The IAU100 celebrations continue around the world, with several events for Inspiring Stars project planned during the month of June in Austria, France, United Kingdom, Thailand and Italy. The Inspiring Stars events are dedicated to inclusion and diversity in astronomy.

From 14–21 June 2019 the IAU inclusive exhibition Inspiring Stars 100 Years Under One Sky was on display at the Vienna International Centre, located at the UN Vienna Rotunda, where participants in the 2019 session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) were able to experience it. COPUOS is the General Assembly’s only committee dealing exclusively with international cooperation for the peaceful uses of outer space. On 14 June, Piero Benvenuti, former IAU General Secretary, Rosaria D’Antonio, IAU Head of Secretariat, and Wanda Diaz Merced, Inspiring Stars Task Force, presented the IAU inclusive actions to the participants of the session. The occasion was celebrated by signing an agreement on behalf of the IAU with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), which is the United Nations office responsible for promoting international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, and which serves as the secretariat for COPUOS. The agreement involves the donation of a permanent Inspiring Stars exhibition to UNOOSA.

On 20 June, the IAU 100 years celebrations and Inspiring Stars were represented at the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) event at the Royal Academy in London, which was a free event, open to the general public.

During the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science, the annual meeting of the European Astronomical Society, from 24–28 June 2019, in Lyon, France, the IAU100 years celebrations and Inspiring Stars are present with two booths, featuring information about the 100 years celebrations and the IAU’s initiatives to promote inclusion and diversity. On 26 June Ewine van Dishoek will present the IAU100 celebrations. On 28 June the University of Lyon will have a special day dedicated to inclusion, on which the Inspiring Stars exhibition will open at the university. It will then be on display on the Inspiring Stars panels (in French) at the Library of the University, for all visitors for three months, from 28 June to 30 September 2019.

In Thailand, from 25–28 June, the Regional Observatory for the Public in Chachoengsao will host the NARIT–IAU100 Inclusive Astronomy Workshop, a four-day workshop for Thai teachers and science outreach professionals with Invited Speaker Beatriz Garcia (IAU Working Group on Equity and Inclusion and National Outreach Coordinator for Argentina). This is the first workshop on inclusive astronomy in Thailand, organized in close collaboration between NARIT and the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO). Later on, on 17 July, Inspiring Stars will host a special event at the Sant'Alessio Institute for the Blind in Italy, in collaboration with INAF. The exhibition will be open from 1–31 July, free for the general public.

After previous successful editions in Belgium, Italy, Ethiopia and Chile, the IAU100 inclusive astronomy programme will continue during 2019. In September the Inspiring Stars exhibition will be hosted at the Observatory of Monteporzio Rome, and from 14–18 October the Observatory in Sardinia, in collaboration with ESO, will also host free public events. The 2019 tour around the world will culminate on November 12–15 with the first IAU symposium on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion to be hosted in Japan, at the NAOJ Mitaka Campus, in Tokyo. Public visitors to the NAOJ Mitaka Campus, as well as the participants of the symposium will be able to visit the exhibition.

More information

The IAU is the international astronomical organisation that brings together more than 13 500 professional astronomers from more than 100 countries worldwide. Its mission is to promote and safeguard astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development, through international cooperation. The IAU also serves as the internationally recognised authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and the surface features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world's largest professional body for astronomers.

Contacts

Lina Canas,
International Outreach Coordinator, IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
Email: lina.canas@nao.ac.jp

Maria Rosaria D’Antonio
IAU Head of Administration, IAU–UAI Secretariat
Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 43 25 83 58
Email: dantonio@iap.fr

Lars Lindberg Christensen
IAU Press Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 320 06 761
Cell: +49 173 38 72 621
Email: lars@eso.org