Astronomy@Home Awards 2020: Winners Announced

Astronomy@Home Awards 2020 received over 400 events between April and August 2020 globally. The selected 50 events from 31 different countries are distributed across five awards categories.

As many of us turned online to stay connected with our astronomy communities toward the beginning of the pandemic, the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach wished to recognize the incredible and inspiring efforts of various event organizers carried out during the subsequent months worldwide.

As the world struggled to contain the spread of COVID-19; Astronomy@Home Awards rewarded the original, engaging, fun, and educational at-home online activities carried out by the community of astronomers, to help cope with prolonged time spent indoors and keep their community occupied, entertained, and, most of all, engaged with science and astronomy, in a meaningful manner.

We asked outreach professionals, educators, professional and amateur astronomers, and astronomy enthusiasts to develop and participate in online astronomy activities. People from all backgrounds and levels of experience were encouraged to organize online events, using astronomy as an engaging tool to connect online with their communities. An astronomy enthusiast streaming the night sky through a telescope at the window; astronomers holding virtual meetups; educators sharing fun activities and DIYs at home; planetariums broadcasting live remote shows; online astronomy challenges were some of the wide range of creative and innovative activities that we got to witness all around the world.

The 1st and 2nd prizes were attributed to the following events:

Award 1: Most Innovative Event
“Space in Your Living Room!”, The Netherlands
“Chasing the Sun Around the Globe,” India
Award 2: Best Family Event
“Asteroid, Annular Eclipse, The Sun SONGs,” Kenya
“Planetarium Virtual Experiences,” Brazil
Award 3: Outstanding Online Event
“AstroTalk,” Tunisia
“MY-EAUNIVASE (Malaysia- East Asia Universe Awareness Solar Eclipse),” Malaysia
Award 4: Largest Number of Registered Events
PHOENIX SCIENCE CLUB, India
Polish Astronomical Society, Poland
Award 5: Community Engagement
Crosswords, science fiction, and other initiatives, India
"Club de Audio-Lectura El Universo del Principito", Chile

“Honorable Mentions” received a four-year subscription to the IAU Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal. The selected initiatives can be found here.

More information

The IAU is an international astronomical organization that brings together more than 12,000 active 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 recognized authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and their surface features. Founded in 1919, IAU is the world’s largest professional body for astronomers.

The IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO) is a joint project of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The mission of the OAO is to engage the public in astronomy through access to astronomical information and communication of the science of astronomy. This is implemented through a network of IAU National Outreach Coordinators (NOCs) and the IAU’s public engagement initiatives. The work of the OAO is about building bridges between the IAU and the global astronomy community of amateur astronomers, outreach professionals, educators, communicators, and the general public, to make the science of astronomy accessible to all by means of international collaboration.

Contacts

Lina Canas
Director, IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach
Tel: +81-(0)422-34-3966
Email: lina.canas@nao.ac.jp

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Online Astronomy@Home Awards Overview

As many of us turn online to stay connected with our communities through astronomy, we wish to recognise the incredible and inspiring efforts various event organisers worldwide are carrying out during the upcoming months.

As the world struggles to contain the spread of COVID-19, we are committed to helping tackle this pandemic and its impact on society (please read our IAU Office's Call to Action). To help everyone cope with the prolonged times being spent indoors, and because everything is better with astronomy, we would like to reward the fun, educational, original and engaging at-home online activities you are carrying out to keep you, your family, and your community occupied, entertained and, most of all, engaged in a meaningful way with science and astronomy.

We are asking outreach professionals, educators, amateur and professional astronomers, and astronomy enthusiasts to develop and participate in astronomy activities online. People from all backgrounds and level of experience are encouraged to organise online events using astronomy as an engagement tool to connect online with their communities. From one person streaming their night sky through a telescope at their window; astronomers holding virtual meetups; educators sharing fun activities to DIY at home; to planetariums broadcasting live remote shows; online astronomy challenges, we’re already seeing creative and engaging activities all around!

