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<tt>international updates...</tt><br>
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<td>IYA2009 Updates</td>
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<td>Fri, 22 May 2009 13:45:44 +0200</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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<td>undisclosed-recipients:;</td>
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<br>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Dear friends,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Here are some IYA2009 updates
from the last
week.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span lang="EN-GB">GalileoMobile</span></b><span
lang="EN-GB"><br>
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: <a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.galileo-mobile.org/">http://www.galileo-mobile.org/</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span lang="EN-GB">Angolan
science minister urges institutions to work with astronomers on the
occasion of
IYA2009</span></b><span lang="EN-GB"> 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: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="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">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</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span lang="EN-GB">Dark
Skies Awareness Updates<br>
</span></b></p>
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-GB">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 <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://365daysofastronomy.org/2009/05/16/may-16th-back-to-dark-ages-responsible-nighttime-lightingby/">http://365daysofastronomy.org/2009/05/16/may-16th-back-to-dark-ages-responsible-nighttime-lightingby/</a><b
style=""><o:p></o:p></b></span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB">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 <a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.darkskiesawareness.org">www.darkskiesawareness.org</a></span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB">Dark Skies Discovery Sites:<b style=""> </b>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 <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.darkskiesawareness.org">www.darkskiesawareness.org</a><b
style=""><o:p></o:p></b></span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB">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 <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://sternhell.at">http://sternhell.at</a><b style=""><o:p></o:p></b></span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB">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 <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.darkskiesawareness.org">www.darkskiesawareness.org</a>
for
more details or <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.nps.gov">www.nps.gov</a>
for
details within
the United States.<span style=""> </span></span></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span lang="EN-GB">We
Are Astronomers Competition<br>
</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">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).<b
style=""> </b>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: <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/286/">http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/286/</a><b
style=""><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span lang="EN-GB">Behind
the scenes of "Around the World in 80 Telescopes"</span></b><span
lang="EN-GB"><br>
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! <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/Videos/esocast/ESOCAST7_P_FLASH.flv.html">http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/Videos/esocast/ESOCAST7_P_FLASH.flv.html</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span lang="EN-GB">Galileoscope
update</span></b><span lang="EN-GB"><br>
<span style=""> </span>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 <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.galileoscope.org/gs/">https://www.galileoscope.org/gs/</a>,
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 <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/285/">http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/285/</a>.
<span style=""> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p><br>
If you need any assistance, remember that
the Secretariat is always available for you.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Pedro, Mariana and Lee<br>
IYA2009 Secretariat</span></p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
_________________________________________________
Pedro Russo
International Year of Astronomy 2009 Coordinator
Editor-in-Chief CAPjournal
International Astronomical Union
e. <a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:prusso@eso.org">prusso@eso.org</a>
p. +49 (0) 89 320 06 195
f. +49 (0) 89 320 06 703
w. <a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="http://www.astronomy2009.org">www.astronomy2009.org</a> / <a
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="http://www.capjournal.org">www.capjournal.org</a>
a. IAU IYA2009 Secretariat
ESO education and Public Outreach Department
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
D-85748 Garching bei München
Germany
</pre>
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