IYA2009 Updates
100HA: Sidewalk Astronomy and Star Party Awards Competition Results
15 July 2009
The International Year of Astronomy 2009 Cornerstone project, 100 Hours of Astronomy, became the largest single science public outreach event ever held. Its success was due to the thousands of dedicated amateur and professional astronomers worldwide. To thank the many groups who take part in this event, the 100 Hours of Astronomy Task Team and their sponsors, Celestron and Explore Scientific, gave all registered groups the opportunity to take part in a competition recognising the hard work and effort that went into showcasing
astronomy to millions of citizens worldwide.
We are pleased to announce the following winners of the 100 Hours of Astronomy Sidewalk Astronomy and Star party competition.
Award One: Largest number of registered events held by a single astronomy group, club or society
Winner: Centro de Estudos Astronômicos de Alagoas (CEAAL) - Brazil
Highly Commended: IYA Puerto Rico
Highly Commended: Jiangsu Astronomical Society - China
Award Two: Largest single registered 100 Hours of Astronomy event.
Winner: Jiangsu Astronomical Society - China
Highly Commended: RAMIP - France
Highly Commended: SARM - Romania
Award Three: Community outreach award.
Winner: The Levin Stargazers - New Zealand
Highly Commended: South-western Montana Astronomical Society - United States of America
Highly Commended: Camden County Library Astronomy Club - United States of America
Award Four: Most Innovative 100 Hours of Astronomy event.
Winner: Manthan Educational Programme Society - India
Highly Commended: Navegar Foundation - Portugal
Highly Commended: A.N.I.C - Colombia
Award Five: Most complete astronomy club, group, or society member participation.
Winner: Centre for Basic Space Science, Nsukka Enugu State - Nigeria.
Highly Commended: Rixastro - Belgium
Highly Commended: Mahatma Gandhi Mission's Centre for Astronomy & Space Technology - India
Award Six: Most publicised 100 Hour of Astronomy registered event.
Winner: Sirius Astronomy Association - Algeria
Highly Commended: AUI/NRAO - Chile
Award Seven: 100 Hours of Astronomy youth participation award.
Winner: Upmanya Moitra, Dhirananda Roy Study & Research CentreIndia - Calcutta
Highly Commended: Robin Lee, CCH Astro Club - Malaysia
Highly Commended: Elias Jordon, Kansas Astronomical Observers- United States of America
Award Eight: Outstanding Individual within a registered 100 Hours of Astronomy event.
Winner: Ana Maria Mourão, Centra/IST - Portugal
Highly Commended: Pro P.N Okeke, Centre for Basic Space Science, Nsukka Enugu State - Nigeria.
Highly Commended: Paul Moss, The Levin Stargazers - New Zealand
More information
100 Hours of Astronomy website: http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org
100 Hours of Astronomy Publicity Contacts
Donna Smith: Sidewalk Astronomy Coordinator
dsmith1055@earthlink.net
Mike Simmons Co-Chair
mikes@astronomerswithoutborders.org
The World at Night Newsletter
14 July 2009
News and Report
- The World at Night in collaboration with Dark Skies Awareness project, organize the International Year of Astronomy 2009 Earth and Sky Photo Contest on the importance of dark skies. It is open to anyone of any age, anywhere in the world. More
TWAN in Western Australia - The World at Night exhibition made its first exposure in Australia, in the city of Perth.
TWAN in the Second Life - From the beginning of 2009, the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009), TWAN opened its exhibition in the Second Life.
TWAN Exhibition Tours in Friuli - TWAN images travel in the north east Italy in several towns of Friuli region.
There are new stunning photos and time-lapse videos on TWAN website, featuring starry nights of the planet's landmarks from all over the world.
