To call this an eventful year would be an understatement. Each of us has gone through so much, some of us more than others. We’ve all had to sacrifice and find new ways of living. In that light, thank you for letting our office be a part of your journey this past year.
For us, much happened in the past 12 months. Like most everyone in the world, we strove to adapt our work so people could continue to learn about astronomy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. With the other IAU Offices and contributions from the community, we created the “Call to Action”, which has now gathered hundreds of online and at-home astronomical resources for people of nearly every age. The IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach also created the Online Astronomy@HomeAwards to recognise the work done by astronomy communicators globally as they adapted to the effects of the pandemic. We also started our new programme Meet the IAU Astronomers! earlier so more young people and amateur astronomers could interact with professional astronomers from around the world.
This past year we also initiated IAU Global Outreach Events, overarching yearly projects that highlighted different topics of particular concern to the IAU. These projects include the aforementioned Meet the IAU Astronomers! programme as well as Dark and Quiet Skies Awareness, to inform more people about the importance of universal access to the sky, and Inspiring Stars, for increasing inclusive practices in astronomy outreach, so children, parents and educators alike can see the opportunity of pursuing careers in astronomy.
This year we also continued some standalone projects from the IAU centenary. The second edition of the IAU Outreach Calendar shared more than 300 events from the astronomy outreach community. Be on the lookout for the updated calendar form for 2021. The Telescopes for All programme, done in partnership with Sterren Schitteren Voor Iedereen (SSVI, Stars Shine for Everyone), received more than 150 applications and was able to bring telescopes to 17 communities around the world.
We released two issues of the Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal (CAPjournal). One was a special edition on Astronomy for Development, in partnership with our sister office the IAU/SAAO Office of Astronomy for Development. The other was a special edition on the outreach initiatives for the IAU centenary, done in partnership with the main organisers for the year of celebration, the IAU100 Secretariat. We’re still accepting abstract for the special edition about communicating astronomy with the public during the pandemic, so please consider submitting if you have adapted your astronomy outreach work to our new circumstances.
Within our office this year, we welcomed 20 new National Outreach Coordinator (NOC) representatives into our network, which is now over 130 people strong. Our NOCs themselves have been supporting talks, online colouring contests, photography competitions, and many other pandemic-safe programmes to help us all through these difficult times. Please see our Facebook and Twitter for more information on their projects. Also, nearly 40 of our NOCs participated in the initial NOCs Funding Scheme, which funded four projects across four continents from 15 National Outreach Coordinators. We’re looking forward to finishing the 2020/2021 edition in the coming months.
Also in our office, we were virtually joined by Dr Fatoumata Kebe and Dr Kelly Blumenthal, through the OAO Visitors Program, who respectively contributed to our office through community engagement and outreach research.
In this last issue of the year, we’d like to thank our many volunteers in our programmes for their commitment and perseverance to sharing astronomy and science, our advisors for their guidance, and the many people who have participated in our programming. We can’t do these projects alone, and we’re grateful that you have helped make our programming so vibrant.
Wishing you good health and all the best in the new year! Lina Canas & Izumi Hansen, on behalf of the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO) Team
1) 2021 IAU General Assembly Postponed
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has postponed the XXXI General Assembly to August 2022 in consultation with the Local Organising Committee for the assembly. Exact dates and detailed decisions about the programme of the meeting will be announced at a later time. The triennial business meetings for IAU members will still be held online the summer of 2021.
2) Kavli Foundation Strengthens IAU Public Engagement Programmes and Meetings
The Kavli Foundation has granted $220 000 to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) for public engagement programmes and scientific meetings from 2021-2024. This grants will fund a new public engagement training programme, the online 2021 Communicating Astronomy with the Public Conference (CAPconference), and three dedicated Kavli-IAU interdisciplinary symposia between 2022-2024.
If you were unable to attend the IAU Symposium 367 “Education and Heritage in the Era of Big Data in Astronomy”, recordings of the talks from all four days are available on the symposium Youtube page.
5) NOC News: SSVI Telescopes Holders Meeting Recording Available
The recording of the SSVI Telescope Holders Meeting, organised by our NOC Tunisia Mayssa El Yazidi, is now available. This meeting gathered organisers and awardees involved in the Telescopes for All project, a partnership between the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO), Sterren Schitteren Voor Iedereen (SSVI, Stars Shine for Everyone) and UNAWE.
6) NOC News: Spanish-language Resources for the Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn
Our NOC Spain Amelia Gil Ortiz, along with a number of mostly European-based astronomical organisations, have collected information as well as livestreams from around the world of the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on 21 December. People can share their photos of the conjunction with the public by emailing their photo and name to Joaquin Alvaro of the Europlanet Society (jalvaro@astrocuenca.es).
Thank you to our Amelia Gil Ortiz for sharing this news with us.
7) Globe at Night - Sky Brightness Monitoring Network (GaN-MN) Outreach Videos
Our partners at the Globe at Night - Sky Brightness Monitoring Network (GaN-MN) have produced a series of videos for the public to introduce their work monitoring the impact of light pollution.
IAU Commission C1 has launched the Astronomy Education Journal (AEJ) and welcomes manuscript submissions for publication. This online journal aims to be a key global publication platform for both researchers and practitioners, in the field of Astronomy Education, Research, and Methods. Submissions for peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed sections are currently being accepted.
Japanese:http://bit.ly/2xlNyCR
Translations are thanks to Akihiko Tomita, through the Astronomy Translation Network.
You can subscribe to the Japanese newsletter through the Japanese Amateur Astronomers Association (http://www.jaaa-astro.jp/jaaa-ml.html) or the Japanese Society for Education and Popularization of Astronomy (http://www.tenkyo.net/).
If you are interested in translating the IAU Outreach Newsletter into your language, please email public@oao.iau.org.
11) Contributions to the IAU Outreach Newsletter—looking forward to hearing from you in 2020
Here at the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach, we’re always looking for news about astronomical education and outreach events around the world. Please continue to share your stories with us in 2020! If you are organising 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 public@oao.iau.org.
You can send us your suggestions until the 4th (for issue #1) and the 17th (for issue #2) day of each month. We are looking forward to hearing from you.
