1 / 33

Planning for US IYA2009

Planning for US IYA2009. Susana Deustua American Astronomical Society Co-chair US IYA Program Committee. American Astronomical Society. , individual members, ~1,000 foreign affiliate members. Founded in 1899 Publishes ApJ, ApJ Supp, ApJ Letters, AJ, BAAS Activities

gchristenson
Download Presentation

Planning for US IYA2009

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Planning for US IYA2009 Susana Deustua American Astronomical Society Co-chair US IYA Program Committee

  2. American Astronomical Society • ,individual members, ~1,000 foreign affiliate members. • Founded in 1899 • Publishes ApJ, ApJ Supp, ApJ Letters, AJ, BAAS • Activities • 5 Divisions: Solar Physics, Dynamical Astronomy, Planetary Sciences, High Energy Astrophysics, Historical Astronomy • Meetings: two/year, plus Divisional mtgs. • Public Policy • Education • Member society of the American Institute of Physics (APS, AAPT, AGU)

  3. The US Astronomy Community: GROUND • Ground-based astronomy primarily funded by the National Science Foundation, other gov’t agencies and private sources • National Observatories (NOAO, NRAO, NSO, NAIC) • International Facilities (Gemini, SOAR) • Private observatories (McDonald, Keck, Las Campanas, HET, CfA) • TSIP • Future Facilities • Near Term ALMA • Medium Term LSST • Long Term GSMT/T

  4. The US Astronomy Community: SPACE • Space-based facilities funded by NASA • Great Observatories: HST, Spitzer, Chandra • Medium to Large Missions: Navigator, New Horizons, WMAP, SWIFT, HETE, FUSE • Small to Medium: RHESSI, sub-orbital payloads • Future: • Near Term: SOFIA, Herschel, Planck • Medium Term: JWST • Long Term: JDEM, LISA, SIM

  5. The US Astronomy Community: Amateurs • Robust amateur-astronomy community ~400,000 backyard astronomers ~750 astronomy clubs • Astronomical League • AAVSO (American Association of Variable Star Observers) • ALPO (Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers) • ASP (Astronomical Society of the Pacific) • IOTA (International Occultation Timing Association) • SAS (Society for Astronomical Sciences) • Etc.

  6. Vibrant Education and Public Outreach in Astronomy • National Observatories (visitor centers, teacher programs, press releases…) • NASA Centers (teacher programs, web, press releases, curriculum materials, etc.) • Private Observatories (McDonald most active (StarDate); Hawai’i ramping up with Imiloa) • Professional Societies: Astronomical Society of the Pacific, AAVSO, AAS, International Dark-Sky Association • Astronomical League

  7. Vibrant Education and Public Outreach in Astronomy • Planetariums and Science Centers (Adler, AMNH, Smithsonian, Exploratorium, Boston Museum of Science, Griffith Observatory • National Parks (visitor centers, docent programs) • Astronomy Clubs • Boy Scouts • Girl Scouts • After-school programs

  8. Coordinating IYA 2009 in the U.S. • Program Committee • Develop themes and activities to support IYA goals • Appreciation of astronomy’s rich scientific and cultural role throughout human history • 15 members from leading organizations that engage in astronomy education and public outreach in the United States, plus liaisons to Canada and Mexico • Co-chairs Doug Isbell & Susana Deustua • Development Committee • Secure funding and resources to implement IYA activities • 10 members from academia, industry, organizations • Chair Peter Stockman

  9. Schedule of US IYA Activities • Planning Meetings • Washington, DC, early May, 2007 • AAS Meeting in Honolulu, HI, May 2007 • ASP meeting in Chicago, IL, September 7-8 • AAS Meeting in Austin, TX, January 2008 - First PR event • Proposals to Gov’t agencies • Proposals to private foundations, companies

  10. US IYA 2009Goals , Themes, Activities Doug Isbell • Co-Chair, US Program Committee • Associate Director for Public Affairs & Educational Outreach, National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) disbell@noao.edu

  11. GOAL for US IYA 2009 “To offer an engaging astronomy experience to every person in the country.”

  12. Six Major US Themes • Looking Through a Telescope • Dark Skies Are a Universal Resource • Astronomy in Arts, Entertainment & Storytelling • Research Experience for Students, Teachers, and Citizen-Scientists • Telescope Building & Optics Challenges • Sharing the Universe Through New Technology

  13. Looking Through a Telescope • Star parties • Sidewalk astronomy • Mobile telescope vans • Binocular experiences • Remote telescopes (north + south) • Observing with spacecraft? > 100 million first-time viewers worldwide???

