1) IAU Office of Astronomy for Development Newsletter #17 (April - June 2017)

The latest IAU Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) Newsletter is now available online! There’s a lot of news to report from the office! Here we’d like to highlight that the RAS-OAD Mobility Grant applications are now open, establishing research, educational, and development-related collaborations between the United Kingdom (UK) and countries where astronomy research is not well established, and the upcoming workshop co-organized by OAD: Dot Astronomy 9, 14-17 November 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. 

News of these programs and many others are available in the full newsletter here: http://bit.ly/2hoWtNB

2) National Outreach Contact (NOC) Corner: News from Portugal

a) Solar System to Scale
The Solar System to scale is a unique project linking Science, Art, and Social Inclusion. The different pieces—featuring the Sun and the eight planets, are distributed across the area of Moimenta da Beira municipality, in Portugal and permanently available to everyone who wishes to learn more about our Solar System. The production results from a collaboration between Moimenta da Beira Schools Science Club and the local government, and was inaugurated on June 21st, welcoming dozens of children from elementary schools in the area. The art conception counted on the support of different architects, designers, painters, and sculptors, and the practical design counted on the participation of ArteNave, a social inclusion institution from the region.

You can find all details of the project here (in Portuguese):
http://www.cm-moimenta.pt/p/sistemasolar 

3) National Outreach Contact (NOC) Corner: News from Guatemala

a) Asteroid Day Guatemala 2017
Asteroid Day 2017 saw its first edition in Guatemala, an exciting adventure led by the Aq’ab’al Astronomy Club (meaning sunrise and sunset in Nahuatl, an Uto-Aztecan language, originating in Central America) and the National University (ECFM-USAC - Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC)). The activities involved professors and students of Physics, astronomy clubs and cultural centres. Plenary talks workshops reached various regions in Guatemala and very diverse audiences around the country. These events raised awareness  in a friendly way about asteroids and their influence, impacts, and repercussions on Earth.

Find all about the activities here: http://bit.ly/2vtPr0l (In English) 

4) Astronomy & Data Science Toolkit

The Astronomy & Data Science Toolkit connecting astronomy with data science is now online! The toolkit aims to provide high-quality teaching materials in the form of examples, courses, and assessments that everyone is welcome to use for teaching or planning workshops or summer schools. The IAU Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) is looking for contributions to the toolkit from the community of scientists, graduate students, and astronomers.

You can find the Toolkit here: https://datascience.astro4dev.org 

5) Call for new Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) Education Partner projects

Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) is pleased to announce that is accepting new education partners. LCO is seeking applications for exciting, engaging, and innovative ideas for astronomy education or outreach projects that make use of LCO’s unique capabilities. These partners will observe astronomical phenomena with LCO and use the data as part of their educational activities. The proposal deadline is 23 September 2017.

For full information about this call, eligibility criteria and how to apply, please see:
https://lco.global/news/call-for-education-partners-2018/ 

6)  Virtual Moon Atlas (VMA) & Virtual Planets Atlas (VPA) - new updates

Two items of freeware, useful tools for planetary outreach - the Virtual Moon Atlas (VMA) and Virtual Planets Atlas (VPA), are launching new versions in 2018. The upcoming version of VMA will include better textures and updated and increased databases (more than 80 000 craters). The next version of VPA will include the dwarf planet Ceres and planet Saturn, its rings and larger satellites (Mimas / Thetys / Dione / Rhea / Titan / Iapetus). Releases are planned during 2018. 

Find all information here:
http://ap-i.net/avl/en/start and http://ap-i.net/avp/en/start   

7) Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) Eclipse Programs

A Total Solar Eclipse will be crossing the USA from coast to coast on August 21, with the path of the total reaching several major cities. All of the USA will have a partial eclipse greater than 50%, and a partial eclipse will be seen in much of Canada and Latin America as well. Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) has several programs bringing the eclipse to underserved communities, and is building on the inspiration of the eclipse. We invite you to follow some of the numerous programs such as the Facebook LIVE Eclipse Series, the Totality - Eclipse Guide App, Eclipse Stories, the Eclipse glasses donation campaign, and giveaways.

Find all AWB programs for the eclipse here: http://bit.ly/2uBLwK1  

8) 1000 Girls, 1000 Futures Program

1000 Girls, 1000 Futures is a groundbreaking initiative designed to engage young women interested in science, technology, engineering, and math, and advance their pursuit of STEM careers through mentoring and 21st-century skills development. The program is aimed at girls around the world, aged 13–19, who are enthusiastic about science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM), and women working in STEM, across all disciplines and sectors, who are willing to act as mentors, coaches, and role models.

