The 100 Hours of Astronomy 2021 Edition concluded successfully, thanks to the support from the global astronomy community and our IAU National Outreach Coordinators that, from 1-4 October 2021, celebrated “Together Under One Sky” in over 60 countries. Stay tuned as we will soon announce the winners of the Telescopes for All Special Edition.
The "Under One Sky" Call for Proposals is currently open to supporting projects in and around the UN International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples celebrated on 9 August 2022. Don't miss the opportunity to apply until 31 December 2021.
In this issue, we want to highlight the release of the second edition of the Big Ideas in Astronomy booklet and dedicated website, the International Astrophysical Code Hunting Game and encourage you to apply to write for Astrbites.
Wishing you the clearest skies and good health!
Lina Canas, on behalf of the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach Team
1) Big Ideas in Astronomy 2.0 Released Online
What does it mean when we say someone has a solid basic knowledge of astronomy? This is the question that inspired the project Big Ideas in Astronomy: A Proposed Definition of Astronomy Literacy, which resulted in a booklet of eleven “Big Ideas”, published in May 2019. Now a new version of the resource is launched, no longer just as a booklet, but also available on its own website. This version is available in a number of additional languages.
The IAU is inviting applications for its 2021 PhD prize, an award which celebrates the outstanding accomplishments made globally by PhD researchers in astrophysics. The prize is awarded annually in each of the nine IAU Divisions - including Division C on Education, Outreach and Heritage - in recognition of the most remarkable thesis work done in the previous year.
a) Astronomy videos for kids, in Urdu
Kainaat Kids project is a Youtube channel producing astronomy videos in Urdu (with English subtitles), aimed at kids 10-16 years of age. Kainaat Kids' videos are written, produced, and narrated by astronomers and science communicators from Pakistan, make them more relatable to their target audiences.
b) Bangladeshi Student Team Developing Interactive Astronomy App
The Pothikrit project is developing an interactive astronomy app to popularize astronomy and science education among the young generation in Bangladesh and around the world. Users will also learn about pressing challenges on Earth through the lens of astronomy. The app will be released in Bangla and English.
4) IAU Women in Astronomy Working Group Newsletter
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) Women in Astronomy (WiA) Working Group (WG) is concerned about the situation of Women in Astronomy worldwide and working on communicating concerns, raising awareness, and bringing together women and men to bridge the gender gap in Astronomy.
The International Astrophysical Code Hunting Game is an online game that promotes digital skills and computational thinking while at the same time disseminating knowledge about places around the world – observatories, research centres, planetaria, historical landmarks, and more – where it is possible to observe the sky and make sense of the Universe. It was developed by INAF together with the University of Urbino and Digit Srl and launched on 24 September 2021 during the European Researchers' Night.
Astrobites is a daily astrophysical literature journal written by graduate students in astronomy since 2010. Their goal is to present one interesting paper per day in a brief format that is accessible to undergraduate students in the physical sciences who are interested in active research. Astrobites is seeking new graduate students to join the Astrobites collaboration. Applicants must be current graduate students. The application is due by November 5, 2021.
7) ALMA Celebrates 10 Years of its First Image with a Contest to Name its Antennas
Ten years ago, on October 3rd, 2011, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) officially opened its doors to the astronomical community with the launch of its first image: the Antennae Galaxies collision, demonstrating its potential and heralding the start of a successful decade of astronomy. The 10-years celebrations started one month ago, with the collection of names suggestions by the public for the 66 ALMA antennas.
8) Astronomical Society of the Pacific Meeting on “Astronomy Teaching & Public Engagement: Sharing Best Practices Online”
Scientists, science communicators, and public engagement professionals in astronomy (and related fields) are invited to participate in the “Virtual Meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Astronomy Teaching & Public Engagement: Sharing Best Practices Online” from 18-20 November 2021.
a) STEM XR: Collaborative Interdisciplinary Workshop on Science Communication in Virtual Worlds
Location: Virtual
Date: 1 October 2021 - 1 January 2022
Website: https://stemxr.org
b) SciAccess 2021
Location: Virtual
Date: 12-13 November 2021
Website: https://sciaccess.org/
Japanese:https://bit.ly/36XeKZr
Translations are thanks to Akihiko Tomita, through the Astronomy Translation Network.
You can subscribe to the Japanese newsletter through the Japanese Amateur Astronomers Association (http://www.jaaa-astro.jp/jaaa-ml.html) or the Japanese Society for Education and Popularization of Astronomy (http://www.tenkyo.net/).
If you are interested in translating the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach Newsletter into your language, please email public@oao.iau.org.
11) Contribute to the IAU Astronomy Outreach Newsletter
We’re always looking to include news about astronomy outreach, communication and public engagement from around the world in the next newsletter from the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach. If you have an astronomical event, job, opportunity, educational resource, or anything else that would be of interest to the astronomy outreach community, send us an email at public@oao.iau.org with more information.
You can send us your suggestions through the 4th for issue #1 and the 17th for issue #2 of each month. We are looking forward to hearing from you!
