The year 2019 will be an exciting one, with IAU celebrating its centennial anniversary with the motto “Uniting the World to Explore the Universe” and the UN declaring 2019 as the year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements. Plan ahead: How will you celebrate with the community?
In this issue, we highlight the long-awaited opening of the ESO Supernova, the Dark Skies Rangers Contest, and the Astronomy Sound of the Month (AstroSoM) project.
Wishing you all Happy Reading & Clear Skies!
The IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach Team
1) IAU Set to Celebrate 100 Years of “Uniting the World to Explore the Universe”
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2019, the IAU will organise a year-long worldwide public engagement celebration with the theme of “Uniting our World to Explore the Universe”. The first plans for the celebration were announced at the opening session of the Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2018 Conference in Fukuoka, Japan, the world’s largest gathering of astronomy communicators.
2) The IAU Endorses the Celebration of the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements in 2019
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is very pleased that the United Nations has designated 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements (IYPT 2019). This is in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the periodic table by Dmitri Mendeleev. The Opening Ceremony is scheduled to take place 29 January 2019, at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
a) Argentine Astronomy Olympiad
The Astronomical Observatory of Córdoba of the National University of Córdoba and the Faculty of Astronomical and Geophysical Sciences of the National University of La Plata invite the community to participate in the Argentine Astronomy Olympiad 2018 (OAA). Participation in the Olympiad is entirely voluntary and free of charge.
b) Eclipse news in English
The National Scientific and Technical Research Council - Argentina (CONICET) has launched news about the last eclipse in Argentina, originally published in Spanish, in the English version of the CONICET website. At sunset last February 15th, the Moon interposed itself between the Sun and the Earth leading to a partial solar eclipse that was visible over a wide area from Antarctica, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay and the South of Brazil. The Northern Provinces were not able to enjoy it. But it is the first of a series of eclipses that will occur over the next years that the Argentine people should not miss.
4) ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre Opens
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is hosting the inauguration event for the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre — a cutting-edge astronomy centre for the public. The ESO Supernova is a donation from the Klaus Tschira Stiftung (KTS) and is a cooperation between the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) and ESO.
In recent months, the ESO Supernova team has been keenly working to prepare the programme for the exciting new planetarium and visitor centre, due to open to the public on 28 April 2018.
The annual Global Science Opera productions interweave science, art, and technology within a creative and democratic inquiry process. Global Science Opera 2018 will debut mid-December 2018 with the theme “One Ocean”. In “One Ocean” we will meet a family of three generations, and learn about their mutual relationship with the ocean. Participating in the GSO community is free. Anyone is welcome to join and take part in the different kinds of activities that are designed to fit everyone’s interests.
Creating awareness about the importance of the protection of our dark skies is the main goal of the Dark Skies Rangers project, a joint effort from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (USA) and NUCLIO (Portugal). The project runs two contests annually where students (ranging from 5 to 10 years old) around the world are invited to think creatively about light pollution and submit drawings to raise awareness. The submissions must be sent by 11 May 2018.
The 2018 edition of the Global Hands-On Universe (GHOU2018) conference will be held at Kuffner Observatory in Vienna, Austria from 13 to 15 August 2018. The annual international GTTP workshop will be held from 16 to 18 August at the University of Vienna. The conference is organised prior to the General Assembly of International Astronomical Union taking place in Vienna from 20 to 31 August 2018 and is a great opportunity for people attending both conferences to use the venue to gain a rich experience.
Astronomy is an inherently visual science. AstroSoM explores how sound complements more traditional astronomy data analysis and brings the excitement of astronomical discovery to people with visual impairments. Each month, AstroSoM features a different sound produced from real astronomy data, along with a brief explanation written by a real astronomer. AstroSoM is supported by a National Science Foundation Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship.
b) Yuri’s Night
Date: 12 April
Location: All around the world
More information: https://yurisnight.net/
c) 11th International Meeting of Astronomy and Astronautics
Date: 12—14 April 2018
Location: Campos de Goytacazes, Brazil
More Information: http://bit.ly/2xP8uik
d) International Day of Light
Date: 16 May 2018
Location: Around the world
More Information: https://www.lightday.org/
e) Asteroid Day
Date: 30 June 2018
Location: Around the world
More Information: http://asteroidday.org/
g) International Science Engagement Camp (ISEC) Dates: 6-22 July 2018
Location: Barcelona, Spain
More Information: www.isec2018.wordpress.com
h) ESOF (EuroScience Open Forum) 2018
Dates: 9-14 July 2018
Location: Toulouse, France
More Information: https://www.esof.eu/en/
i) Committee on Space Research - COSPAR
Date: July 14-22, 2018
Location: Pasadena, California
More information: http://cospar2018.org/
j) 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
p) World Space Week 2018
Dates: 4-10 October 2018
Location: All around the world
More Information: http://www.worldspaceweek.org
q) International Observe the Moon Night
Date: 20 October 2018
Location: All around the world
More Information: http://observethemoonnight.org/
r) 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 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.