Americas
USA
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Devils Tower) by Wally Pacholka
South Dakota Starry Night (Badlands National park) by Wally Pacholka
Badlands Milky Way (Badlands National park) by Wally Pacholka
Presidential Sky (Mount Rushmore) by Wally Pacholka
Mount Rushmore (Mount Rushmore) by Wally Pacholka
Long Tail Comet (Maryland) by Fred Espenak
Comet, Milky Way, and Zodiacal Light (Kansas) by Doug Zubenel
Detecting Gamma Rays (Whipple Observatory) by P.K. Chen
Shed With a View (Kansas) by Doug Zubenel
The Shadow of the Earth (Hawaii) by Doug Zubenel
Canada
Dancing Aurora (Northwest Territories) video by Yuichi Takasaka
Bolivia
Night at Lake Titicaca (Lake Titicaca) by Fred Espenak
Bolivia Startrails (Lake Titicaca) by Fred Espenak
Europe
France
Moon for Dinner (Brittany) Laurent Laveder
Saint Michel (Normandy) Laurent Laveder
Star Wars (Brittany) Laurent Laveder
Stars or Lights (Brittany) Laurent Laveder
Greece
Thin Crescent and St George (Athens) by Anthony Ayiomamitis
Hungary
Moon and Planets in Hungary (Veszprem) by Tamas Ladanyi
Castle, Startrails, and Iridium Flare (Veszprem) by Tamas Ladanyi
Meteors and Iridium Flash (Veszprem) by Tamas Ladanyi
Sweden
Painting on the Sky (Vallentuna) by P-M Heden
Sun Pillar (Vallentuna) by P-M Heden
Perseus in Gotland (Gotland) by P-M Heden
Spain
Acrobats and Stars (Figueres) by Juan Carlos Casado
Switzerland
Matternhorn in Moonlight (Mount Matterhorn) by Bernd Proschold
Africa
Algeria
Sahara Wondrland (Tassili National park) by Babak A. Tafreshi
Algiers Moonrise (Algiers) video by Babak A. Tafreshi
Scorpion Rise (Tassili National park) by Babak A. Tafreshi
Asia and Middle East
Iran
Perseid Meteor Shower (Mount Damavand) by video Babak A. Tafreshi
Milky Way and Zagros Flowers (Zagros Mountains) by Oshin D. Zakarian
Conjunction and Fall Colors (Tehran) by Babak A. Tafreshi
Clouds and Stars above the Volcano (Mount Damavand) video by Babak A. Tafreshi
Cars and Stars (Alborz Mountains) by video Babak A. Tafreshi
Night Sky Observer (Alamut Valley) by Oshin D. Zakarian
Seasons (Alamut Valley) by Oshin D. Zakarian
Turkey
Aristotle Nightscape (Asos) by Tunc Tezel
Snow and Stars (Kas) by Tunc Tezel
Venus, Mars, and the Seven Sisters (Denizli) by Tunc Tezel
Armenia
Armenia Night Pass (Geghard) by video Babak A. Tafreshi
Night at the Temple (Garni Temple) video by Babak A. Tafreshi
Australia and Pacific
Australia
Moon and Venus (Western Australia) by David Miller/David Malin Images
Planets in Kangaroo Island (Kangaroo Island) by David Miller/David Malin Images
Miraged Sunset and Green Flash (Western Australia) by David Miller/David Malin Images
Polar Regions
Silver Moon (USA-Alaska) by LeRoy Zimmerman
Fairbanks Light Symphony (USA-Alaska) by LeRoy Zimmerman
Road Show (USA-Alaska) by LeRoy Zimmerman
Seek the Light (USA-Alaska) by LeRoy Zimmerman
Guest Gallery is a well-received section on TWAN website to feature selected outstanding Earth and sky photos by non-TWAN creative photographers from around the globe. If you have such remarkable photos to share with TWAN Guest Gallery, please contact us. There are new featured photos on the Guest Gallery:
- Frozen Bavarian Lake Panorama (Germany) by Johannes Gligoris
- Benzingspitz Peak Panorama (Germany) by Johannes Gligoris
- Lake Spitzingsee Winter Panorama (Germany) by Johannes Gligoris
- Spring Arrives (Iran) by Mahdi Hosseini
- Lights of Tehran and Moonset Trail (Iran) by Amin Jamshidi
- Approaching Dawn Panorama (Canada) by Darren Foltinek
- Medieval Lunar Eclipse (Italy) by Daniele Cipollina
- Star Trails over Khoor Salt Lake (Iran) by Ehsan Sanaei Ardakani
- Moonrise above Ketchikan (Alaska, USA) by Chip Porter
- Mount Grappa Star Trails (Italy) by Daniele Mineri
- Starry Night at Petra, Jordon (Jordon) by Manuel Jimenez
- Milky Way from San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) by Saevar Helgi Bragason
- Venus Moon Conjunction Panorama (India) by Atish and Tarun Chawla
- 2008 Total Solar Eclipse in China (China) by Stephan Heinsius
- Kissed by the Moonlight (Germany) by Franz Xaver Kohlhauf
- Bavarian Winternight (Germany) by Franz Xaver Kohlhauf
- ISS over Avebury Stone Circle (England) by Pete Glastonbury
- Ara Pacis, the Warrior and the Dog (Italy) by Marco Candotti
- Moon, Venus, and Jupiter (Bermuda) by Adrian Mendoza
- Warm Windy Night (Hawaii) by Chip Porter
- The Big Dipper over Sedona (USA) by Laurie Larson
- Night and Day (France) by Stefano De Rosa
- TWAN is featuring six special galleries:
The Universe Comes To the US Nation’s Capitol
13 July 2009
The "From Earth to the Universe" exhibition (FETTU) has opened outside the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. This display of some 50 large-scale astronomical images will be available to the public through the end of July.
