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<tt>From IYA international office...<br>
<br>
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Subject: </th>
<td>News, Events, Resources and Projects</td>
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Date: </th>
<td>Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:19:18 +0100</td>
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">From: </th>
<td>Pedro Russo <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:prusso@eso.org"><prusso@eso.org></a></td>
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">To: </th>
<td>undisclosed-recipients:;</td>
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<br>
<br>
<font size="-1"><font face="Arial">Dear SPoCs and Chairs,<br>
With 2009 on the horizon, IYA2009 news is coming thick and fast. To
keep you up-to-date with developments, here’s the latest newsletter.<br>
<br>
<b>News</b><br>
<b>Job opportunity: 100 Hours of Astronomy Project Coordinator</b><br>
The 100HA Cornerstone project is in need of a coordinator to organise
and supervise a team of volunteers, manage website content, participate
in the creation of fliers, brochures, posters and other information
resources, communicate with national and local organisers worldwide,
respond to enquiries, meet with potential sponsors and otherwise assure
the development of programmes and resources. Essential skills include
verbal and written communication in English, proven ability of working
with people, and organising team efforts. <br>
If you, or someone you know, meets the criteria and think they are up
to the challenge, then click to learn more:
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org/about/coordinator.html">http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org/about/coordinator.html</a><br>
<br>
<b>Royalty supports IYA2009</b><br>
Prince Felipe of Spain (Prince of Asturias) is presiding over the
Spanish IYA2009 Honour Committee. For more information (in Spanish), go
to:
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.iaa.es/IYA09/index.php/es/organizacion/nacional/comite_de_honor">http://www.iaa.es/IYA09/index.php/es/organizacion/nacional/comite_de_honor</a><br>
<br>
<b>Attention professional astronomers: IYA2009 needs you!</b><br>
A call has been made for professional astronomers to contribute toward
IYA2009. Their expertise will be greatly valued and appreciated, so we
ask you to spread the word in your countries / regions, and help to get
them onboard. <br>
To assist, we’ve produced some PowerPoint slides which contain
suggestions and ideas:
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.astronomy2009.org/resources/presentations/detail/presentation_IYA2009_professional_astronomers/">http://www.astronomy2009.org/resources/presentations/detail/presentation_IYA2009_professional_astronomers/</a><br>
<br>
<b>Celestron SkyScout declared official IYA2009 product</b><br>
Celestron’s snazzy SkyScout gadget has earned the deserved honour of
being an official IYA2009 product. If you haven’t seen one in action,
they are personal handheld planetariums equipped with GPS technology
that allow users to locate and identify 50,000 objects in the night sky.<br>
Celestron has a dedicated IYA2009 website, which is definitely worth a
look: <a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.celestronlife.com/IYA09/">http://www.celestronlife.com/IYA09/</a><br>
<br>
<b>NASA selects astronomy student ambassadors</b><br>
46 undergraduate and graduate students have been selected to represent
NASA in their local communities as recipients of the agency's IYA2009
Student Ambassadors Program.<br>
Two of the students were chosen to attend the IYA2009 Opening Ceremony
in Paris, January 2009: Rebecca Holmes, a sophomore at the University
of North Carolina Chapel Hill who is majoring in physics and astronomy,
and Norberto Gonzalez, a junior at the University of Puerto Rico at
Arecibo with a biology concentration.<br>
For more information, go to: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://astronomy2009.nasa.gov">http://astronomy2009.nasa.gov</a><br>
<br>
<b>Events</b><br>
<b>Training for young astronomy communicators</b><br>
The Space Generation Advisory Council and Uludag University Project
Office in Turkey are collaborating to organise "ToAP - Training of
Astronomy Promoters". Aimed at young communicators who want to
popularise astronomy throughout IYA2009, it’s sure to be greatly valued
by participants. The training course will be held in Bursa-Turkey
between 18-24 May 2009. <br>
For more information, visit: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.spacegeneration.org/node/2173">http://www.spacegeneration.org/node/2173</a><br>
<br>
<b>Opening Events</b><br>
As you know, the official global Opening Ceremony will happen in Paris,
France, on 15 and 16 January 2009. More information on the Opening
Ceremony: </font></font><font size="-1"><font face="Arial"><a
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://ama09.obspm.fr/ama09/open.php">http://ama09.obspm.fr/ama09/open.php</a></font></font><br>
<font size="-1"><font face="Arial">If you are planning any official
opening ceremony in your country, please send us the dates and
information as soon as possible. We will publish that information on
the global IYA2009 website. <br>
<br>
<b>Resources<br>
IYA2009 Discovery Guides now available online</b><br>
Introducing 12 easy ways to share the excitement of the night sky
during IYA2009!<br>
The Night Sky Network, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, National
Science Foundation, NASA, and the IYA US committee have teamed up to
provide Monthly IYA Discovery Guides. These are internationally
accessible and complete with articles, activities, instructional
videos, and finder charts.<br>
You can download them here: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.astrosociety.org/iya/guides.html">http://www.astrosociety.org/iya/guides.html</a><br>
<br>
The Guides form part of a wide range of activities, searchable here:
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-search.cfm">http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-search.cfm</a><br>
<br>
And for those of you with websites, we encourage you to link directly
to these resources using the following:
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=338">http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=338</a>
<br>
<br>
<b>Project Updates<br>
365 Days of Astronomy Podcast says: “hello, world!”</b><br>
The first, introductory episode of 365 Days of Astronomy has been
posted online. This project aims to release an astronomically themed
show every day throughout IYA2009. There are plenty of opportunities to
get involved, so listen in and start planning now!<br>
Go straight to the show by clicking:
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://365daysofastronomy.org/2008/11/06/podcast-hello-world/">http://365daysofastronomy.org/2008/11/06/podcast-hello-world/</a><br>
<br>
<b>FETTU images released</b><br>