The OAO is excited to announce that we are hiring a Deputy Director and an International Outreach Officer! Both positions are full-time and will be based at the OAO, which is located at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), Mitaka Campus, Tokyo, Japan – remote working will not be considered for either position. If you, someone you know, or the people in your network are interested in applying, please refer to the link in the entry below. Please help us by spreading the word far and wide! We look forward to welcoming new people into the OAO Family!
Although we rounded out the end of our Women and Girls in Astronomy celebration at the beginning of this month, we are always celebrating the contributions of women to the science of astronomy and promoting activities that encourage young girls to participate in STEM. This year, our project reached nearly 20,000 people in almost 30 countries, with events that took place in many different languages. For more information about this OAO Global Project, see the Feature below, as well as the incredible contributions of the IAU National Outreach Coordinators.
We would like to sincerely thank our IAU National Outreach Coordinators for all of their work and support during the last two months. From what you can see below, they have been remarkably active. Thank you, also, to our translators for bringing this Newsletter to a much wider audience.
May your skies be dark and quiet,
Kelly Blumenthal, on behalf of the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach Team
Join the OAO Family!
The IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO) is excited to announce a call for two job openings: Deputy Director and International Outreach Officer. Both positions are full-time and will be based at the OAO, which is located at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), Mitaka Campus, Tokyo, Japan. Remote working will not be considered for either position.
A joint venture of the IAU and NAOJ, the OAO is a hub for coordinating astronomy-related public outreach activities around the world. The Office’s mission is to make it easier for the public to access information about our Universe and local and global astronomy events while building networks to support and disseminate information to amateur astronomy and public outreach communities, primarily through its network of National Outreach Coordinators (NOCs).
Details of the two vacancies at the OAO are as follows:
International Outreach Officer
The International Outreach Officer is vital to the OAO team, providing expert programme management skills to support OAO and NAOJ projects and programmes. This role requires excellent time management and communication skills, both written and verbal. The International Outreach Officer should hold an honours degree or equivalent in astronomy or a closely related field and should have experience working on international projects. Please review the International Outreach Officer job description before applying.
Deputy Director
The Deputy Director is key to linking the OAO with the public and IAU community of astronomers through regular interactions with the IAU membership, the other IAU Offices and Centres, and the general public worldwide. This role requires a skilled multi-modal communicator with excellent time management and communication skills. The Deputy Director should hold a PhD in astronomy, astrophysics, or a closely related field and should be comfortable working in diverse outreach or educational communities. Please review the Deputy Director job description before applying.
Each position above will be appointed according to the normal conditions of service of NAOJ employees. The International Outreach Officer and Deputy Director are contract positions for three years, with the possibility of renewal for an additional two years, subject to performance. The annual salary will be between 4.5 and 5.2 million Japanese Yen, depending on the appointee's experience and educational background.
Interested candidates should send the following documents by email to the OAO Director, Kelly Blumenthal (blumenthal.kelly@oao.iau.org), by the deadline of 17 May 2024 (23:59 UTC):
Cover Letter
Selected CV, maximum four (4) pages long
The contact details of at least three (3) referees
1) Women and Girls in Astronomy 2024 Wrap-Up
Every year, we celebrate women and girls in astronomy between the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February and International Women’s Day on 8 March. This year, our dedicated events calendar received more than 100 entries from 28 countries, with a projected total number of people engaged in the tens of thousands.
The IAU National Outreach Coordinators led the charge within their communities to hold many events that helped inspire, encourage, and foster a love of astronomy in the next generation of scientists. We encourage you to read about the incredible accomplishments of the NOCs below. Our NOCs and members of the OAO community translated the Women in Astronomy Card Game into 11 languages from the original English version, including Arabic, Bangla, German, Haitian, Japanese, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, and Spanish.
3) 19th Edition of Algeria’s National Festival in Popular Astronomy Algeria’s multilingual National Festival in Popular Astronomy—The Black Holes: The Hidden Cosmic Beasts—will hold its 19th edition from 25 to 27 April in Constantine, Algeria. The event is supported by the IAU, AfAS and the AUASS and will feature an Astronomical Fair, lectures, workshops and nighttime observing sessions. The organisers will provide free registration and local accommodation for African amateur and professional astronomers joining the event.
4) Global Sky Clubs Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) is offering the opportunity for astronomy clubs in schools to use robotic telescopes for projects or investigations - Global Sky Clubs. LCO provides 10 hours of time on its 10 x 0.4m telescope network exclusively for projects in schools and involving school students. The program runs for 6 months, starting 1 August 2024.
5) Falling Walls Global Call The Falling Walls Science Summit is an interdisciplinary event that celebrates scientific breakthroughs that have a significant impact. The call for nominations and applications to participate in the 2024 Summit is now open.
6) Updates from the IAU National Outreach Coordinators (NOCs)
a) Bangladesh
The NOC Bangladesh Team produced a translation of the Women in Astronomy Card Game into Bangla.
b) Dominican Republic
In collaboration with the Dominican Astronomical Society and the National Museum of Natural History, the NOC Dominican Republic Team organised a talk on Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, the astronomer who described the composition of the stars.
In collaboration with Club Astronómico de Santiago, the NOC Dominican Republic Team held a lecture dedicated to Vera Rubin's work. Through her research of the Andromeda Galaxy, Rubin inferred the existence of dark matter.
The NOC Dominican Republic Team organised a 2-hour event to visit public schools and discuss the work of Vera Rubin, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, Henrietta Swan-Leavitt and Marie Curie, ending with observations of the Sun.
