[AstroNet] IYA2009 newsletter: Resources, projects and events

[Kevin Govender]

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 at 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 at csiro.au)/

/and/

/Anglo-Australian Observatory (email: hsim at 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

-- 
_________________________________________________
Pedro Russo
International Year of Astronomy 2009 Coordinator
International Astronomical Union
e. prusso at eso.org  
p. +49 (0) 89 320 06 195
f. +49 (0) 89 320 06 703
w. www.astronomy2009.org
a. IAU IYA2009 Secretariat
ESO education and Public Outreach Department
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
D-85748 Garching bei München
Germany

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