IYA2009 Updates
Beyond IYA2009 Updates
12 November 2010
Last day: The Great World Wide Star Count
The Great World Wide Star Count encourages everyone to go outside, look skyward after dark, note the stars in certain constellations, and report what they could see online. Star Count is designed to raise awareness about the night sky and encourage learning in astronomy. All the information needed to participate is available on the Star Count Web site. Be sure to download the 2010 Activity Guide (available in 8 languages) to prepare your class for this project. More information: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/1087/
The World at Night Newsletter November 2010: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/1086/
International premier of the play ‘Bright Star’
In London UK, the international premier of the play 'Bright Star' about the life of Beatrice Tinsley, ground-breaking cosmologist, wife, mother,daughter and gifted musician. From 9 – 27 November at the Tabbard Theatre (near Turnham Green tube station).: http://www.brightstar-theplay.com
Schools Moonwatch: 10 – 18 November
The UK's Society for Popular Astronomy is holding its annual Schools Moonwatch from 10 – 18 November to encourage schools to dust off their telescopes and go out to look at the Moon and Jupiter. More information: http://www.popastro.com/moonwatch/moonweeks/index.php
Media in Education Newsletter:http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/1089/
MEARIM-II: the 2nd Middle-East and Africa Regional IAU Meeting
Cape Town Ritz Hotel, South Africa (April 10-15, 2011)
More information:http://mearim2.saao.ac.za
International premier of the play ‘Bright Star’
12 November 2010
In London UK, the international premier of the play 'Bright Star' about the life of Beatrice Tinsley, ground-breaking cosmologist, wife, mother,daughter and gifted musician. From 9 – 27 November at the Tabbard Theatre (near Turnham Green tube station).
Schools Moonwatch: 10 – 18 November
12 November 2010
The UK's Society for Popular Astronomy is holding its annual Schools Moonwatch from 10 – 18 November to encourage schools to dust off their telescopes and go out to look at the Moon and Jupiter.
Media in Education Newsletter
12 November 2010
Highlights in this month's newsletter include:
- how documentary film is being used to tackle integration issues in a learning project with significant social impact
- Belgian teacher, Lucas Van der paer's account of a typical day in the life of the connected media-savvy teacher
- Federica, the web-learning multimedia-rich portal of the University of Naples Federico II
- an introduction to webcasting
- MEDEA's new national contact point in Luxembourg
- and plenty of other news items, notifications and announcements related to the use of media in education and training
MEARIM-II: the 2nd Middle-East and Africa Regional IAU Meeting
12 November 2010
Cape Town Ritz Hotel, South Africa April 10-15, 2011
Building on MEARIM I, the astronomical community of the Middle-East and Africa will meet in Cape Town in 2011 to explore the advancement of the astronomical capabilities in the region. It has been brought to our attention that the first announcement was not received by all, so here follows the details of the conference again. Please note the extended deadlines for both abstract submission and financial support applications.
BACKGROUND
The last decade has seen revolutionary advances in astronomical capabilities within the Middle-East and Africa. In particular, the completion of HESS and SALT, together with the construction of KAT-7 and the bid to host the SKA, has transformed the region, bringing world-class capability in ultra-high energy gamma-rays, optical/near-IR and radio wavelengths to southern Africa. The timing is thus ideal for MEARIM-2, to build on these developments and to exploit them for the benefit of the entire region. The latter requires huge effort on the education and outreach front, which will be a significant topic at the meeting.
The Scientific Organizing Committee is taking shape, and organization plans are advancing rapidly. Details can be found at the conference web site: http://mearim2.saao.ac.za
The conference organizing supporters are the IAU and the South African SKA Project (and we hope to receive support from the SALT Foundation and South Africa's National Research Foundation and Department of Science and Technology). In this official announcement, we are contacting you with information on important deadlines, and inviting you to register, and submit an abstract for one of the science sessions listed below.