Throughout the Women and Girls in Astronomy celebrations, the NOC Dominican Republic Team reached more than 300 students, teachers, and members of the general public.
c) Egypt
On 6 March, our NOC Egypt, Somaya Saad, held an event in honour of Women and Girls in Astronomy in collaboration with several local astronomy and science organisations. During this event, participants discussed the challenges faced by women in astronomy, as well as their aspirations, accomplishments, and futures.
d) Germany
The NOC Germany Team produced a translation of the Women in Astronomy Card Game into German.
The NOC Haiti Team produced a translation of the Women in Astronomy Card Game into Haitian.
f) Iraq
In celebration of the Women and Girls in Astronomy Global Outreach Project, the NOC Iraq Team held an astronomy event celebrating women and girls in the field in collaboration with the amateur astronomer Mrs Najah Mohieddin Ezzat Al-Salhi. The event aimed to raise awareness about women's contributions to astronomy and inspire more girls to pursue interests in science and technology. Attendees enjoyed observing planets through modern telescopes and received instruction on telescopes and identifying planets.
The NOC Iraq Team produced a series of posters introducing both professional and amateur astronomers. The posters highlighted the achievements and contributions of women in astronomy and served as a source of inspiration and encouragement for girls, particularly in regions facing challenges such as Iraq.
The NOC Iraq Team produced a translation of the Women in Astronomy Card Game into Arabic.
g) Japan
The NOC Japan Team, with editorial help from members of the Public Relations Center at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, produced a translation of the Women in Astronomy Card Game into Japanese.
h) Kosovo
In collaboration with Cikat n’STEM, the NOC Kosovo hosted an event dedicated to women and girls in astronomy at the Prishtina Observatory. The event focussed on celebrating Kosovar women and girls in astronomy and STEM education. aims to promote inclusivity and diversity in science, particularly in astronomy, by highlighting the contributions of women and encouraging individuals of all genders to consider careers in this field. The event will feature discussions, activities, and challenges utilising toolkits and card games provided by the Women and Girls in Astronomy - An IAU Outreach Global Project. Open to all, the event underscores the importance of recognising and supporting women in advancing science, fostering a more inclusive future in STEM.
i) Madagascar
The NOC Madagascar, Zara Randriamanakoto, and two of her students coordinated a project called SheMatters. This project leverages astronomy and science to inspire and empower vulnerable girls and under-aged mothers aged 4 - 18 at a foster home in a suburban area of Madagascar. It will continue for six months and feature a diverse range of activities, such as storytelling by women scientists, practical skills transfer by our volunteers, and stargazing sessions to bring hope to the girls as they rebuild their future.
j) Morocco
The NOC Morocco Team organised an event featuring talks (a “Journey to Mars” and a discussion of how to become an astronaut), a meteorite workshop, and stargazing.
k) Nepal
The NOC Nepal Team held a month-long set of sessions celebrating Women and Girls in Astronomy, including more than 20 events across the country. These included lectures, demonstrations, art competitions, workshops and much more.
Manisha Dwa, our Co-NOC Nepal, also created a beautiful set of journal pages honouring four prominent women in astronomy and astronomy communication: Carolina Odman Govender, Lina Canas, Michele Gerbaldi and Kalpana Chawla.
l) Peru
The NOC Peru moderated an online activity, which consisted of a talk and a conversation with two young Peruvian women astronomers, Carla Arce and Lisseth Gonzales. Through this conversation, the participants learned about the work of Professor María Luisa Aguilar, the first Peruvian astronomer, as well as the current role and difficulties of women and girls in astronomy in Peru and the region, their possibilities, and their dreams.
m) Poland
The NOC Poland Team produced a translation of the Women in Astronomy Card Game into Polish.
n) Qatar
The NOC Qatar, Hani Dalee, organised an event at Al-Hedaya Preparatory and Secondary School for Girls in Doha. Together, they used a telescope to observe and track sunspots on the Sun’s disc.
o) Romania
The NOC Romania Team produced a translation of the Women in Astronomy Card Game into Romanian.
p) Slovakia
The NOC Slovakia Team helped to produce a translation of the Women in Astronomy Card Game into Slovak.
q) Syria
Turkieh Jbour, part of the NOC Syria Team, held an online lecture on women’s contributions to astronomy and space science. In addition, the NOC Syria Team organised a series of several talks given by women in the field spanning from 17 February to 9 March.
r) Tunisia & Bahrain
This February, the NOC Tunisia Team invited the NOC Bahrain, Myriam Alqassab, President of Stargazers for Astronomical Science - Bahrain Stargazers, to give a public talk entitled "Breaking barriers empowering women in astronomy"
7) Cool Resources
a) Kainaat Studios [English]
Humans are headed for the Moon. But the Moon holds different values for different cultures. How do we decide about these values? How do we take into account diverse views on the potential uses of our Moon? Who decides if the Moon is sacred? In Kainaat Studios’s most recent episode of Chai on the Moon, they are joined by Dr Deana Weibel, a cultural anthropologist whose work focuses primarily on religion, especially the topics of pilgrimage, sacred space, the mutual influence of scientific and religious ideas on each other, and religion and space exploration. Watch and listen to the episode, Who Decides if the Moon is Sacred? here.
c) Interesting podcast – Breaking the glass ceiling: conversations with women leaders in academia [English]
What do you think we need to do to make academia (and astronomy) a place for women to thrive? Listen to this conversation with women leaders in academia here.
d) Women in Astronomy Card Game [Arabic, Bangla, English, German, Haitian, Japanese, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak and Spanish]
The Women in Astronomy Card Game is available on the Office for Astronomy Outreach website in 12 languages. Click here for more details about and to download the Women in Astronomy Card Game.
8) 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.
9) 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!
