IAU Astronomy Outreach Newsletter

2016 #9 May #1

In this newsletter:

  1. From the Editors
  2. Medellin ready to host Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2016 from 16 - 20 May 2016
  3. Portuguese Language Office of Astronomy for Development (PLOAD)
  4. IAU’s Network for Astronomy School Education (NASE)
  5. National Outreach Contact Corner: News from Portugal
  6. Transit of Mercury - share your activities
  7. AASWOMEN Newsletter
  8. NASA Intern and Fellow Opportunities for International Students
  9. The Story of Space 2017 - An invitation to partners and collaborators
  10. Meetings & global events for 2016
      a. Recently added
      b. Important deadlines
      c. Upcoming
  11. Contributions to IAU Outreach Newsletter for 2016

 

0) From the Editors

Communicating Astronomy with the Public will start on May 16. The city of Medellin will welcome hundreds of the best astronomy communicators in the world. Stay tuned as we share details of the program and the invited speakers.

In this issue we highlight the transit of Mercury on May 9 and ask you to share all your exciting activities and observations with us via outreach@iau.org. The inaugural conference of the Portuguese Language Office of Astronomy for Development (PLOAD) took place on 5 May.

And last but not least, our team wishes to thank all IAU National Outreach Nodes that continuously share their country's exciting astronomy outreach news and also the general community for their amazing projects in astronomy outreach and education around the world.

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

 

1) Medellin ready to host Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2016 from 16 - 20 May 2016

Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2016 (CAP 2016), organised by Commission C2 of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), is the eighth in a series of conferences to promote the exchange of ideas and best practice in the field of astronomy and space communication, as well as informal education. The 2016 conference is the first meeting of the IAU Commission C2 in South America and will allow the international astronomical community to gain a comprehensive overview of astronomy communication and outreach in South America.

You can see the latest updates to the program here: http://www.planetariomedellin.org/cap2016/english-version/programme/full-programme/

 

2) Portuguese Language Office of Astronomy for Development (PLOAD)

The inaugural conference of the Portuguese Language Office of Astronomy for Development (PLOAD) was hosted at Centro Cultural de Cascais on Thursday 5 May 2016. This gathering marked the launch of the official website and the signatures of the memorandum of understanding by representatives from Portugal, Brazil, São Tome and Principe, Cape Verde and Mozambique where the challenges and state-of-the-art approaches to improving cooperation amongst the Portuguese-speaking communities in the field of astronomy and space sciences were discussed.

Learn more : https://www.iau.org/news/announcements/detail/ann16021/

 

3) IAU’s Network for Astronomy School Education (NASE)

On October 11 2016, in the Planetarium of Bogota, Colombia, the IAU Division C Commission C1 WG2 — Network for Astronomy School Education (NASE) — will hold an interdisciplinary meeting with participation from astronomers, teachers, professors, planetarium staff, and educators. This seminar provides an opportunity to exchange experiences and strategies and to discuss astronomy education. This meeting will be held as a satellite event of LARIM 2016, the Latin American Regional IAU Meeting. For more information, please contact Beatriz Garcia (beatriz.garcia@iteda.cnea.gov.ar) and Rosa Ros (rosamariaros27@gmail.com).

Learn more: http://iaucc1.frm.utn.edu.ar/?page_id=231

 

4) National Outreach Contact Corner: News from Portugal

a) Star Party and Science on Stage Portugal
NUCLIO — Núcleo Interactivo de Astronomia — with the support of Cascais Municipality, hosted two special events on 30 April: the 2016 “Star Party”, dedicated to teacher and student astronomy projects in the school year 2015/2016; and the Science on Stage Portugal National Selection Event, displaying the best educational works promoted by Portuguese teachers, to be put on display at the European Science on Stage Festival in 2017. These celebrations of science education also featured a science cafe, teacher training, and sky observation sessions.
Learn more (information only available in Portuguese): http://nuclio.org/blog/festa-das-estrelas-2016/


b) Portugal’s largest telescope gathering in Moimenta da Beira
During the night of 7 May, the Portuguese village of Moimenta da Beira hosted the 5th Telescope Gathering, the largest gathering of telescopes in Portugal. This biannual event is promoted by Moimenta da Beira Astronomy School Club, following the success of previous events that started in 2009 during the International Year of Astronomy. The last event had a record total of 76 telescopes from around the country, taking advantage of the dark night sky and nearly ideal observing conditions.
Learn more (information only available in Portuguese): https://sites.google.com/site/clubedascienciasmb/

 

5) Transit of Mercury - share your activities

On Monday 9 May 2016, Mercury will transit the Sun for the first time since 2006. Unfortunately, none of the transit will be visible from eastern Asia, Japan, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. Many activities are being arranged around the world and if you are going to watch the transit then please consider sharing your experience live with everyone around the world, so that no one will be left out. Send your activities to outreach@iau.org.

 

6) AASWOMEN Newsletter

The American Astronomical Society Women Newsletter is the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy's (CSWA) weekly electronic publication. It consists of timely news items, requests for advice and responses, and job postings relevant to women in astronomy. Contributions are welcome, and anyone may subscribe. To submit to AASWomen, send email to aaswomen@aas.org.

