Congrats to our sister office the Office of Astronomy for Development, and our colleagues at the European Astronomical Society and Leiden University for the inauguration of the European Regional Office of Astronomy for Development! We want to welcome them to the IAU family and looking forward to collaborating in the near future!
All set for Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2018 Conference in Japan, our team is thrilled to announce that we have over 400 participants from around 50 countries, making this the most diverse CAP edition and one of the largest to date.
In this issue, we highlight the Galileo Teacher Training Workshops in Japan, the new contemporary art event, part of the History of Astronomy Roadmap in South Africa and “Let's Paint with Light!” event celebrating the International Day of Light.
Wishing you all Happy Reading & Clear Skies!
The IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach Team
1) Inauguration of European Regional Office of Astronomy for Development
On 26 February 2018, the European Regional Office of Astronomy for Development (ROAD) was brought into existence at a signing ceremony at Leiden University in the Netherlands. It was preceded by a ceremonial address by Grace Naledi Pandor, South African Minister of Science and Technology. The occasion also marked the appointment of the Minister as honorary visiting Oort Professor of 'Astronomy for Development'. The ceremony signified the creation of the IAU’s tenth Regional Office, coordinated by the IAU’s global Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD). The European ROAD will be operated jointly by the European Astronomical Society and Leiden University.
2) IAU Centennial Celebrations—Special session during CAP 2018
In 2019, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) will celebrate its 100th anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, the IAU will organize a year-long celebration to expand awareness of a century of astronomical discoveries as well as to support and improve the use of astronomy as a tool for education, development, and diplomacy under the central theme “Uniting our World to Explore the Universe”. IAU100 will dedicate a special session to the celebrations during the upcoming Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2018, providing room for the projects that will compose the project to be presented to the more than 400 participants from over 45 countries.
On May 10 and 11 in Baykal village, Bulgaria will host "Let's Paint with Light!". The Art Workshop will take place during the traditional National Baikal Astro Party, which is included in the National Calendar for Interests of Children and Students of the Ministry of Education and Science. Kids will paint fluorescent dye stars, galaxies and planets on t-shirts. Organized by: Ivo Jokin (Municipal Center for Extracurricular Activities)
Our National Outreach Contact (NOC) from Nicaragua, Emilio Zuniga, reports that the Nicaraguan Association of Amateur Astronomers (ANASA, Spanish acronym) is holding the Eleventh Course of Amateur Astronomy in Managua, Nicaragua. The main subject of the year is how to identify real and fake news on social networks in relation to astronomy. The course venue is Auditorium Salomón de la Selva of the University of Engineering (UNI). In the last thirteen years, approximately 3 900 people have participated in this annual astronomy course.
For more info, you may visit: http://www.nicaraguaastronomia.com/ and http://bit.ly/2FzIxLL (Thank you to Emilio Zuniga for sharing.)
5) News from Australia
“Astro-Tourism Towns” is a project in Western Australia that focuses on the promotion and protection of the region’s dark night skies. The project is the finalist in the national AgriFutures Rural Women's Award. The AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award is Australia’s leading award acknowledging and supporting the essential role women play in rural industries, businesses and communities. Stay tuned as the winner is announced on March 28, 2018.
“Hemelliggaam or the attempt to be here now” is a project by artists Tommaso Fiscaletti and Nic Grobler, in collaboration with a group of Italian scientists and musicians living and working in Cape Town. This new contemporary art event will open on March 8, in Cape Town and run at the Iziko SA Museum and in the Company’s Gardens till April 22. This project is part of the History of Astronomy Roadmap promoted by the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) scheduled to run for three years. This exhibition will be Hemelliggaam “Chapter One”, with more exhibitions in South Africa and in Europe.
For more information, you can visit the website here: https://www.hemelliggaam.com (Thank you to Lucia Marchetti for sharing.)
7) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy—Inclusion and intercultural aspects of astro-tourism activities
The third International CHIANTI TOPICS focus workshop will be held in Tuscany, Italy from 11 -13 July 2018 at the Osservatorio Polifunzionale del Chianti, University of Florence. This year, 2018, the focus will be on Inclusion and intercultural aspects of astro-tourism activities under the title ‘The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy’. The workshop is organized under the patronage of the International Astronomical Union, the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, and the University of Florence.