We hope to keep this momentum going, by recognising the various event organisers worldwide through the Online Astronomy@Home Awards. The five categories for the awards are:

	1) Most Innovative Event: Where organisers have come up with an imaginative or unusual approach to enthusing the public about astronomy with and online event or campaign.
	2) Best Family Event: For those at home with their families, what astronomy activity they come up with (together with their family members, remotely or that are in the same house) and inspiring others along the way.
	3) Outstanding Online Event: Engaging with the public isn't necessarily the number of attendees or the scale of the event, but the quality of the experience. This award recognises the excellence of an engaging and fully online outreach experience.
	4) Largest Number of Registered Online Events Held by a Single Group: Where an organising group has made an effort to take astronomy above and beyond from their own homes to the community-at-large.
	5) Community Engagement: For the most interesting event that garnered participation with communities that aren't focused on astronomy, or made efforts to connect to non-astronomy-enthusiasts.

Prizes
First Prize: 600 euros (one first prize per category award)
Second Prize: 300 euros (one second prize per category award)
Top ten: A four-year subscription to the printed version of the CAPjournal.
All organisers will receive a Certificate of Participation.

Timeline
1 April 2020 to 31 August 2020

Eligibility
Activities must be registered on the Event Form and implemented between 1 April and 31 August 2020. Events and content that sells products or services are not eligible for these awards.

How can you apply?
1) Plan your online astronomy activities, events, talks, meetups for engaging with your community online;
2) Register your event or activity on the IAU Global Outreach Events registration form;
3) Implement your astronomy outreach activities online between 1 April and 31 August 2020;
4) Tell us about your activity by filling out the report form by 21 September 2020.

Awards Agreement
- All decisions of award organizers about any aspect of the awards, including eligibility or disqualification of applications, comments and images, and final awarding, are final and cannot be appealed.
- By submitting information for the awards about the conducted Online Astro@Home Awards event, participants consent to the use, reproduction, publication, transmission and dissemination of their name, and information relating to the award by the award organizers and/or partners, without compensation, in any publications or promotional material, to promote the awards and its winners.
- The Prizes will be attributed by bank transfer and the total amount for 1st Prize (600 euros) and 2nd Prize (300 euros) include currency exchange rates at the time of the transfer and all fees associated with the transfer.
- Online Astro@Home Awards and the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach reserves the right to make changes to the awards at any time without prior notice, to temporarily interrupt the awards, or to cancel the awards without justifying or being in any way accountable for this decision. No damages or compensation may be claimed.

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Honourable Mentions

Award 1: Most Innovative Event
Rendez-Vous des Astrophiles (Astronomy Lovers Meet up), Madagascar
DIY@Home for Solar Eclipse 2020, Hong Kong, China
Astrophilia Competition 2020, Sri Lanka
Take Home Astronomy, Philippines
MASLOW SPACE ADVENTURE, Colombia
SOLAR SYSTEM in your ROOM, Togo
Moon Challenge, India
Sidewalk Astronomy Night, Russia
Award 2: Best Family Event
Online Astronomy Competition, Mozambique
Science at Home, Ireland
Astronomy in the Vegetable Garden, Brazil
Il Cielo dal Balcone, Italy
Astromanía for everyone, Chile
Online Family Astronomy Competition, Iran
#IACUniversoEnCasa sky-live.tv live streaming, Spain
Completing Explore the Universe Certificate, Canada
Award 3: Outstanding Online Event
Cosmic Marathon, Colombia
Global Hands-on Universe Conference 2020, Portugal
Astro at Home / Astro à la maison, Canada
Romanian Science Festival Webinars, Romania
1st Week of Astronomy and Science - AstroCiencias Ecuador, Ecuador
Livestream of Peterberg Observatory, Germany
Astroinfographics/Astroinfografías, United Kingdom
Yuri’s Night Online, Ethiopia
Award 4: Largest Number of Registered Events
The Travelling Telescope, Kenya
Chattogram Astronomical Society (CAS), Bangladesh
Asafile - Asociacion de Astronomos Aficionados de Leon, Nicaragua
Neuronared, Mexico
Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, India
Institute of Astronomy Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
Planetário da Unipampa, Brazil
Astroport India, India
Award 5: Community Engagement
Astronomical readings, Mexico
Astrophilia Family Fun with Astro-Crafts 20200, Sri Lanka
Astrogamy - War Of The Words, India
Astri in Comune, Italy
AstroArt contest: #stayathome, Brazil
Benim Astronot Kostümüm Yarışması (My Astronaut Costume Competition), Turkey
Quemando Bajo El Sol - Erika Needs Ft. Star Tres, Chile
Space Origami, India