You can see April’s issue of the newsletter here: http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.pt/2016/04/aaswomen-newsletter-for-april-29-2016.html

You can also see the “Women In Astronomy” Blog here: http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.pt/

 

7) NASA Intern and Fellow Opportunities for International Students

NASA Internships are hands-on educational opportunities that provide NASA-related research and operational experience for international students. During the internship participants engage in scientific or engineering research, development, and operations activities. The NASA Internship and Fellowship International Program provides opportunities for diverse group interactions — both in the laboratory and in more informal settings — where all international participants share the same sessions as their U.S. counterparts in order to have a truly collaborative and integrated environment.

Learn more about NASA’s international student programmes here: https://intern.nasa.gov/non-us-opportunities/index.html

 

8) The Story of Space 2017 - An invitation to partners and collaborators

The Story of Foundation is an informal learning project offering experiential, spontaneous learning opportunities with the aim of developing among people a sensitivity to connecting patterns. Its first event, The Story of Light 2015, attracted 65 participants from 14 countries and reached 15 000 visitors. The next proposed event is the Story of Space in 2017, and the project is currently seeking collaborators.

To learn more about The Story of Light visit http://thestoryoflight.org/ and about how you can be a part of the Story of Space go to http://ow.ly/4nqkgK

 

9) Meetings & global events for 2016

Here is a list of astronomy outreach & education conferences and events for 2016.

a. Recently added

41st COSPAR Scientific Assembly
Date: 30 July - 7 August 2016
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
More Information: http://cospar2016.tubitak.gov.tr/en/

b. Important deadlines

International Conference on Artificial Light at Night (ALAN 2016)
Abstract Deadline: May 15, 2016

Date: 26-28 September 2016
Location: Cluj, Napoca, Romania
More Information: http://www.artificiallightatnight.org/

c. Upcoming

a) Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2016 conference
Date: 16-20 May 2016
Location: Medellín, Colombia
More Information: http://bit.ly/25rvH6Z

b) International Meteor Conference (IMC) 2016
Date: 2-5 June 2016
Location: Egmond, Netherlands
More Information: http://imc2016.imo.net/

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

d) .Astronomy 8
Date: 21-23 June 2016
Location: Oxford, United Kingdom
More Information: http://dotastronomy.com/events/eight/

e) SPIE Astronomical Telescopes +Instrumentation 2016
Date: 26 June - 1 July 2016
Location: Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
More Information: http://spie.org/SPIE-ASTRONOMY-conference

f) Royal Astronomical Society National Astronomy Meeting 2016
Date: 27 June - 1 July 2016
Location: Nottingham, United Kingdom
More Information: https://www.ras.org.uk/news-and-press/2730-national-astronomy-meeting-2016

g) Asteroid Day Celebrations
Date: 30 June 2016
Location: Worldwide
More Information: http://asteroidday.org/

h) Starlight, Beyond Light Pollution 2016 Workshop
Date: 2-10 July 2016
Location: La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain
More Information: http://www.astro-travels.com/La-Palma-Starlight-2016.html

i) European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (EWASS)
Date: 4-8 July 2016
Location: Athens, Greece
More Information: http://eas.unige.ch/EWASS2016/

j) International Astronomical Youth Camp (IAYC)
Date: 24 July - 13 August 2016
Location:  Exmoor National Park, Somerset, UK
More information: http://www.iayc.org/

k) 41st COSPAR Scientific Assembly
Date: 30 July - 7 August 2016
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
More Information: http://cospar2016.tubitak.gov.tr/en/

l) Global Hands-On Universe Conference (GHOU 2016) & Galileo Teacher Training Program (GTTP) International Workshop
Date: 22 - 27 August 2016
Location: Stord, Norway
More information: http://handsonuniverse.org/ghou2016/registration/

m) Twenty fourth Annual Conference (SEAC 2016)
Date: 12–16 September 2016
Location: Bath, England
More Information: http://www.seac2016.com/

n) International Conference on Artificial Light at Night (ALAN 2016)
Date: 26-28 September 2016
Location: Cluj, Napoca, Romania
More Information: http://www.artificiallightatnight.org/

o) LARIM 2016: XV Latin American Regional IAU Meeting
Date: 3-7 October, 2016
Location: Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
More Information: http://larim.unal.edu.co/

p) 1st Workshop on Astronomy Beyond the Common Senses for Accessibility and Inclusion
Date: 8 October, 2016
Location: Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
More Information: http://wai.unal.edu.co/information/

q) World Space Week
Date: 4–10 October 2016
Location: Worldwide
More Information: http://www.worldspaceweek.org/theme/

r) International Observe the Moon Night
Date: 8 October 2016
Location: Worldwide
More Information: http://observethemoonnight.org/

s) DPS-EPSC Joint Meeting 2016
Date: 16—21 October 2016
Location: Pasadena, CA, United States
More Information: http://www.epsc2015.eu/

t) IX International Conference on Oriental Astronomy
Date: 15–18 November 2016
Location: Pune, India
More Information: http://icoa2016.tifr.res.in

Have we missed something? Then share your astronomy outreach and education international meetings or events with us via outreach@iau.org.

 

10) Contributions to IAU Outreach Newsletter for 2016

Here at the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach, we are always looking for more news about astronomical education and outreach events around the world. Please continue to share your stories with us in 2016! If you are organizing any 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.