Also arriving in Washington, DC, later this month will be FETTU panels for the visually impaired. These panels will feature tactile displays of the images as well as Braille versions of the caption material. The exhibit will open on July 18th at the Martin Luther King Jr. library, the main building of the DC Public Library, and run through mid-September.
FETTU is a global cornerstone project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, a worldwide effort to promote astronomy in the 400th year after Galileo. As the name suggests, FETTU is an image collection of astronomical objects ranging from our home planet through the Galaxy to the farthest corners of the Universe. These images contain data from both telescopes on the ground and in space that observe in many different types of light - from radio to optical to X-rays and beyond.
The arrival of FETTU at the National Air and Space Museum highlights the midpoint of the journey for this traveling version, supported by NASA, which has already made stops in Tucson, AZ, Memphis, TN, and Anchorage, AK. Additional venues for both the outdoor exhibit and panels for the visually impaired are being scheduled for the rest of the year.
Globally, there have been over 250 FETTU exhibits in more than 60 countries -- and on every continent except Antarctica -- around the world thus far. The venues hosting FETTU have been wide ranging, from parks to community centers to libraries to art festivals and beyond. These worldwide exhibits have been funded through a variety of local resources and are organized by each individual location. For a full list of known FETTU exhibits - both in the US and internationally - visit http://www.fromearthtotheuniverse.org/table_events.php.
The goal of FETTU is to engage the public - especially those who might not think they are interested in astronomy or science - through the stunning beauty of astronomical images. Short and informative captions on the panels, as well as a comprehensive website, are available to help the viewer become introduced to the science behind the aesthetics.
The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum building is located on the National Mall at Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W. in Washington, D.C. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library is at 901 G Street, NW, also in the District.
More information on FETTU, a project produced and directed by the Chandra X-ray Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, can be found at www.fromearthtotheuniverse.org
For the full scope of IYA 2009 activities, visit and http://astronomy2009.org and http://astronomy2009.us/
IYA2009 News Round-up
10 July 2009
Galileo is the scientist that just keeps on giving. His discoveries 400 years ago inspired the International Year of Astronomy 2009, and now a new theory says that Galileo knew he found a new planet in 1613, a staggering 234 years before its official discovery date. This corker of a story is up on Science Daily and is required reading. The gist is that Galileo's notebooks show he noticed Neptune while observing Jupiter, but further analysis could reveal that he realised it was a planet. Blimey!
Still on the theme of Galileo, his telescope is still on display at the Franklin Institute, says Central Jersey. Follow that link for lots of into about the astronomer himself, and other features of the exhibition.
Black Hills Portal is a vaguely ominous name for a website, but they've come up trumps with a story about a NASA Challenger Learning Center fundraising starparty. Taking place at the Daly Ranch North of the Gillette, Wyoming Airport off Hwy (which I assume but cannot guarantee means "highway") 14 - 16, on 10 July, the proceeds will go toward building the Center. Attendees must bring blankets, chairs, binoculars, telescopes, and torches. And presumably cash, too.
More IYA2009-themed coins have been produced, this time by the Royal Canadian Mint, says Resource Investor. Called the $30 Sterling Silver International Year of Astronomy collector coin, it's being released with a playing-card one, something to do with autumn raindrops, a train one, and a pure-gold coin. I'll have the gold one please. Coin News has more details, including pictures. The astronomy one is clearly the best although "autumn showers crystal raindrop" also looks really good, but is obviously let down by the name.
Oelwein "fortunate" to get library exhibit is the headline from the Daily Register. The Daily Register separates its stories into the following sections: "news, sports, special, guestbook, services, CRIME AND COURTS." Let's hope that IYA2009 is special. So what's the story? Oelwein library (in the States) has been celebrating the arrival of a new exhibit called "Visions of the Universe; Four Centuries of Discovery", which marks IYA2009. The accompanying photo is hard to make out, but it looks like three people are cutting the ribbon. That's overkill, surely? It certainly seems like the organisers put lots of time and effort into this event, so IYA2009 formally passes on its thanks. Hopefully that makes it all worth it, citizens of Oelwein.
