May your skies be dark and quiet,
Kelly Blumenthal, on behalf of the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach Team
Get involved with your NOC!
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO) is the IAU central coordination and dissemination point for astronomy outreach activities worldwide. To support projects at a national level, the IAU OAO created the network of IAU National Outreach Coordinators (NOC).
The National Outreach Coordinators are a network of astronomy communicators around the globe. Together, they represent more than 120 countries with over 300 team members and volunteers. In each Newsletter, we bring you updates from a selection of the NOCs, but each one performs amazing outreach in their communities. From mobile planetarium events to art competitions to observational events and site visits, our NOCs are doing their best to creatively engage their publics in a way that is exciting and relatable.
Are you an amateur astronomer or researcher looking to get more involved in astronomy outreach? Reach out to your local NOC to learn how you can get involved! If your country is not represented in the NOCs network, consider applying to become a NOC yourself! The world needs more great minds like yours to truly make Astronomy for Everyone.
1) Registration is Open for the IAU GA 2024 in Cape Town! The National Organising Committee is pleased to announce that registration is now open for the IAU General Assembly, which will take place from 6-15 August 2024 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. This will not only be a first for Africa, but also a first for the world: anyone anywhere will be able to follow the events live. Read more about the 2024 GA in this media announcement, on the conference website, and in this IAU announcement.
2) CAPjournal is Now Fully Peer-Reviewed Did you know that the CAPjournal is now fully peer-reviewed? In 2022, in accordance with our mission to professionalise astronomy communication and our CAP offerings, CAPjournal decided to transition to a fully peer-reviewed journal. Since then, two issues have been published under these new guidelines, with one more on the way.
3) LGBTQIA+ Communities in Astronomy Together with the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) and the OAO, the IAU Executive Committee Working Group on Astronomy for Equity and Inclusion’s SubWG on LGBTQ+ Communities in Astronomy is organising a symposium this February entitled, Building an Inclusive Astronomy Community: An LGBTQ Meeting. This meeting aims to provide a space for LGBTQ astronomers to come together, share their experiences and perspectives, and discuss ways in which the astronomical community can become more inclusive. This conference additionally aims to educate the broad astronomical community about the challenges faced by LGBTQ astronomers, and promote awareness and understanding of the LGBTQ community within the field. The conference will take place in February 2024, and will be hosted by NARIT in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
5) Sandcastle: Table-talk Role Playing Game by NAOJ PRC
Inspired by the success of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) Public Relation Center's (PRC) GALAXY CRUISE, members of the PRC developed and released Sandcastle, a table-talk role-playing game, which requires only an imagination to enjoy. The game does not require any knowledge of astronomy, though the game is interspersed with scientific content. The game's authors are looking for people to help translate the game and its guides into Japanese.
6) Einstein@Home joins the Zooniverse Citizen scientists can now also use their eyes and brains to help find new pulsars. Since 2009, Einstein@Home volunteers have helped analyze observations from the large Arecibo telescope’s PALFA pulsar survey. The project’s science team has sifted through the results to find tens of thousands of promising pulsar candidates and produced a small set of diagnostic plots for each. Now, the new “Pulsar Seekers” project is calling on volunteers from the Zooniverse citizen science platform to sort through these plots to find new pulsars.
7) Updates from the IAU National Outreach Coordinators (NOCs)
a) Argentina
To celebrate 100 Hours of Astronomy, Beatriz Garcia, our former NOC Argentina, in collaboration with NASE, produced a series of activities on micrometeorites.
b) Aruba
The NOC Aruba held an outreach event related to the partial solar eclipse. This was the first time they were able to use their new mobile planetarium, and it was a great success.
c) Bahrain
The NOC Bahrain, Myriam Alqassab, and the Bahrain Stargazers collaborated with the Ministry of Education to provide training for students to get hands-on experience handling astronomical images and analyzing them. The training started in September and October, and they will continue this collaboration until December.
They held a workshop for the students of Sharifa Center. This week-long workshop taught students about basic astronomy, lunar phases, and backyard observation.
d) Egypt
Members of the NOC Egypt Team, in collaboration with the National Research Institute of Astronomical and Geophysics in Cairo, received students of all genders from the Dia Malila Institute in Indonesia, one of the Indonesian institutes affiliated with Al-Azhar University in Cairo. They visited the historical museum, the Solar telescope, and the sundial. The students also linked science and culture by learning how to determine prayer times using the Sun’s shadow.
