In this issue, we report “live” from Vienna, where our team is staying to participate at the IAU XXXth General Assembly! A lot of exciting things happening these two weeks that you can follow the e-Newspaper “Keplersche Nachrichten”(http://astronomy2018.cosmoquest.org/newspaper/), and it’s all about Astronomy, 3000 astronomers gathering for science, communication, and development “under one sky."
This is a special edition of our newsletter highlighting the outreach efforts placed together during this general assembly. From the launch of IAU 100 years exhibition, to IAU inclusion day with Inspiring Stars and the Special Focus meeting on communicating astronomy.
Our booth is up and running and if you happen to be attending the General Assembly, drop by the giant Earth Ball at the entrance and meet the teams! Our team is also joined with the Offices of Astronomy for Development and the Office for Young Astronomers.
Wishing you all Happy Reading & Clear Skies!
The IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach team @ the IAU General Assembly:
Lina, Sze-leung, Hidehiko, Berenice and Hannah
1) Focus Meeting 14: IAU’s Role in Global Astronomy Outreach
The GA in Vienna provides an important opportunity for research astronomers and outreach professionals to come together to consider the IAU’s role in global astronomy outreach. The goal of Focus Meeting 14 was to enable and coordinate outreach for a better world. The participants shared what is already being done and discuss what they can do better going forward.
Find out more about the meeting in this article by the session co-chairs: Sze-leung Cheung & William Waller: https://bit.ly/2P7ZMoz
2) IAU 100th Anniversary Open-source Exhibition Premieres in Vienna — Celebrating a century of astronomical discoveries
The Above and Beyond open-source exhibition was launched during the first week of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly in Vienna, Austria. The exhibition — commissioned within the framework of the IAU 100th anniversary celebrations — showcases some of the most significant and surprising astronomical breakthroughs that have shaped science, technology, and culture over the last century. Designed in the spirit of open science, it is available as a travelling exhibition, touring major European cities in 2018 and 2019. It will also be available as an open source to develop a variety of exhibition experiences worldwide.
3) Inspiring Stars Travelling Exhibition Launched at the GA
The Inspiring Stars — the IAU inclusive world exhibition was launched at the GA today. This travelling exhibition, led by the IAU and supported by the American Astronomical Society, aims to highlight, support, and promote inclusive initiatives to address equity and equality of participation in astronomy education and teaching, as well as at a professional level. The inauguration of the exhibition featured a rich programme of talks and panels that allowed distinguished invited speakers to share their experiences as scientists with disabilities or impairments with GA delegates and members of the public.
At the heart of IAU is the desire to maintain dark, starry night skies, not only for the livelihood of its members but to preserve humanity’s cultural heritage. In line with this goal, the presence of the IAU GA in Vienna has been leveraged to create a number of events for attendees and the general public. These events are the products of Commission C.B7 on-site protection, working with its IAU partners, Commission C1 on education and the Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO).
During the GA, you can meet our team members Hidehiko Agata, Sze-leung Cheung, Lina Canas, Berenice Himmelfarb and Hannah Harris, who are excited to meet and greet all participants at the IAU Booth. Their work is all about building bridges around the world and the team is taking this unique opportunity here in Vienna to talk face to face with some of the people who are making a difference in astronomy internationally – the astronomers producing the cutting-edge science and the outreach and education practitioners who take astronomy to their local communities. If you’re interested in sharing your work with us, learn more about what we are doing in communication and accessibility, provide input on our current and future projects or simply to say Hi! drop by the IAU booth located straight ahead, right at the entrance of the GA venue with the Earth Ball. Everyone is most welcome.
6) Public Talks and various GA satellite events to the public
In addition to welcoming more than 3000 astronomers from over 88 countries, the conference is also offering several events for the local community, free and open to the public. Find all the highlights here: https://astronomy2018.univie.ac.at/outreach/
7) IAU Strategic Plan 2020-2030
The new extended IAU Strategic Plan 2020–2030 provides a comprehensive overview of the IAU, describing how the different IAU activities fit together and how they complement each other, and presents its long-term goals. The celebrations associated with the 100th anniversary of the IAU in 2019 are an opportunity to reflect on a century of fantastic progress in astronomy. At the same time, they provide inspiration to look forward to the next decade(s), and to take actions such as those described here to further enhance astronomy’s impact on society. Working together ‘Under one Sky’ will make this possible.
8) The IAU Office of Astronomy for Development Newsletter #21 is available online
The IAU OAD Newsletter #21 is now online. It is issued quarterly by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Development. Some highlights of this issue are the IAU General Assembly Focus Meeting 15: Astronomy for Development, the Inspiring Stars exhibition and updates from the Regional Offices.
An archive of all OAD newsletters is available on the website here.
9) Meetings and Global Events
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!
j) Starmus Festival V: A Giant Leap
Date: 24–29 June 2019
Location: Bern, Switzerland
More information: https://www.starmus.com/
k) 3rd Workshop on Dissemination and Education of Astronomy (WDEA III)
Dates: 2 July (Solar Eclipse), 4- 5 July 2019
Location: San Juan, Argentina
More information at http://sion.frm.utn.edu.ar/WDEAIII/
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.
