IAU Astronomy Outreach Newsletter

2015 #17 (November 2015 #2)

In this newsletter:

0. From the Editors
1. IAU Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) August–October newsletter is out!
2. Communicating Astronomy with the Public Conference 2016
3. IAU National Outreach Contact Corner: News from Spain
4. HighLIGHT of the Month: GalileoMobile back on the road
5. CosmicLight around the world
6. Fiat Physica
7. Menu of Outreach Opportunities for Science Education
8. Global for Local
9. Upcoming meetings & global events around the world
10. Contributions to this newsletter

0) From the Editor

Communicating Astronomy with the Public (CAP) 2016 is now open for registration and to receive submissions. We’re excited to report that this edition will have a different format from all previous CAP conferences. The Scientific Organising Committee will be looking for a more practical approach, such as hands-on activities, studies and resources that the presenters can offer to the audience and plenary talks combined with workshops to give participants a chance to learn new skills that they can then apply in their daily work.

In this issue, we’re also pleased to inform you that the latest IAU Office for Astronomy for Development newsletter is out, telling us all about the team's incredible projects over the past four months. We congratulate our friends from GalileoMobile on their project Constellation — endorsed by IAU under the umbrella of CosmicLight — which has reached its second phase. We hope that you enjoy exploring these and all other items in this newsletter.

And, last but not least, we would like to thank all our contributors and everyone who makes this newsletter happen. Please keep sharing your favourite activities with our team!

Clear Skies!
Lina Canas & Sze-leung Cheung
IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach

1) IAU Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) August–October newsletter is out!

The IAU OAD Newsletter #10 is now online, issued quarterly by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Development. The highlights of this edition are the Annual Call for Proposals; OAD at the IAU General Assembly and the New Regional Offices. We wish you happy reading.

Learn more: http://bit.ly/1MaC6K2

2) Communicating Astronomy with the Public Conference 2016

From 16 to 20 May 2016 Colombia will host the 2016 Communicating Astronomy with the Public (CAP2016) conference in the city of Medellín. Professional communicators, research astronomers, press officers, science journalists and facilitators engaging different audiences with science and technology will be exchanging views and experiences during the five-day conference on the latest challenges in astronomy communication and public outreach.

Learn more about programme and deadlines: http://www.capcolombia2016.org/

3) IAU National Outreach Contact Corner: News from Spain

The website where the activities of the Spanish IAU National Outreach Contact are centralised consists of a very simple interface where all the interested communities can easily access and, in Spanish, find information about IAU campaigns, share activities with the international community or seek support and advice with the IAU Spanish outreach representative.

You can learn more here: http://www.sea-astronomia.es/drupal/content/iau-noc

(as reported by Benjamin Montesinos, the Spanish NOC)

4) HighLIGHT of the Month: GalileoMobile back on the road

Constellation is an IAU-endorsed project that is part of CosmicLight. It is entering its second phase as it starts to visit some of GalileoMobile’s network schools. In Colombia, the activities were launched in schools on 2 November, with visits to Bogota, Medellín, Antioquía and Pereira and will continue throughout November and December, extending their reach as far as Brazil, Chile and Argentina.

Learn more about Constellation here: http://www.constellationproject.org/.

5) CosmicLight around the world

On 10 October, Padova, Italy, hosted the national literature festival La fiera delle parole, where Lucia Marchetti, IYL2015 IAU UK node contact, talked about CosmicLight and the power of words in telling stories, and how they can be used to communicate science.

On 9 November, the Special Junior High School of Thessaloniki Greece promoted Ιnterdisciplinary Αstronomy Αctivities where students with special educational needs and teachers engaged in different activities such as constructing a tactile solar system, visiting a planetarium and watching astronomy videos.

On 12 November, Monterrey, Mexico hosted the Science Day at Elementary School, a science exhibition for elementary school students with demonstrations about robotics, astronomy and optics.

Calgary, Canada set the stage for Arctic Tales: Peer Gynt & Northern Lights. On 13 November, Calgary Philharmonic featured The Legend of the Northern Lights and the astronomer, Dr José Francisco Salgado gave a lecture about the physics of the aurora borealis in the concert hall.

Kiti, in Larnaca, Cyprus hosted two talks about Mars: Mars Riddles on 13 November, followed by Moon observing and Mars colonisation on 18 November during a science café. And on 25 November, will host a presentation and debate on the theme Astronomy vs. Astrology.

On 14 November, in Jakarta, Indonesia, the Forum of Scientist Teenagers (FOSCA) hosted the World Science Day (WSD), dedicating this edition to the celebration of IYL 2015, science and astronomy. WSD is a worldwide celebration of science introduced by UNESCO and the Forum of Scientist Teenagers (FOSCA) annually conducts scientific activities such as seminars, workshops, exhibition, presentation and research.

