announced, and your help is needed to make them a success.

Tanzania Book Drive – a Beautiful Connection
UNAWE – Tanzania is lead by group of young people who are dedicated to bring the Universe to the local students. As an appreciation to their efforts, Greater Portland Astronomical Society (GPAS) –Maine. USA will be running a book drive to facilitate UNAWE – Tanzania to improve their astronomy outreach efforts. Read more…

Afghanistan Book Drive – StarPals contributes to Afghanistan Astronomical Association
Afghanistan Astronomical Association (AAA) was born during IYA2009, with hope to the luminous future and by sound dissemination of Astronomy and humanization of this culture, performing his role in building of Afghanistan 's future. As an appreciation for their efforts, StarPals will be donating some resources to facilitate AAA to improve their astronomy outreach efforts. Read more…

Other Book Drives: http://astrodrive.lakdiva.net/projects

Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Rwanda, Jamaica, etc…

Upcoming Book Drives:

African Book Drive – Await more information!

New Affiliation:

AstroBookDrive was endorsed by EurAstro. The Founder and President of EurAstro; Jean-Luc Dighaye says, "Transferring surplus astronomy books and educational material from well-equipped European regions to poorer places with low awareness in astronomy is a highly commendable endeavor." Read more…

Get Involved - DONATE!
If you or your group would like to donate materials to a group, please check - Get Involved and FAQ. For more information you can contact AstroBookDrive.

Read the Call for run a book drive

REQUEST!
If you would like to request books for your group, please go to the Request page

ABOUT
To learn how AstroBookDrive started and who's behind it, please go to the About page

Be part of a worldwide peace chain for Global Astronomy Month

26 March 2010

Inspired by the idea of sharing the beauty of the sky across national borders, “Thirty Nights of StarPeace” is a worldwide-scale event that will join together astronomy groups in neighboring countries, one patch of Earth at the time, on successive nights during the month of April.

Using geographical longitude as a reference, the Earth has been divided into 10 equal segments, each one spanning 36 degrees of longitude. Countries located in each of these 10 segments will have a period of three days to participate in the Thirty Nights of StarPeace project.

To be involved, synchronise your group with an astronomy group across your national border, so that both groups observe the beauty of the sky at the same time. The event will start at 180 degrees longitude (the International Dateline), and proceed westward in three-day increments. Thus, countries located between 180 and 144 degrees east longitude will pick a night from 1-3 April for their public night of observation. Countries located between 144 and 108 degrees will have the 4-6 April time-slot, and so forth. In this way, through the month, the starry-night experience will progress around the globe westward in 10 stages, creating a global star peace!

For more details, please visit: http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/index.php/projects/global-astronomy-month/programs/global-programs/111-physical-events/254-30-nights-of-starpeace.html

Noted Astronomers and Latest Astronomical Discoveries Featured in Two Podcast Series from the Astron

24 March 2010

The web-site of the nonprofit Astronomical Society of the Pacific now provides two different series of podcasts involving interviews with and talks by leading astronomers:

1) "Astronomy Behind the Headlines" features short interviews that give you a look at the latest discoveries in astronomy and space science and provide links to related resources and activities. It is particularly designed for the staff of science museums, planetariums, and nature centers, but can be enjoyed by educators in all settings and everyone who follows astronomy.

The latest episode takes a look at the black hole at the dusty heart of the Milky Way Galaxy. We can’t see it visually, but radio astronomers can spot it with their instruments. A group led by Dr. Shep Doeleman at MIT’s Haystack Observatory recently made a startling measurement of the disk through which the black hole is gathering in material, and in a brief interview, Dr. Doeleman explains the meaning of his discovery.

To listen to the latest episode, access related resource and subscribe via iTunes or XML, go to:
http://www.astrosociety.org/abh/

Other podcasts in the series include interviews with planetary astronomer Heidi Hammel and meteor expert and meteorite discoverer Peter Jenniskens.

2) "The Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures" feature complete talks by noted astronomers, recorded in both audio-only and video formats. Among the scientists who have spoken recently in the series are: Paul Kalas, whose group took the first visible-light image of a planet around another star (using the Hubble Space Telescope); Lynn Rothschild, an astrobiologists who explores some of the most hostile places on Earth to find life forms that might also survive on other worlds; and Patricia Burchat, a physicist who is seeking a better understanding of the dark matter and dark energy that seem to make up most of the universe through experiments.

Recordings of past speakers include Frank Drake, the father of the experimental search for extra-terrestrial intelligence, planet hunter Geoff Marcy, and Stephen Beckwith, the former Director of the Hubble.

You can find the audio podcasts, and instructions for getting to the video versions at:
http://www.astrosociety.org/education/podcast/

International Sidewalk Astronomy Night

21 March 2010

Fourth annual event on 20 March

Amateur Astronomers everywhere should take their telescopes out on the street to share with the public! John Dobson started on the corner of Jackson and Broderick in San Francisco in the late 60's, showing pedestrians the Moon and planets. Since then Sidewalk Astronomers have spread worldwide and can be found in city parks, on street corners, in front of bookstores and movie theaters around the world on any given night, but once a year we ALL go out together.

International Sidewalk Astronomy Month (ISAN4) is a great warm-up for all your GAM activities. So dust off your scope and take to the streets. Use it to advertise your events during GAM. See the ISAN4 web site for more information on what to do and who else is participating.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE
If you are affiliated with an astronomy group, get together, take your telescope to the street and get passers by to view the beauty of the Universe. You can set up in places like city parks, near shopping malls, movie theaters, street corners or where ever you see as a possibility.

Not affiliated with any group? You can still join in; get your telescope out to the street and show people “what’s up there”.

REGISTER YOUR EVENT:
If you or your group plans to take your scopes to the street on the 20th of March you can register your event on the ISAN registration page.

Join ISAN4 on Facebook

Do you need a copy of the ISAN4 banner for your event? Download it here.

DATE: 20 MARCH 2010

Explore the Universe Through Remote Observing During GAM2010

20 March 2010

One of the Global Programs taking place during Global Astronomy Month this April is the Remote Observing Program of Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory in Italy, with participants from around the world joining each observing session via the Internet.

Using a 35 cm telescope, observatory founder Gianluca Masi will guide participants through several journeys unveiling the beauty and mysteries of the Universe.

The GAM remote observing sessions include asteroid hunts, exoplanet observations, a Messier Marathon, Solar System exploration and even observations on demand. For registration visit http://virtualtelescope.bellatrixobservatory.org/gam2010vt.html.

Public events

5 April 2010: Online Messier Marathon