Here's a good opinion article, from Canada's The Globe And Mail. It's about the recurring topic of light pollution, and how IYA2009 is boosting Canada's Dark Sky Preserve Program. The article gives a very good overview of the current situation, and is an excellent introduction to anyone wanting to learn more about the evils of excessive lighting.
And finally, headline of the week: "Wet weather spoils sky watching." Times & Transcript have provided that one, along with a story about how bad the weather has been in New Brunswick of late. Fair play to the journalist, it's better than writing "it's been raining a lot."
That's your weekly dose of English-language news out of the way. Check local sources for stories in other languages, ok?
IYA2009 Update
10 July 2009
The Moon for All Mankind - The Malta Moon
A photograph of the Moon, with sections imaged by different countries, has been produced for IYA2009. See it here: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/356/
IYA2009 Exhibition Panels now available!
New IYA2009 panels are available on the main IYA2009 website: http://www.astronomy2009.org/resources/posters/
IYA2009 Presentations
The IYA2009 Secretariat has prepared several presentations that outline some of the main topics of the IYA2009, namely: Astronomy Highlights during IYA2009; What is Astronomy? and recently a presentation about the main astronomical achievements during 1609, year that was indeed a historic year for astronomy! http://www.astronomy2009.org/resources/presentations/
Chile celebrates IYA2009 with the "Explora program"
A new website to spread the word of astronomy and IYA2009 has been released. Explora is aimed at a Chilean audience, with sections dedicated to the many major observatories in the country, as well as looking at wider astronomy topics. Be sure to check it out: http://aia2009.explora-conicyt.org
Astronomy and World Heritage and Starlight Reserves move forward
The IYA2009 Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative and the Starlight Reserves proposal have been presented to delegates from several countries in the framework of the 33rd Session of the World Heritage Committee held in Seville (Spain). This has been an important move towards the recognition of cultural, scientific and environmental values associated to astronomy and the right to observe the stars as a common heritage of humankind. More information on the Seville event is available at: http://www.starlight2007.net/Seville2009.html
3 large Dark Skies Awareness Projects
- Brazil's Citizen-Science Milky Way Marathon: http://www.astronomia2009.org.br/
- Hong Kong Dims the Light Fantastic: http://www.astronomy2009.hk/activities/DarkSky/621.php
- Japan's Candle Night: http://www.candle-night.org/English
IYA2009 Single Point of Contact becomes Secretary of State
The IYA2009 network would like to congratulate Dr. Joan-Marc Miralles Bellera, Single Point of Contact for Andorra. He has recently been appointed as Secretary of State in charge of Higher Education for Andorra, a position of great importance. Joan-Marc is an astronomer and staunch supporter of IYA2009. The astronomy community wishes him the best of luck! More information about IYA2009 in Andorra: http://astroandorra.blogspot.com/
The International Conference of Young Astronomers 2009 (ICYA)
ICYA is a scientific meeting of undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students of astronomy and physics as well as more advanced astronomers. We, as young scientists, feel a big need to contribute our share to IYA2009 and use this opportunity to establish a global, annual conference for all scientists, researchers and advanced amateur astronomers who could meet in future and work together in projects which will develop modern astronomy. The conference will take place in Cracow, Poland, 7 - 13 September. More information: http://www.icya2009.org/
The Global Impact of IYA2009: 100 Hours in April
Read the thoughts of Douglas Isbell, US IYA2009 SPoC, here: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/358/
MEDEA Awards 2009: Open Call for Participation
With the numbers of entries already received by the MEDEA Secretariat higher than at the same time last year, the MEDEA Awards look to be growing in popularity in keeping with a growing interest generally in the use of media and video in education. Now that the competition is fully operational in French and German as well as in English, it is hardly surprising that the numbers of entries from French and German speaking regions looks set to far exceed the numbers received in 2008. Find out how to participate here: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/357/
Japanese astronomy superheroes rally in support of IYA2009
More than ten cartoon characters from planetaria and science museums in Japan gathered for the All-Japan Astronomy Character Symposium which was held on 21 June in Akashi. Present were many high-profile IYA2009 supporters, from superheroes to giant animals. Read all about this headline-making story: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/355/
Blast! Update
The latest news from IYA2009 Special Project, Blast! is online: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/354/
Fostering Space for Africa
The International Astronautical Federation (IAF), along with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UN-OOSA), organised a briefing to African Permanent Missions in Vienna entitled "Fostering Space for Africa". It was held at the premises of the United Nations in Vienna, Austria on 3 June 2009. More information, including presentations and speeches, are available here: http://www.iafastro.org/index.php?id=123&no_cache=1&tx_iaffocuson_pi1[tt_single]=top&tx_iaffocuson_pi1[pid_back]=1
Chile celebrates IYA2009 with the “Explora program”
10 July 2009
A new website to spread the word of astronomy and IYA2009 has been released. Explora is aimed a Chilean audience, with sections dedicated to the many major observatories in the country, as well as looking at wider astronomy topics. There are also interviews, games, astronomy news, and opportunities for people to participate.