SCIENCE SESSION TOPICS
S1: Galaxies and Large-Scale Structure
S2: Space Astronomy & High Energy Astrophysics
S3: Sun, Stellar Interiors & Heliosphere
S4: Virtual Observatory & Data Handling (including the African VO, pipeline processing, archival research)
S5: Optical/NIR Telescopes & Instrumentation (including SALT, robotic facilities)
S6: Astronomy for the Developing World (linked to the IAU plan)
A - Astronomy Research/Cooperation in Space/Education in Africa
B - Training for MEA young astronomers
S7: Radio Telescopes & Instrumentation (including SKA, MeerKAT, HartRAO, C-BASS, PAPER)
S8: Stellar Astrophysics & Galactic Structure:
A - stellar evolution
B - interacting binaries
C - star formation
S9: Planetary Astronomy & Exoplanets
S10: Theoretical Cosmology
S11: Observational Cosmology
FORMAT
Participants would arrive by the Sunday afternoon when there will be a welcome reception that evening at SAAO. It is then planned to cover the sessions listed above over the following 5 days, with the mid-week (Wednesday) afternoon free for excursions and other activities. In order to maximise interactions between different fields, there will be morning plenary (including invited) talks and the remainder in parallel sessions, with the detailed scheduling amongst the session topics to be decided based on the abstracts submitted.
REGISTRATION FEE
The deadline for early registration is February 22, 2011. The early-registration fee is equal to R2500 (R3000 for later registrations). This fee will cover the conference room, all coffee breaks, lunches, the reception on the evening of April 10, and the proceedings.
If you need to cancel your registration, the LOC must be notified by 15 March 2011 for a refund of registration costs (less a R200.00 processing fee).
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Limited financial support is available, preferentially to support students and those presenting an oral or poster paper. A completed application, which is part of the registration form, must be received by 15 December 2010.
IMPORTANT DATES/DEADLINES:
17 September 2010 Registration opens
15 December 2010 Abstract submission & financial support application deadline
31 December 2010 Deadline for hotel bookings at conference rate
22 February 2011 Early bird registration closes
22 March 2011 Registration closes (earlier if meeting is oversubscribed)
CONFERENCE HOTEL AND ACCOMMODATION
The conference will take place at the Cape Town Ritz Hotel, located in Sea Point, Cape Town, very close to the promenade, and with access to the V&A Waterfront area. Full details can be found at http://www.africanskyhotels.com/hotels/cape-town-ritz-hotel
A set of rooms has been reserved at the hotel for conference participants at very favourable rates, which will be available until the end of this year (or until fully booked!).
Rooms can be secured at this special rate by using reservation code "SAAO":
. R650.00 per single room per night (incl. breakfast & taxes)
. R750.00 per double room per night (incl. breakfast & taxes)
You have to book your room directly with the hotel by contacting Micky Rudolph by email at ritz@africanskyhotel.com or by phone on +27 (0)21 439 1162.
Sharing Rooms
We have also set up a system on the registration page through which participants interested in finding room-mates can pair up.
More accommodation options can be found on the Cape Town Tourism website at http://www.capetown.travel/accommodation/
SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
This is still being constructed, but will essentially bring together the organisers of the parallel science sessions. Those committed so far, together with their relevant sessions (and session panel members) are:
Phil Charles (chair)
Erwin de Blok S1 (Renee Kraan-Korteweg, Hartmut Winkler, David Block)
Piet Meintjies S2 (Okkie de Jager, Ramotholo Sefako)
Thebe Medupe S3 (Chris Engelbrecht, Stefan Ferreira)
Sudhanshu Barway S4 (Steve Crawford)
David Buckley S5 (Darragh O'Donoghue)
Kevin Govender S6A (Carolina Odman)
Peter Dunsby S6B (Patricia Whitelock)
Justin Jonas S7 (Roy Booth, Anja Schroeder)
Patricia Whitelock S8A (Mike Feast)
Patrick Woudt S8B (Brian Warner, Phil Charles, Steve Potter)
Amanda Gulbis S9 (John Menzies)
Chris Clarkson S10 (Peter Dunsby)
Kavi Moodley S11 (Bruce Bassett)
Ahmed Hady MEARIM-1 co-ordinator
and we are hoping for involvement in all the session panels from astronomers throughout the MEA region, as well as from the IAU itself. We welcome further volunteers to join the session panels.
Please contact relevant SOC members above with suggestions/proposals regarding potential plenary topics/speakers and content for the parallel sessions.
LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Please contact the LOC at info@mearim2.saao.ac.za , if you have any queries.
Phil Charles
Shireen Davis (chair)
Simon Fishley
Thembela Mantungwa
Nazli Mohamed
Glenda Snowball
Last day: The Great World Wide Star Count
12 November 2010
The Great World Wide Star Count encourages everyone to go outside, look skyward after dark, note the stars in certain constellations, and report what they could see online. Star Count is designed to raise awareness about the night sky and encourage learning in astronomy. All the information needed to participate is available on the Star Count Web site. Be sure to download the 2010 Activity Guide (available in 8 languages) to prepare your class for this project.
