No matter if you are in a country slowly easing lockdown and one that continues to be in a state of emergency to fight the spread of COVID-19, we hope you have been in good health since our last newsletter.
Since our last regular message, we’ve closed our applications for the Telescopes for All 2020 programme, and are eagerly excited to review the entries and send the 15 telescopes out into the world. Stay tuned for more news regarding the winners.
In these past weeks, our office, our sister offices and the IAU have announced recipients of a number of awards, funding and opportunities to become involved in astronomy. This newsletter also holds a number of outreach opportunities for outreach professionals and members of the public to become involved in.
Wishing you clear skies and good health! Lina Canas & Izumi Hansen, on behalf of the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO) Team
1) IAU100 Final Report Released
The IAU has released the final report for its centennial celebration, the IAU100. Millions of people participated in the global celebrations through 5000 events across 143 countries, and you can read the highlights in the report.
2) IAU OAO Announce Projects Selected for NOC Funding Scheme 2019/2020
The IAU OAO announced the projects organised by National Outreach Coordinators (NOCs) that will receive the funding for the first edition of the NOC Funding Scheme. The four funded projects, involving 14 NOCs, will happen across South America, Africa and Asia over the upcoming year or so, pending public safety in the region of implementation. Thank you to the 39 NOCs who collaborated and submitted proposals for the NOC Funding Scheme 2019/2020.
3) Meet the IAU Astronomers! Opens to Members of the Public
The IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach welcomes the teachers, informal educators and amateur astronomers for our Meet the IAU Astronomers! Programme to bring an IAU-member astronomer to a virtual meeting with their group.
4) 21 June 2020 Annular Solar Eclipse Across Africa, Asia and the Middle East
An annular solar eclipse will sweep across Africa, Asia and the Middle East on 21 June 2020. A number of our National Outreach Coordinators (NOCs) are organising websites and will be hosting livestreams for the event. The OAO will be sharing these links on our Facebook and Twitter when they become available.
5) IAU Office of Astronomy for Education Announces Opportunities for Collaboration
The IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) has two opportunities to be involved in their programming:
Institutions are welcome to apply to host an OAE Centre or OAE Node. The deadline for applying are due 10 June 2020.
Individuals are welcome to nominate themselves to be part of the National Astronomy Education Coordinator (NAEC) Team in their country. There is no deadline for these applications.
Europlanet is currently accepting applications for the Europlanet Planetary Outreach Funding Scheme. The scheme is meant to fund projects to engage the public with planetary science. People from countries participating in the Europlanet Research Infrastructure or Society or in a member state of the European Union can apply, but potential for international scalability of projects is considered. Applications are due 24 June 2020.
“Reach Across the Stars” virtually meet female astronomers in AR
Link: https://chandra.si.edu/women/ar/
Note: Accessible for deaf and hearing impaired--Includes closed caption
10) IAU Astronomy Outreach Newsletter in Other Languages
Interested in translating our newsletter into your language? Please let us know via outreach@iau.org.
Our newsletter is being translated into the following languages:
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 through the Japanese Amateur Astronomers Association (http://www.jaaa-astro.jp/jaaa-ml.html) or the Japanese Society for Education and Popularization of Astronomy (http://www.tenkyo.net/).
Translations into (European) Portuguese are available, carried out by Catarina Leote, João Ferreira & Jonas Souza through the Astronomy Translation Network (ATN) Portuguese Language Group (the previous issue can be found here).
Translations into Russian are available by Artem Mokhnaktin, Central Astronomical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Pulkovo. You can find the latest translations of the newsletter here.
11) Contributions to the IAU Outreach Newsletter—looking forward to hearing from you in 2020
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 2020! 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.
You can send us your suggestions until the 4th (for issue #1) and the 17th (for issue #2) day of each month. We are looking forward to hearing from you.