The well-designed site will captivate those who visit, so be sure to have a look: http://aia2009.explora-conicyt.org
Astronomy and World Heritage and Starlight Reserves move forward
9 July 2009
The IYA2009 Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative and the Starlight Reserves proposal have been presented to delegates from several countries in the framework of the 33rd Session of the World Heritage Committee held in Seville (Spain). This has been an important move towards the recognition of cultural, scientific and environmental values associated to astronomy and the right to observe the stars as a common heritage of humankind.
Big steps forward were made by both the Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative and the Starlight Reserves proposal, through the recognition of their associated values by the World Heritage Committee. More information on the Seville event is available at: http://www.starlight2007.net/Seville2009.html
IYA2009 Single Point of Contact becomes Secretary of State
9 July 2009
The IYA2009 network would like to congratulate Dr. Joan-Marc Miralles Bellera, Single Point of Contact for Andorra. He has recently been appointed as Secretary of State in charge of Higher Education for Andorra, a position of high importance. Joan-Marc is an astronomer and staunch supporter of IYA2009. The astronomy community wishes him the best of luck!
More information about IYA2009 in Andorra: http://astroandorra.blogspot.com/
The International Conference of Young Astronomers 2009
9 July 2009
The International Conference of Young Astronomers (ICYA) is a scientific meeting of undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students of astronomy and physics as well as more advanced astronomers. We, as young scientists, feel a big need to contribute our share to this year's International Year of Astronomy 2009 and use this opportunity to establish global, annual conference for all scientists, researchers and advanced amateur astronomers who could meet in future and work together in projects which will develop modern astronomy.
For this reason the conference aims to arrange an international conference to broaden our minds and to discuss challenging issues of astronomy. Furthermore, and most important, the meeting gives a chance to get in touch with other young scientists, with whom we might cooperate in the future.
The goal is to establish ICYA as a regular conference, held once a year in different countries, connecting young astronomers from all over the world. Let's make it happen!
This year ICYA is organised by the Polish Astronomical Society in collaboration with Polish universities (Jagiellonian University of Cracow, University of Warsaw, Adam Mickiewicz University of Pozna?, Nicolaus Copernicus University of Toru?, University of Zielona Góra, University of Szczecin and Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences) and hopefully will be supported by foreign universities and astronomical societies as well as international astronomical organizations.
The conference will take place in Cracow, Poland, September 7 - 13.
More information: http://www.icya2009.org/
The Global Impact of IYA2009: 100 Hours in April
9 July 2009
By Douglas Isbell (U.S. Single Point of Contact for IYA2009)
http://www.yearofscience2009.org/themes_astronomy/2009/07/global-impact-isbell.html
It's a fair thing to ask: why declare an international year of science at all? Or one dedicated solely to astronomy, when its community already does so much outreach to the public and the media?
The emotional answer that I usually give is that every living thing on Earth shares the night sky and the daily benefits of our reliable parent star, the Sun. We need to encourage everyone to remember this, enjoy viewing them and thinking about their realities more often, and preserve their beauty for future generations.
The international planning effort and greater "architecture" of cornerstone projects of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) are yielding a variety of positive outcomes and impressive accomplishments. But scientists-and our donors and funding agencies!-like numbers to back up such subjective statements.
Let's take a look at the first major global event-driven cornerstone project of IYA2009, the "100 Hours of Astronomy" weekend from April 2-5, including some hard numbers on outcomes.