On 21 November, Istanbul, Turkey, hosted the talk by Prof. Dereli from Koc University about the physics behind the movie Interstellar: Physics in the Movie Interstellar: How Much Science, How Much Fiction?

On 24 November, Calgary, Canada, screened the movie The City Dark at the University of Calgary, hosting a panel discussion afterwards. The event was open to students and industry professionals.

Noche de las Estrellas (Night of the Stars) is an astronomy outreach event, where people get closer to science through interactive activities, workshops, exhibitions, thematic puppets, conferences astronomical observation and experiments. It will be hosted in Pereira, Colombia, on 27 November.

La luz en el espacio, el espacio de la luz (Light in Space, the space of light) is a talk by Tomás Belenguer to be given in Madrid, Spain on 27 November.

On 2 December, Joliet, IL, United States, will celebrate the 2015 International Year of Light with a free planetarium show: How do astronomers tell what stars and galaxies are made of? that explains how astronomers use spectroscopy to determine the chemical composition of stars and galaxies. The event will also include a tour of the night sky.

On 5 December, Lisbon, Portugal, will host a Science & Art Cafe for teachers, their families and the general public where they will learn about music and astronomy as well astrophotography, followed by a telescope observing session for all.

On 5 December, Ankara, Turkey, will host a seminar on astronomy for astronomy teachers with the theme of Light Pollution.

Light: Beyond the Bulb continues to dazzle audiences with astronomy throughout the upcoming weeks and across different countries. This time the exhibition will visit: Mieres, Spain; Allied Arts, Bellingham, WA United States; Chilpancingo, Guerrero, Mexico; Cologne, Germany; Pereira, Colombia; Buc, France and Buelach, Switzerland.

Find Light: Beyond the Bulb at a place near you at http://lightexhibit.org/iylexhibits.html.

Don’t miss the Globe at Night international citizen science campaign for monitoring light pollution from 2 to 11 December. Learn more here: http://www.globeatnight.org/.

These are only the events dedicated to astronomy; there are many more exciting light-related events happening around the world. Learn more here: http://www.light2015.org/Home/Event-Programme.html.

6) Fiat Physica

Fiat Physica is a crowdfunding platform devoted to the advancement of physics, astronomy and space exploration. It introduces an untapped channel for fundraising and engagement between scientists and individuals who support their work. Campaigns on Fiat Physica bring awareness to these fields and important projects and pave the way for future technology.

Learn more about them: https://www.fiatphysica.com/.

7) Menu of Outreach Opportunities for Science Education

The American Astronomical Society’s (AAS) Astronomy Ambassadors programme trains early-career astronomers on how to be more effective in outreach to schools, community groups, and the public. A resource guide for doing astronomy outreach has been put together, including exemplary programmes, finding aids for organisations that need astronomers, presentation techniques, sources of activities, evaluation ideas, and more.

For more information see: http://bit.ly/1SvFh0k.

8) Global for Local

The Galileo Teacher Training Program (GTTP) receives requests for support almost on a daily basis. Many of these requests are for small projects, but these are just the projects that can make a huge difference to local communities struggling for funding.With all of this in mind, GTTP would like to announce a new programme: Global For Local — supporting astronomy education & outreach one project at a time. With this programme, GTTP will provide the help to raise money for small, local astronomy projects needing (up to 500 US Dollars) via a crowdfunding campaign.

Learn more about the programme here: http://galileoteachers.org/global-for-local/.

9) Upcoming meetings & global events around the world

a) International Astronomy Colloquium "Universe and Society"
Date: 4 December 2015
Location: Guadalajara, Mexico
More Information: http://bit.ly/1GZzG1W

b) 1st Symposium on Space Educational Activities
Date: 9–12 December 2015
Location: Padova, Italy
More Information: http://ssasymposium.org/

c) ESO Astronomy Camp
Date: 26 December 2015 to 1 January 2016
Location: Astronomical Observatory of the Autonomous Region of the Aosta Valley, Saint-Barthélemy, Nus, Italy
More information: http://www.eso.org/public/announcements/ann15038/

d) Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2016 Conference
Date: 16–20 May 2016
Location: Medellín, Colombia
More information: https://www.facebook.com/CAPconference and http://www.capcolombia2016.org/

e) International Planetarium Society Conference
Date: 19–25 June 2016
Location: Warsaw, Poland
More Information: http://www.ips2016.org/

f) IAU Symposia IAUS 326: Research in Astronomy Education: Far-reaching Impacts and Future Directions
Date: 4–7 October 2016
Location: Heidelberg, Germany
More Information: https://www.iau.org/science/meetings/future/symposia/1159/

10) Contributions to this newsletter

Here at the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach we are always looking for more news about astronomical education and outreach events around the world, so please share your story with us! If you are organising any large-scale events at a regional or international level, offering astronomy education or communication job positions, have any special 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.