Participation involves use of a simple protocol and an easy data entry form. During the first three years, over 31,000 individuals from 64 countries and all 7 continents participated in this campaign to measure light pollution globally.
At the conclusion of the event, maps and datasets will be generated highlighting the results of this exciting citizen science campaign. Mark your calendars and plan on joining thousands of other students, families, and citizen scientists counting stars this fall.
The Great World Wide Star Count will be held from October 29 - November 12, 2010. For more information visit starcount.org or email starcount_info@ucar.edu.
The World at Night Newsletter November 2010
7 November 2010
New Publications: TWAN Book in German and Dutch: The World at Night has its first official book published in Europe. The large coffee-table book is illustrated with some of the most beautiful TWAN photos.
Top Viewed Photos July-September 2010:
See the most visited photos on TWAN website during summer 2010.
New Topics Galleries: Each month there will be new topical galleries on TWAN to make searching through TWAN enlarging archive easier. The new topical galleries are Moon, Milky Way, Meteors, Comets, Eclipses, Aurora, and stunning Virtual Reality animations of night sky.
Join TWAN fans on Facebook: Learn about the latest updates on the project and communicate with TWAN photographers at The World at Night page on Facebook page.
There are new stunning photos and time-lapse videos on the TWAN website, featuring starry nights of our planet's landmarks from around the world:
Africa
Algeria
- The Galaxy above Our Ancient Ancestors by Babak A. Tafreshi
- Sahara under Moonlight by Babak A. Tafreshi
- The Celestial Bears above Sahara by Babak A. Tafreshi
Tanzania
- Sky from Slopes of Kilimanjaro (VR/video) by Kwon O Chul
- Meteor and Alpha Centauri by Kwon O Chul
- Galactic Bulge above Kilimanjaro by Kwon O Chul
Americas
Canada
- Aurora Panorama and Strange Dark Bands by Yuichi Takasaka
- Aurora Mystery by Yuichi Takasaka
- Curtains of Green Light by Yuichi Takasaka
Chile
- 360-degree View of The Very Large Telescope by Stephane Guisard
- The Very Large Telescope in Virtual Reality (VR/video) by Stephane Guisard
- Waves in the Sky by Stephane Guisard
- Moonlit Night of a Volcano (VR/video) by Stephane Guisard
- Darkest Possible Sky by Stephane Guisard
- Darkest Sky in Virtual Reality (VR/video) by Stephane Guisard
- Darkest Sky 360-degree Panorama by Stephane Guisard
- Morning Twilight in Patagonia by Stephane Guisard
USA
- Comet Over Cottonwood by Doug Zubenel
- Night at Devils Tower by Wally Pacholka
- Comet over Monument Rocks by Doug Zubenel
- Haunted Moonrise by Dennis Mammana
- Desert Sky Shooter by Dennis Mammana
- Desert Wildflowers & Star Trails by Dennis Mammana
- Desert Stars on a Full Moon Night by Dennis Mammana
- Moon Rocks by Doug Zubenel
- Natural Frame by Doug Zubenel
Asia
Nepal
- Lonely Stupa in Himalayas (VR/video) by Babak A. Tafreshi
Australia and Pacific
Australia
- Deep Impact of 300,000 Years Ago by John Goldsmith
- Panoramic View of Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater by John Goldsmith
- Sky Motion above Wolfe Creek Crater (VR/video) by John Goldsmith
- Moonset on a Meteorite Crater (VR/video) by John Goldsmith
- Anglo-Australian Telescope by Kwon O Chul
- Sky above Uluru by Kwon O Chul
- A Galactic View of Ayres Rock by Kwon O Chul
- Starry Sky above the Heart of Australia by Kwon O Chul
Cook Islands
- Island Planets by Tunc Tezel
Europe
France
- Sky Friendly Village by Laurent Laveder
- Mira above Brittany by Laurent Laveder
Greece
- Acropolis Moon by Anthony Ayiomamitis
- Traditional Village and Modern Lights by P-M Heden
Hungary
- Milky Way above Hungary by Tamas Ladanyi
- Night at Sunflowers by Tamas Ladanyi
- Castle Moonset by Tamas Ladanyi
- Moonset in Balaton Uplands (VR/video) by Tamas Ladanyi
- Fall Colors under Moonlight by Tamas Ladanyi
- Palace Stars by Tamas Ladanyi
- Mira Looks at Mira by Tamas Ladanyi
Sweden
- Welcoming an Approaching Comet by P-M Heden
- Astronomy Heritage of Lund by Babak A. Tafreshi
- Moonlight on River by P-M Heden
- Old Church in a Full Moon Night by P-M Heden