Led by Mike Simmons, founder and president of Astronomers Without Borders (see www.astronomerswithoutborders.org) and a 35-year advocate for astronomy outreach at Griffith Observatory, Mount Wilson, and many other places in the greater Los Angeles area, the concept for "100 Hours of Astronomy" was deceivingly simple: a nearly continuous string of public events, star parties, and telescope viewing of all sorts around the globe for one four-day period.
However, start with the complexity of picking a date. To involve the most people globally, the dates needed to be reasonable for both hemispheres, with kids generally still in school, and to be long enough to foil at least one or two nights of poor weather. It also required a weekend with decent lunar conditions-i.e., relatively dark skies-and at least one more engaging object to view (in this case, the ringed planet, Saturn).
Getting a bit more challenging, eh?
Add in the desire for some sort of global kick-off event and ongoing Web-connected events to maintain a global feel, plus a central registry of events, and some common branding materials, and suddenly the job is a lot tougher.
The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia was a natural fit for the global opening, given the well-timed arrival of some of Galileo's original hardware in a first-time appearance outside of Italy. And the IYA2009 central office at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) executive produced an extremely successful live 24-hour Webcast within "100 Hours," dubbed "Around the World in 80 Telescopes," led by Douglas Pierce-Price, that drew 150,000 viewers.
How did the global star parties do?
According to numbers reported to me by Mike, the "100 Hours" Web site (see www.100hoursofastronomy.org) received registration information for 2,416 events around the world. It's generally acknowledged by everyone involved that many more events occurred without registering, but let's stick with these. Specifically, 914 events filed a report, and about 100 reports were eliminated due to odd or missing data in their filings, leaving 818. So feel free to mentally multiply most of the following numbers by three to represent the total that took time to register.
The total attendance reported at the 818 events was 319,546. This does not include the largest claimed audience during "100 Hours": several million people for a radio show in Pakistan hosted over the air and via the Internet in English by well-known local amateur astronomer Hasaan Ghazzali!
Other event attendee totals ranged from one to 12,000. The reported global average was 391 people, with a median of 100.
Twenty-three events reported attendance of 3,000 people or more, in a wide variety of countries: Russia, Lithuania, New Zealand, US, India, Brazil, Argentina, China, Germany, Romania, Puerto Rico and France, in order of the largest event reported in each country.
The greatest attendance reported at any event in the US was more than 9,000 at an event with 22 telescopes for public viewing at a U.S. Naval Observatory open house in Washington, DC. Next was the Virginia Living Museum with 5,000-plus people attending a variety of events including observing night and day, planetarium programs and family campouts over the four days. There were 18 events in the US with reported attendance of 500 or more, all of which had telescope viewing.
In fact, viewing through small telescopes was featured at 83% of the events (677), with a total of 3,839 telescopes available for public viewing. The event with the largest number of telescopes was in China, a reported 120 telescopes used by 4,000 public visitors. Puerto Rico had an event with 70 telescopes used by 3,500 people (way beyond China if considered per capita!), while France had an event with 50 telescopes used by 3,000 people.
What did all these people look at? Hard to say for sure, but Saturn and the Moon were surely #1 and #2, based on my experience during this time period.
These are impressive numbers from almost any vantage point. And based on many communications and other reports among the 140 national ‘SPoCs' for IYA2009, we feel strongly that more than two million people worldwide got a taste of astronomy during the "100 Hours."
Inspired by this success, the IYA2009 program has declared that October 22-24 will be the "Galilean Nights," designed to get people out in public places like sidewalks, parks and shopping plazas, observing many of the same objects as Galileo: Jupiter, the Moon, Saturn, and the Pleiades.
Chaired by Catherine Moloney of the United Kingdom (cmoloney@eso.org), a 13-member working group is putting together a more detailed plan for a Web site, shared information products and event registration, to start.
Catherine is a science communicator with Master's degrees in Science Communication from Imperial College London and Physics with Space Science and Technology from the University of Leicester. She recently completed six months working at the Education and Public Outreach Department at ESO. Prior to her work at ESO she was a technical specialist for three years on a satellite communication project for the British armed forces, worked with the science communication group at the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and also spent three years working at the National Space Centre.
For a list of other cornerstone working group members, and details on plans and resources as they emerge, see www.galileannights.org.
Help us spread the word and make the Galilean Nights the most popular event ever to observe Jupiter, our solar system's largest planet and its Galilean moons!
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Cornerstone Projects: 12
Special Task Groups: 11
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Official Products:8
Media Partners:22
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