  14. Dark Skies Are aUniversal Resource • GLOBE at Night 2009 - “classic” star counting and digital sky-quality meters • Coordination with Earth-orbiting satellites • Related issues: energy use, health, etc. • Efforts in individual cities • Ex.: Sydney, Australia, “lights out”

  15. Arts, Entertainment& Storytelling • Documentaries • Hollywood productions (TV, movies) • Marketing opportunities • Native cultures • Public lectures • Galileo impersonators!

  16. Research Experiences for Students, Teachers, and Citizen-Scientists • Observing at telescopes • Remote observing & image processing • Data mining • Work with members of NASA/ESA science teams (Spitzer under way) • Coordinated ground-space-amateur observing?

  17. Telescope Building &Optics Challenges • “Telescope amnesty” • A new telescope kit? ($5-10 each x 1 million copies?) • Hands-On Optics • Contests & Science Festivals • Internships with big telescope projects?

  18. Sharing the UniverseThrough New Technology • Planetaria • Science Centers • Blogging and Podcasting • YouTube -type portals for self-made videos (contests?) • Videoconferencing • RSS news feed • Real-time Web counter of IYA participation?

  19. US IYA 2009 Program • Each theme supported by 1-3 working groups of 6-8 people each (professional and amateur) • Supported by Web portal @ AAS • Kick-off event at National Air & Space Museum?

  20. 2 0 0 9 Sky Events and Related Opportunities Rick Fienberg Editor in Chief, Sky & Telescope Member, AAS Program Committee for the International Year of Astronomy rfienberg@SkyandTelescope.com

  21. Looking Through a Telescope Astronomy is experiential — anyone can see what Galileo saw. So let’s give everyone a chance to look through a telescope!

  22. Schedule sidewalk astronomy events on weekends closest to first-quarter Moon 2009 Jan 4 (Sun), Feb 2 (Mon), Mar 4 (Wed), Apr 2 (Thu), May 1 (Fri), May 31 (Sun) - “blue Moon” Jun 29 (Mon), Jul 28 (Tue), Aug 27 (Thu), Sep 26 (Sat), Oct 26 (Mon), Nov 24 (Tue), Dec 24 (Thu)

  23. Some Other Sky Events in 2009 • Mercury best in evening sky: April 26, near crescent Moon • Venus best in evening sky: mid-January, then sinks down • Mars opposition: Jan. 29, 2010 @ 14 arcsec, not good in ’09 • Saturn opposition: March 8, ring-plane crossing Sept. 4 • Perseid meteors: mid-August (ruined by moonlight) • Leonid meteors: mid-November (dark sky) • Geminid meteors: mid-December (dark sky) • Partial lunar eclipse: December 31 (last night of IYA!); • visible almost exclusively in the Eastern Hemisphere

  24. Jupiter and the Galilean Satellites • Opposition Friday-Saturday, August 14-15 • Coincides with end of IAU GA in Rio de Janiero • Jupiter and Neptune barely 3 degrees apart • Bonus! Jupiter and Neptune fit together in a low-power eyepiece field 3 times! • late May (morning sky) • early July (late evening/early morning sky) • late December (evening sky)

  25. Longest Total Solar Eclipse of the 21st Century

  26. “First Looks” and “Telescope Amnesty” • Each IAU national node could set up a website to collect people’s comments on their IYA telescopic observations, especially reactions to “first looks” • Set national targets (U.S. could aim for 10 million) • Fly comments on a space-astronomy mission?! • At all IYA events where amateurs set up telescopes, the public could be invited to bring their little-used scopes to get advice on repairs, improvements, and/or replacements.

  27. Dark Skies Are aUniversal Resource • Build on existing efforts, e.g., • International Dark-Sky Association • U.S. National Park Service • GLOBE at Night draws attention to light pollution without getting into difficult political issues of safety and security raised by “lights out” events. • GLOBE at Night 2009: “Great Backyard Star Count” • Count naked-eye stars in Orion • One week observing window in March 2009 • Report data to central clearinghouse

  28. Arts, Entertainment & Storytelling Two IYA 2009 TV productions already in the works! • 400 Years of the Telescope: • A Journey of Science, Technology, and Thought • Produced by Kris Koenig • Written by Don Goldsmith and David H. Levy • Companion planetarium show in development • The Quest to See Infinity: • The 400th Anniversary of the Telescope • Produced by Richard Hudson and David Axelrod • Senior advisor: science historian Albert van Helden

  29. Research Experiences for Students, Teachers, and Citizen-Scientists Next eclipse begins mid-2009! (First in the Digital Age.)

  30. Telescope Building &Optics Challenges “A Telescope in Every Pot” Project STAR telescope kit: 16x refractor, $5 per scope! (Price could be drastically reduced with volume discount.)

  31. Sharing the UniverseThrough New Technology

  32. All I Want for IYA 2009 Is…

More Related