- Full Moon Rises in an Autumn Evening by P-M Heden
- Trails and Aurora Borealis by P-M Heden
Middle East
Iran
- The Rose of Night Sky by Babak A. Tafreshi
- Double Crescents by Babak A. Tafreshi
- Meteor Watch by Babak A. Tafreshi
- UFO Cloud? by Babak A. Tafreshi
- If We Had Super Eyes by Babak A. Tafreshi
- Spotlight on TWAN by Oshin D. Zakarian
- Stars and Colors of Autumn by Oshin D. Zakarian
- Winter Milky Way by Babak A. Tafreshi
- Mount Damavand Star Trails by Amir H. Abolfath
- Stars Trail above Desert Landscape by Amir H. Abolfath
- Cave Frame by Amir H. Abolfath
- Startrails above Isfahan by Amir H. Abolfath
- Big Dipper above the Gate of All Nations by Amir H. Abolfath
- Seven Sisters and California Nebula by Babak A. Tafreshi
- Watching a Celestial Pair by Babak A. Tafreshi
- A Moment with Hafez by Oshin D. Zakarian
- Sky Prayer by Oshin D. Zakarian
- Autumn Twilight by Oshin D. Zakarian
- The Orion Nebula by Amir H. Abolfath
Turkey
- Unusual Streaks by Tunc Tezel
- Antipodes Milky Way by Tunc Tezel
- All Sky from Both Hemispheres by Tunc Tezel
- Mediterranean Jupiter by Tunc Tezel
- Jupiter from Izmir Seaside by Tunc Tezel
Polar Regions
USA
- Lunar Corona on a Snowy Night by Dennis Mammana
- Crown of Color by Dennis Mammana
The Guest Gallery is a well-received section on the TWAN website, featuring selected outstanding Earth and sky photos by non-TWAN creative photographers from around the globe. If you have such remarkable photos to share with the TWAN Guest Gallery then please contact us. There are new featured photos in the Guest Gallery:
- Montado Star Trails (Barrancos, Alentejo, Portugal) by Goncalo Lemos
- Star Trails over Koohpanah (Mt. Koohpanah, Tafresh, Markazi, Iran) by Abdolhossein Hashemizadeh
- Milky Way trails above Hatu (Hatu, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, Indian Himalayas) by Ajay Talwar
- Totality from Mauna Kea (Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii, USA) by Richard Wainscoat
- Star Trails and Star Party (Seqaleh, Iran) by Amirreza Kamkar
- Summer Milky Way over Zion (Zion National Park, Utah, USA) by John A Davis
- Stars over the Caspian Sea (Caspian Sea, Mazandaran, Iran) by Mojtaba Moghadasi
- Springtime with Hyades, Venus, and Pleaides (CAST Observatory, Talmassons, Friui, Italy) by Marco Candotti
- Lunar Eclipse and Desert Landscape (Phoenix, Arizona, USA) by Marion Haligowski
- Moon and Venus Conjunction Panorama (Kermanshah, Iran) by M. Saber Karimi
- Spotlight on Bryce Canyon (Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA) by Ben Cooper
- Lisbon Light Pollution Panorama (Almada, Lisboa Portugal) by Miguel Claro
- Satellite Trail above the Northern Forests (Sea to Sky Highway, British Columbia, Canada) by Masoud Rafiei
- Inside the Shadow of Mauna Kea (Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii, USA) by Richard Wainscoat
- Monumental Leonid Storm (Monument Valley, Utah/Arizona, USA) by Sean M. Sabatini
- Night at 69-degrees North (Andenes, Nordland, Norway) by Terje Nesthus
- Venus over Spitzkoppe (Spitzkoppe Campsite, Namibia) by Michael Steffen
- Milky Way above Balanced Rock (Arches National Park, Utah, USA) by Marco Meniero
- A Dream House with Stars (Vila Boim, Alentejo, Portugal) by Miguel Claro
- Perseids and Lightning (Montevenere, Bologna, Italy) by Michele Brusa
- Trails with Peace and Beauty (Gouvia Marina, Corfu, Greece) by Vasilis Metallinos
- Perseid and the Pleiades (Alborz Mountains, Firooz Kouh, Iran) by Mohammad Reza Zaman Sani
- Star Trails over Esfahan (Abyaneh, Esfahan, Iran) by Ata Moghtaderi
- Hyakutake over Rabbit Island (Oahu, Hawaii, USA) by Richard Wainscoat
- Kilimanjaro beneath the Milky Way (Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania) by Ted Ressell
- Norway Aurora (Andenes, Nordland, Norway) by Terje Nesthus
- The Quest for Dark Skies (Hanle, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India) by Ajay Talwar, Vikrant Narang, Raghu Kalra
Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD), a NASA’s world-known website, has featured new images by TWAN photographers:
- Mirach’s Ghost by Anthony Ayiomamitis
- Venus After Sunset by Tunc Tezel
TWAN is featuring 13 special galleries:
Dark Skies Importance
World Heritage Sites
