In the past few weeks, our team have started working on our latest project! Last December, the OAO and NAOJ submitted a proposal to organise an IAU Symposium under the name “Astronomy for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion — a roadmap to action within the framework of the IAU 100th Anniversary”. We are pleased to announce that our proposal was accepted by the IAU and we will be organising this symposium in Tokyo, from 12 to 15 November, 2019. Stay tuned for news and regular updates on the project. This past week, we also welcomed a new team member from France: Berenice Himmelfarb. Berenice will stay with us, working on the Astronomy Translation Network (ATN) as Project Manager, until November 2018.
In this issue, we want to highlight the upcoming e-Light Pollution exhibition, exploring the universe with the Subaru project, and the Globe at Night campaigns.
Wishing you all Happy Reading & Clear Skies!
The IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach Team
1) e-Light Pollution photo-exhibition
The IAU Inter-Division B-C Commission on Protection of Existing and Potential Observatory Sites, the Commission C1- Astronomy Education and Development, and the Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO) invite the international community to share their photos for the first "e-Light Pollution photo-exhibition". This e-exhibition will be showcased as a satellite event during the XXX IAU General Assembly in Vienna, where the selected photos will be digitally displayed in various places, raising awareness among attendees of the impact of light pollution on astronomical sites. Deadline for submissions is July 31, 2018.
a) Astronomy Festival on the National Mall Brings the Universe down to Earth
In Washington, DC, on Saturday, June 23rd from 6 to 11 pm, visitors will be a given a free guided tour of the sky at the 9th Annual Astronomy Festival on the National Mall. This free public stargazing is being organised by Dr Donald Lubowich, Coordinator of Astronomy Outreach at Hofstra University. The Astronomy Festival on the National Mall (AFNM) will feature solar, optical, and radio telescope observations of the Sun, Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn; hands-on activities, demonstrations; a planetarium show with a portable dome, speakers from scientific and educational organisations, and a chance to mingle with astronomers.
3) 50 Hours for 50 Nations -- The Las Cumbres Observatory Telescope
The Global Hands-On Universe has been awarded 50 hours of the 0.4 meter telescope time on the "The Las Cumbres Observatory" network of telescopes around the world. The project is now looking for inspiring teachers across the globe to share this observing time. If you’d like to join the project, you can reach team members Adriana Demmon (adriana.demmon[at]mitacademy.org) or Carl Pennypacker (crpennypacker[at]lbl.gov) and learn how to apply. The team is also producing great resources to support the teaching community. Stay tuned for more news on the project.
Please go to http://lco.global and learn more about this network of telescopes!
4) Exploring the Universe captured by the Subaru Telescope
Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC), mounted on the Japanese Subaru Telescope located in Hawai‘i is an epoch-making giant digital camera. Since 2014, scientists have been conducting extensive survey programs with HSC, with its first dataset released in February 2017. The dataset from the survey data collected with the Subaru Telescope can now be easily accessed using the viewer of the HSC data on your PC or tablet. The team is now inviting everyone to experience, firsthand, the expansiveness of the real Universe observed by the Subaru Telescope.
Globe at Night is an international citizen-science campaign to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure night-sky brightness and submit their observations. It's easy to get involved—all you need is a computer or smartphone. Find the dates for the upcoming campaigns here: https://www.globeatnight.org/5-steps.php#d2018
Plan ahead for the June, July, and August campaigns:
June 4-13, July 4-13, August 2-11, 2018 (Northern Constellations) and June 4-13, July 4-13, August 2-11, 2018 (Southern Constellations)
6) Europlanet Outreach Workshop: Touching the Planets, Evaluating Excellence
Registration is now open for the Europlanet outreach workshop: “Touching the Planets, Evaluating Excellence”, which will be held in Athens on July 2-3, 2018. This year, the workshop will target primarily (but not exclusively) an audience of amateur astronomers and focus on the evaluation of outreach activities. The deadline for registration is Monday, June 4.
7) Resource Guides for Astronomy and Astronomy Education
New or updated resource guides for instructors and students are available on the following topics: women in astronomy, Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, sources for the best astronomical images, free lab exercises on the Web, plays about astronomers, the Messier Catalog, and debunking astronomical pseudo-science.
As we approach mid-2018, we want to remind you once again of the many cool night sky events we still have ahead of us this year! From lunar eclipses to meteor showers, enjoy what the night sky has to offer by simply looking up! In this infographic, you can find ten interesting stargazing events to watch for in 2018. Additionally, you might also want to check the National Geographic selection of eight events, as well as this article in Big Think.
c) International Science Engagement Camp (ISEC) Dates: 6-22 July 2018
Location: Barcelona, Spain
More Information: www.isec2018.wordpress.com
d) 5th European Conference of Science Journalists
Date: 8 July 2018
Location: Toulouse, France
More Information: https://www.ecsj2018.eu/
e) ESOF (EuroScience Open Forum) 2018
Dates: 9-14 July 2018
Location: Toulouse, France
More Information: https://www.esof.eu/en/
f) Committee on Space Research - COSPAR
Date: July 14-22, 2018
Location: Pasadena, California
More information: http://cospar2018.org/
g) 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
n) World Space Week 2018
Dates: 4-10 October 2018
Location: All around the world
More Information: http://www.worldspaceweek.org
o) International Observe the Moon Night
Date: 20 October 2018
Location: All around the world
More Information: http://observethemoonnight.org/
p) 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.
