[AstroNet] International IYA2009 Updates

Fri May 22 18:47:12 SAST 2009

international updates...

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	IYA2009 Updates
Date: 	Fri, 22 May 2009 13:45:44 +0200
From: 	Pedro Russo <prusso at eso.org>
To: 	undisclosed-recipients:;

Dear friends,

Here are some IYA2009 updates from the last week.

*GalileoMobile*
GalileoMobile is an itinerant science education project bringing IYA2009 
to young underprivileged people across South America, to foster a will 
of learning by exciting wonder about our Universe, while supplying local 
teachers with educational resources to sustain our activities. 
GalileoMobile also extends its impact to a worldwide audience through 
the production of a documentary movie, conveying a message of 
interaction beyond borders and thus of "unity under the same sky", while 
raising awareness for the diversity of human cultures, and ultimately 
inspiring similar initiatives. More information is available on the 
GalileoMobile official website: http://www.galileo-mobile.org/

*Angolan science minister urges institutions to work with astronomers on 
the occasion of IYA2009* Angolan minister of Science and Technology, 
Candida Teixeira, called on public and private institutions to cooperate 
and pay attention to the development of activities of the International 
Year of Astronomy 2009 due to its pedagogical interest and the re-launch 
of this science in the country. Learn more here: 
http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/en_us/noticias/ciencia-e-tecnologia/Science-minister-urges-institutions-work-with-astronomers,4e8160a2-58e1-4bf0-bf4d-94c84799d032.html

*Dark Skies Awareness Updates
*

    * Dark Skies Awareness Podcast: Connie Walker and Rob Sparks from
      the National Optical Astronomy Observatory talk about the
      International Year of Astronomy 2009 Dark Skies Awareness
      Cornerstone Project on a 10-minute, audio podcast called "Back to
      the Dark Ages: Responsible Nighttime Lighting." The podcast can be
      downloaded free at
      http://365daysofastronomy.org/2009/05/16/may-16th-back-to-dark-ages-responsible-nighttime-lightingby/**
    * The Earth and Sky Photo Contest: The photography contest is open
      to any amateur photographer of any age, anywhere in the world. The
      special theme of this contest is "Dark Skies Importance"; so the
      image should impress people about how important and amazing the
      starry sky is, how it affects our life, and how bad the problem of
      light pollution has become. Details on this programme can be found
      at www.darkskiesawareness.org <http://www.darkskiesawareness.org>
    * Dark Skies Discovery Sites:* *The Dark Skies Discovery Sites
      (DSDS) programme seeks to establish permanent relatively dark
      locations where the public can be educated about light pollution
      while being introduced to the wonders of a fairly dark night sky.
      Astronomy clubs or individuals can earn the official DSDS
      designation for their location by agreeing to present, mostly at
      their own pace and schedule, an ongoing series of programs about
      light pollution. Details can be found at
      www.darkskiesawareness.org <http://www.darkskiesawareness.org>**
    * How Many Stars?: This is a star-hunting, citizen-science programme
      that encourages everyone - students, educators, astronomers and
      the general public to measure the darkness of their local night
      skies and contribute their observations online to a world map of
      light pollution. Find out more information at http://sternhell.at**
    * Nights in the Parks: Throughout 2009, many national parks
      worldwide will be holding special programmes in celebration of the
      International Year of Astronomy 2009. Some of the last dark skies
      in the world may be found in national parks. See
      www.darkskiesawareness.org <http://www.darkskiesawareness.org> for
      more details or www.nps.gov <http://www.nps.gov> for details
      within the United States.   

*We Are Astronomers Competition
*To celebrate the launch of the amazing new full-dome digital 
planetarium show, "We Are Astronomers", you have the chance to win four 
free tickets to see the show at the nearest planetarium to you, along 
with an exclusive poster signed by the show's narrator, David Tennant. 
(Please note that this competition is only open to residents in the 
UK).* *So what do you have to do to win this excellent prize? It's quite 
simple; write us a twitter astronomy haiku! The winner will be announced 
on 01 June 2009, so get your thinking caps on! If you're intrigued and 
want to know more, visit: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/286/**

*Behind the scenes of "Around the World in 80 Telescopes"*
Is it possible to visit all major observatories in the world, covering 
every continent, in the space of just 24 hours? ESO made a trip "Around 
the World in 80 Telescopes" during a live 24-hour webcast. Let's go 
behind the scenes to find out how it was done. Click to see the video! 
http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/Videos/esocast/ESOCAST7_P_FLASH.flv.html

*Galileoscope update*
 The current production run of Galileoscopes consists of 60,000 units, 
which will satisfy orders placed and paid for through the first week of 
May. They will start leaving the factory on Monday 18 May, and will 
begin reaching customers in mid-June. Of these 60,000, about half are 
going to customers who bought small numbers of Galileoscopes via our 
website at https://www.galileoscope.org/gs/, and about half are going to 
others who placed large orders (100 or more kits) via our 
request-for-quotation system. Most of these orders are from schools and 
other educational organizations, with very few orders from SPoCs. If you 
want Galileoscopes at the current price, and if you want them in 2009, 
you need to order NOW! Thus, it is imperative that all SPoCs make 
contact with potential buyers of Galileoscopes within their respective 
jurisdictions and have orders committed as soon as possible. For the 
full update, visit http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/285/.     

If you need any assistance, remember that the Secretariat is always 
available for you.

Pedro, Mariana and Lee
IYA2009 Secretariat

-- 
_________________________________________________
Pedro Russo
International Year of Astronomy 2009 Coordinator
Editor-in-Chief CAPjournal
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 / www.capjournal.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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