TWAN APODs
TWAN on National Geographic News
TWAN is a global program of Astronomers Without Borders (www.astrowb.org) and a Special Project of International Year of Astronomy, an initiative by IAU and UNESCO. The World at Night is to produce and present a collection of stunning photographs of the world's most beautiful and historic sites against the nighttime backdrop of stars, planets and celestial events. The eternally peaceful sky looks the same above all symbols of different nations and regions, attesting to the truly unified nature of Earth as a planet rather than an amalgam of human-designated territories.
Building bridges through the sky
The World at Night
www.twanight.org
Beyond IYA2009 Updates
5 November 2010
Nominations Invited for 2011 ASP Educational Awards
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific is now accepting nominations for the Society’s 2011 awards honoring accomplishments in astronomy education and public outreach. Recipients receive a cash award and engraved plaque, as well as travel and lodging to accept the award at the Society’s 2011 Meeting, to be held in Baltimore, Maryland July 30 - Aug. 3. More information: http://www.astrosociety.org/membership/awards/awards.html
IAU Commission 46: Astronomy Education and Development: The latest C46 newsletter is available:http://www.iaucomm46.org/content/newsletters
John Dobson Webcast Space Available
John Dobson, popularizer of the widely-used Dobsonian telescope design that now bears his name, will be interviewed in the first episode of a new series of webcasts, Astronomers Without Borders' Living Legend Series on Saturday, November 13. More information: http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/projects/living-legend-series.html
Discover ESO's Hidden Treasures: An Astronomical Images Competition
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is proud to present Hidden Treasures — a free competition for everyone who enjoys making beautiful images of the night sky using real astronomical data. The competition has some extremely attractive prizes for the lucky winners who produce the most beautiful and original images, including an all expenses paid trip to ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Cerro Paranal, in Chile, the world’s most advanced optical telescope. And the winner will have a chance to participate in the nightly VLT observations under the crisp Chilean skies. More information: http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/hiddentreasures/
John Dobson Webcast Space Available
5 November 2010
John Dobson, popularizer of the widely-used Dobsonian telescope design that now bears his name, will be interviewed in the first episode of a new series of webcasts, Astronomers Without Borders' Living Legend Series on Saturday, November 13.
Reserve your space now. First priority will be given to groups holding events to maximize the number of people taking part in the live webcast. Affiliates of Astronomers Without Borders, the groups that are a part of the AWB global community, will be given top priority. Registration as an AWB Affiliate is free and open to astronomy clubs, advocacy groups, manufacturers, retailers, university departments and more - ALL groups related to astronomy and space.
Reserve your space in the live webcast
Learn more about AWB Affiliates and register your group
A limited number of groups will be able to take part in the webcast and ask questions to John Dobson directly.
Nominations Invited for 2011 ASP Educational Awards
4 November 2010
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific is now accepting nominations for the Society’s 2011 awards honoring accomplishments in astronomy education and public outreach. Recipients receive a cash award and engraved plaque, as well as travel and lodging to accept the award at the Society’s 2011 Meeting, to be held in Baltimore, Maryland July 30 - Aug. 3.
More information: http://www.astrosociety.org/membership/awards/awards.html
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Cornerstone Projects: 12
Special Task Groups: 11
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Official Products:8
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