A member of the NOC Egypt Team and the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics organised a public online seminar entitled Space exploration: The challenges and the opportunities.
e) Ethiopia
In collaboration with the Ethiopian Space Science Society (ESSS), members of the NOC Ethiopia Team organised the Space Public Lecture Series, held on 9, 17 and 23 September, to bridge the gap between researchers and the general public. Astronomy and space science professionals delivered enlightening talks on their current research areas, attracting a keen audience of students and space enthusiasts.
This year, the 100 Hours of Astronomy initiative witnessed significant outreach efforts in two cities. In collaboration with the Space Science and Geospatial Institute, ESSS and members of the NOC Ethiopia Team conducted outreach activities at Minilik II Secondary School on 3 October and subsequently organized an outreach event in Haramaya City on 4 October in collaboration with Haramaya University.
The IAU386 Symposium, themed "Dark sky and astronomical heritage in boosting astro-tourism around the globe," took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 13-17 November. After the symposium, NOC Ethiopia Team members, alongside ESSS and SSGI volunteers and symposium attendees, conducted school outreach programs at several public schools and hosted public lectures at the Addis Ababa Institute of Technology. These events offered students an incredible opportunity to engage with professional astronomers and benefit from their expertise.
On October 28, a partial lunar eclipse was visible globally. ESSS, in collaboration with SSGI and members of the NOC Ethiopia Team, live-streamed the event on ESSS's YouTube Channel and shared informative social media posts in Amharic, enriching the experience for space enthusiasts.
The NOC Ethiopia Team helped organise the ESSS Summer Space Training program in Mekelle, Addis Ababa, and Haramaya. Collaborating with universities, the program offered sessions on astronomy, space engineering, and aerospace engineering. Students participated in theoretical, hands-on, and presentation sessions, allowing them to showcase their acquired knowledge.
g) Iraq
In October, the NOC Iraq, Ali Al-Edhari, organised an event with the Basra amateur astronomy group to observe the lunar eclipse, inspiring people of all ages to learn more about the night sky. The event became a unique educational and entertaining meeting point. Everyone gathered with enthusiasm, armed with binoculars and telescopes, to witness this beautiful astronomical phenomenon.
h) United Kingdom
Our new NOC United Kingdom, Jenny Shipway, and her team have been working in collaboration with some local science communication specialists, to launch a new email list called AstroMailbox. This provides the local UK science communication community the opportunity to share resources, skills, and experiences through supportive discussions. For more information about AstroMailbox, refer to their website.
8) Opportunities
a) Job Opportunity: CEO of ASP
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) seeks a dynamic and visionary Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who will lead the organization into the future through inspiring leadership, innovative organizational thinking, and excellent financial management. The CEO is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the society and its staff, including administration, programs, financial management, fundraising, marketing and outreach, and reports directly to the Board of Directors. As the ASP’s lead spokesperson, the CEO represents the society to various stakeholders, including its members, NASA, NSF, AAS, the amateur astronomy community, other astronomy and educational organizations, supporters, donors, and the general public.
b) Space Scoop
At Space Scoop, you get the latest astronomical news from around the Universe, written in easy-to-understand language. For example, learn all about cosmology, from supernovae to black holes to galaxy formation and mergers. There is so much to discover at Space Scoop! If you would like to help Space Scoop get translated into more of the world’s languages, email them at info@unawe.org.
10) IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach Newsletter in Non-English Languages
* A note to our subscribers looking for live translations: this month's Newsletter came at a particularly busy time. Please allow our translators about a week to produce the translations below. Thank you for your understanding and patience!
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 of the OAO Newsletter into Galician until March 2023 are thanks to Martin Pawley of the Agrupación Astronómica Coruñesa Ío in Spain.
Italian
Translations are thanks to Eleonora Piromalli of AstronomiAmo in Italy.
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.
11) Contribute to the IAU Astronomy Outreach Newsletter
We are always looking for material about astronomy outreach, communication and public engagement from around the world to include in our next IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach Newsletter. 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.
The Newsletter will be published on the last day of each month. For publication in the next Newsletter, please send us your suggestions by the 10th of each month. We look forward to hearing from you!