You can find all the details of the sessions, topics, invited speakers and deadlines on the website: http://chiantitopics.it/ (Thank you to Caterina Boccato for sharing.)
8) Galileo Teacher Training Program Workshop (GTTP) in Japan
During March 2018, GTTP teacher training workshops will be held in Japan. On the weekend of 10-11 March 2018, will be held at the NAOJ Mitaka Campus in Tokyo and two others will take place in Wakayama (from 17 to 18) and Kagoshima (from 21-22 March. These workshops are oriented for teachers, teacher trainers, informal educators, etc. and will be in English. The workshop will include a set of innovative international projects focused on STEAM and inquiry-based learning. Participants will discover more about collaborative educational methodologies for a classroom environment and the use of storytelling for education. The workshop will be held in collaboration with Japanese educators, allowing a unique opportunity to bridge the Japanese educational community and international projects.
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!
a) International Conference New Perspectives in Science Education
Dates: 22 - 23 March 2018
Location: Florence, Italy
More information: https://conference.pixel-online.net/NPSE/
d) European Week of Astronomy and Space Sciences (EWASS)
Dates: 3-8 April 2018
Location: Liverpool, UK More information: http://eas.unige.ch/EWASS2018/
e) 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
f) Yuri’s Night
Date: 12 April
Location: All around the world
More information: https://yurisnight.net/
g) 11th International Meeting of Astronomy and Astronautics
Date: 12—14 April 2018
Location: Campos de Goytacazes, Brazil
More Information: http://bit.ly/2xP8uik
h) International Day of Light
Date: 16 May 2018
Location: Around the world
More Information: https://www.lightday.org/
i) Asteroid Day
Date: 30 June 2018
Location: Around the world
More Information: http://asteroidday.org/
k) International Science Engagement Camp (ISEC) Dates: 6-22 July 2018
Location: Barcelona, Spain
More Information: www.isec2018.wordpress.com
l) ESOF (EuroScience Open Forum) 2018
Dates: 9-14 July 2018
Location: Toulouse, France
More Information: https://www.esof.eu/en/
m) Committee on Space Research - COSPAR
Date: July 14-22, 2018
Location: Pasadena, California
More information: http://cospar2018.org/
n) Robotic Telescopes, Student Research and Education (RTSRE) Conference & the InterNational Astronomy Teaching Summit
Dates: 22-27 July 2018
Location: Hilo, Hawai'i, USA
More information: rtsre.org
t) World Space Week 2018
Dates: 4-10 October 2018
Location: All around the world
More Information: http://www.worldspaceweek.org
u) International Observe the Moon Night
Date: 20 October 2018
Location: All around the world
More Information: http://observethemoonnight.org/
v) Starmus Festival V: A Giant Leap
Date: 24–29 June 2019
Location: Bern, Switzerland
More information: https://www.starmus.com/
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 Japanese are available, carried out by Akihiko Tomita and Mikako Kuwamura through the Astronomy Translation Network: http://bit.ly/2xlNyCR. 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, or the Japanese Society for Education and Popularization of Astronomy here: http://www.tenkyo.net/;
- Translations into Galician are available, by Agrupación Astronómica Coruñesa Ío, in Spain here: http://agrupacionio.com/gl/tag/boletin-iau
- Translations into Spanish are available by:
- Emílio Zuniga, The Association of Amateur Astronomers from León, Nicaragua: http://asafile.blogspot.jp/p/blog-page_12.html;
- Basilio Solís-Castillo, Max-Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, University of Bonn: http://astronomia-para-todos.blogspot.de.
If you are interested in translating our newsletter into your language, please let us know via outreach@iau.org.
11) Contributions to the IAU Outreach Newsletter—looking forward to hearing from you in 2018
Here at the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach, we’re always looking for news about astronomical education and outreach events around the world. Please continue to share your stories with us in 2018! If you are organising large-scale events at a regional or international level, offering astronomy education or communication job positions, have any innovative projects or inspiring stories, looking for professional–amateur collaboration in astronomy, or have created any educational resources, let us know by sending an email to outreach@iau.org.