Find out more about the program here: www.1000girls1000futures.org  

9) Meetings & Global Events

Here you can find a list of astronomy outreach & education conferences and events around the world. Plan ahead for a year full of interesting events!

Recently Added

Astronomical Heritage of the Middle East
Dates: 13-17 November 
Location: Yerevan, Armenia
More Information: http://heritage.aras.am/

Upcoming

a) Global Hands-On Universe (GHOU) Conference 2017 with the Galileo Teacher Training Program (GTTP) International Workshop 2017
Dates: 15-21 August 2017
Location: Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky, US
More Information: http://handsonuniverse.org/ghou2017/ 

b) Euro-Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME) Summer School for Science Communication
Date: 10-15 September 2017
Location: Naples, Italy
More information: http://www.cittadellascienza.it/emme2017/ 

c) European Planetary Science Congress 2017
Date: 17–22 September 2017
Location: Radisson Blu Hotel Latvija, Riga, Latvia
More Information: http://www.epsc2017.eu/ 

d) 3rd COSPAR Symposium
Date: 18–22 September 2017
Location: Jeju Island, South Korea, 
More information: https://cosparhq.cnes.fr/ 

e) Astronomy Museums, Visitor Centres, & Public Observatories Workshop
Date: 27-29 September 2017
Location: Leiden, the Netherlands
More information: https://www.communicatingastronomy.org/visitorexperience/  

f) World Space Week 2017
Dates: 4–10 October 2017
Location: All around the world
More Information: http://www.worldspaceweek.org/theme/ 

g) International Observe the Moon Night
Date: 28 October 2017
Location: All around the world
More Information: http://observethemoonnight.org/ 

h) East Asian Young Astronomers 2017 (EAYAM2017)
Date: November 13-17 2017
Location: Ishigaki city, Okinawa, Japan
More Information: http://www-irc.mtk.nao.ac.jp/eayam/2017/index.html 

i) Astronomical Heritage of the Middle East
Dates: 13-17 November 
Location: Yerevan, Armenia
More Information: http://heritage.aras.am/

j) .Astronomy
Date: 14-17 November 2017
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
More Information: http://dotastronomy9.saao.ac.za/ 

k) Astrobiology 2017 
Dates: 26 November - 1 December 2017
Location: Coyhaique, Chile
More Information: http://astrobiology2017.org/ 

l) Communicating Astronomy with the Public - CAP2018
Date: 24–28 March 2018
Location: Fukuoka, Japan
More Information: http://www.communicatingastronomy.org/cap2018/ 

m) 15th International Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference (PCST2018)
Date: 4–6 April 2018
Location: Dunedin, New Zealand
More Information: http://www.pcst2018.org/pcst18  

n) International Planetarium Society 2018
Date: 1–6 July 2018
Location: Toulouse, France
More Information: http://www.ips-planetarium.org/page/IPS2018Toulouse  

Have we missed something? Then share your astronomy outreach and education international meetings or events with us via outreach@iau.org.

10) IAU Astronomy Outreach Newsletter in other languages

-     Translations into Serbian are available, by Dr. Liliana Gracanin from Serbia: https://twitter.com/IAU_srpski ;
-     Translations into Spanish are available by: 
             - Dr. S. Meneses-Goytia (ICG-UoP, UK): http://bit.ly/2rIqVGe;  
             - Basilio Solís-Castillo, PhD Student, Max-Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy,
               University of Bonn: http://astronomia-para-todos.blogspot.de;
             - The Association of Amateur Astronomers from León, Nicaragua:
                http://asafile.blogspot.jp/p/blog-page_12.html;
 -     If you want to receive the Japanese newsletter translation, please subscribe to the Japanese Amateur Astronomers Association here: http://www.jaaa-astro.jp/jaaa-ml.html ;
-     Translations into Galician are available, by Agrupación Astronómica Coruñesa Ío, in Spain here: http://agrupacionio.com/gl/tag/boletin-iau    
-     You can find older issues of this newsletter in Spanish by the Astronomical Spanish Society here: http://www.sea-astronomia.es/drupal/content/newsletter-iau-noc.  

If you are interested in translating our newsletter to your language, please let us know via outreach@iau.org.