IAU Astronomy Outreach Newsletter

Dark and Quiet Skies: OAO Seminar on the Cultural Relevance of Dark and Quiet Sky Protection
 

Join us on 31 May 2023 at 13:00 UTC for our IAU OAO Seminar on the Protection of Dark and Quiet Skies: the Cultural Relevance of Dark and Quiet Sky Protection. This online event will bring together astronomers, cultural practitioners, artists, activists, and outreach professionals to share their connection to the dark and quiet sky and its importance to the world’s cultures. We invite everyone – from students to professional astronomers to Indigenous knowledge holders – to tune in, learn about, and engage with this important issue.

Pre-registration for this event is strongly suggested.

We will be joined by:

Masaaki Hiramatsu (NAOJ), Manuel Grullon (IAU NOC Dominican Republic), Lya Osborn (Light Justice), Duane Hamacher (University of Melbourne), Krystal de Napoli (Monash University), Bon Mott (artist, educator, and curator based out of Melbourne, Australia), Aparna Venkatesan (University of San Francisco), and Jessica Heim (University of Southern Queensland; IAU CPS).

6) Updates from the IAU National Outreach Coordinators (NOCs)

a) Côte d’Ivoire
The Ivorian state aims to launch the first Ivorian satellite by 2024 and create an Ivorian space agency.  On 18 May, the NOC Côte d'Ivoire is helping to organise an event called ''AstroPause'' to discuss the stakes and challenges of this space agency. The talk will be given by Dr Aka, an epistemologist and philosopher of science.

b) Haiti
The NOC Haiti Team has once again produced a great video for the public, this time on the Sun. It is available in Haitian, with subtitles in English. You can find the video at this link.

c) Kuwait
On Sunday the 23 April, the NOC Kuwait Team observed the appulse of Venus and the crescent of the month of Shawwal at the Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre. The event drew many visitors to the Centre, and they enjoyed viewing this astronomical event with telescopes and with the unaided eye.

d) Qatar
The Qatar Ministry of Education announced the results of its Qatar Astronomy Olympiad for Schools 2022-2023, held during the academic year 2022-2023. In total, there were 58 winner schools in two astronomical projects, and more than 40 schools purchased telescopes to fulfil this project. The Olympiad is supervised and run by National Outreach Coordinate Office in Qatar, the Arab Union for Astronomy & Space Sciences and Qatar Calendar House. 

 

7) Opportunities

a) Skyscape Archaeology Research Grants
The Sophia Centre/JSA Skyscape Archaeology Research Grants support, promote and nurture future research projects by students and early career researchers in the field of skyscape archaeology. Each grant will consist of a maximum of £500 to be used towards the execution of a research project. Projects may be part of their studies (if this is allowed by their programme or unit), completely independent pieces of research or pilot projects for further studies. 

Applications are received on a rolling basis - you can apply at any time, provided that funds are still available. To enquire whether funds are still available, contact Dr Fabio Silva (fsilva@bournemouth.ac.uk) ahead of submitting an application.

For more information about this opportunity, refer to this informational document.

8) Cool Resources
a) New Space Scoop Out Now! [Content in English]
Space Scoop produces articles on the latest in astronomy and space science in easy-to-understand language. Don’t miss their weekly updates that include stories from many of the world’s space agencies! Learn about distant galaxies, likely caught in the act of a major merger. If you’d like to help Space Scoop get translated into more of the world’s languages, email them at info@unawe.org


b) Join Ecite’s Space Group and Contribute to its 52nd Newsletter
The Space Group improves and extends communication about space science by helping science centres, space professionals and non-specialists to develop collaborative projects and events. Everyone is welcome to join the Space Group, which you can do at this link.

When you do, add your contributions to their 52nd newsletter. Send your contributions to Space Group by 19 May.

9) IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach Newsletter in Non-English Languages

Our newsletter is being translated into the following languages:

Arabic
Translations are thanks to the members of the Bahrain Stargazers Astronomy Club.

Chinese (Simplified)
Translations are thanks to Dr Chen Cao, Shandong Astronomical Society (SDAS) of China.

French
Translations are thanks to the Club d'Astronomie de Tabarre (CAT), a subset of the Haitian Astronomical Society (SHA). Translations of previous Newsletters into French were thanks to the Haitian Translation Group of Astronomy and are still available on this page. 

Galician
Translations are thanks to Martin Pawley of the Agrupación Astronómica Coruñesa Ío in Spain.

Italian
Translations are thanks to Eleonora Piromalli of AstronomiAmo in Italy.

Japanese
Translations are thanks to Akihiko Tomita, through the Astronomy Translation Network.
You can subscribe to the Japanese newsletter through the Japanese Amateur Astronomers Association or the Japanese Society for Education and Popularization of Astronomy.

Portuguese (European)
Translations are thanks to João Ferreira and Frederico Arez through the Astronomy Translation Network Portuguese Language Group.

Spanish
Translations are thanks to Andrea Ahumada of the Observatorio Astronómico, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, and Ileana Andruchow of the Instituto Astrofísica de La Plata, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
For translations of previous Newsletters in Spanish, thanks to Emílio Zuniga of the Association of Amateur Astronomers in León, Nicaragua, click here.

If you are interested in translating the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach Newsletter into your language, please email public@oao.iau.org.