IYA 2009 | Universe Today

As the International Year of Astronomy comes to a close, those involved hope to sustain the momentum gained during the year in communicating astronomy with the public. The IYA produced a number of excellent new media projects, creating fresh excitement and enthusiasm for astronomy and science. A new non-profit organization and website have been created to provide a brand- new "home" to sustain IYA projects such as the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast and Second Astronomy in Second Life ™, as well as other existing and new projects. Astrosphere New Media Association is dedicated to promoting science and skeptical thought through internet-based technologies and distribution. Its efforts are focused on the creation of technologies and content that enable better astronomy communications and greater astronomy content access for the public.
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Calling all podcasters! The award-winning 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is proud to announce the project will continue for another 365 days, and is now accepting sign-ups for participants for 2010. Whether you're a seasoned podcaster or if you have never picked up a microphone before, anyone with a love of space exploration and astronomy is welcome to sign up to do a podcast. If you've not yet heard of the 365 Days of Astronomy, it was a major project of the International Year of Astronomy, publishing 1 podcast for every day of the year. The podcast episodes are written, recorded and produced by people all around the world. As in 2009, the podcast team is looking to sign up a wide range of participants for 2010, from graduate students in astronomy to science bloggers to big media companies, to amateur and armchair astronomers. Here's your chance to share why you love astronomy and space exploration! Check out the "Join In" page on 365 Days of Astronomy for more information

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An innovative project that provides high school students in Australia the opportunity to work with the famous Parkes radio telescope will soon make the data available to schools around the world. The PULSE@Parkes project allows for hands-on remote observing of pulsars producing real-time data, which then becomes part of a growing database used by professional astronomers. "Students can help monitor pulsars and identify unusual ones or detect sudden glitches in their rotation," said Rob Hollow from the Australia Telescope National Facility, and coordinator for the PULSE@Parkes project. "They can also help determine the distance to existing pulsars."
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Did you get a chance to check out the IYA Live Telescope? Our last object was Messier 50 (also known as M 50 or NGC 2323) is an open cluster in the constellation Monoceros. It was perhaps discovered by G. D. Cassini before 1711 and independently discovered by Charles Messier in 1772. M50 is at a distance of about 3,000 light-years away from Earth. It is described as a 'heart-shaped' figure. You'll find the video inside! Read more…

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Gazing at the Moon seems to be universal among humans. So why not share the experience with the rest of the world using the hottest social media tool? From Oct. 26-28 you can join in on Moonwatch on Twitter. Various Twitterers will be live-tweeting conversation and images of the Moon, planets and other astronomical objects. Moonwatch was headed up by astronomers from the Newbury Astronomical Society in the UK. Additionally, the Faulkes Telescope Network of professional telescopes will also be taking part and taking images with their 2-metre telescope situated in New South Wales, Australia.
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Starting tomorrow (Oct. 22) professional and amateur astronomers around the world will be out in force to encourage as many people as possible to look through a telescope. The International Year of Astronomy 2009 Cornerstone project, Galilean Nights, will be a global experience, with more than 1000 public observing events in over 70 countries. If you participated in 100 Hours of Astronomy that took place in April 2009, this event is similar, but this time astronomers will be focusing on the objects that Galileo observed, especially with the Moon and Jupiter well-positioned in the evening sky.
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If you've had an opportunity over the last few days to check in on our IYA "Live" Telescope, we've been keeping an eye on the Messier Catalog Objects for you… specifically some bright open clusters named M46, M47 and M48! If you didn't get a chance to catch them while they were on the air, then feel free to have a look at our video capture… Read more…

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A collage of 21-day old Moons, sketched by Galileo, (left), an image from Jane Houston Jones' telescope, center, and Jane's sketch, right.

Amateur astronomers have different ways of documenting their observing sessions, such as taking astrophotos or keeping a logbook. Others, like Jane Houston Jones, employ an age-old method used by Galileo Galilei himself: they take pen in hand and sketch what they see through the lens of their telescope. During this International Year of Astronomy, Jones – an amateur astronomer who also happens to work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory — wanted to do something special to honor the legacy of Galileo, and decided to follow through with something she has been considering for quite a while. Jones is recreating all of Galileo’s astronomical sketches as she looks through a telescope similar in size to the one used by the father of modern observational astronomy. "Every time I look through a small telescope at these same objects that Galileo did, it just gives me chills," Jones said. "It fills me with wonder every time I think that I'm seeing the same view Galileo saw 400 years ago, and I wonder what was going through his mind as he made his observations."
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On Wednesday, Oct. 7, there will be an historic first at the US president's home: a star party. From a White House press release:

"The President and First Lady will host an event at the White House for middle-school students to highlight the President's commitment to science, engineering and math education as the foundation of this nation's global technological and economic leadership and to express his support for astronomy in particular – for its capacity to promote a greater awareness of our place in the universe, expand human knowledge, and inspire the next generation by showing them the beauty and mysteries of the night sky."

About 20 telescopes will be set up on the White House lawn focused on Jupiter, the Moon and select stars, and supporters of the International Year of Astronomy are encouraged to follow this event, and host their own star parties to follow the example set.
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Did you get a chance to catch the live action on our southern hemisphere based telescope today? Then you missed a real treat! We had a chance to view NGC 7009 – the "Saturn Nebula" live for several hours. Of course, the small aperture of the scope doesn't do it the incredible justice that it deserves from the pristine skies in Central Victoria's Macedon Ranges Observatory, but wow… It sure was cool! If you didn't get a chance to see it, then thank Scopemaster Bert for shooting a video for us and make some popcorn. It's waiting inside…. Read more…

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Last week the GigaGalaxy Zoom project introduced an interactive 360-degree panorama of the entire night sky, and they promised more zoomable images to come. The second of three images is now available, and it is a wonderful 340-million-pixel vista of the central parts of our galactic home. Taken by Stéphane Guisard, an ESO engineer and world-renowned astrophotographer, the image shows the region spanning the sky from the constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer) to Scorpius (the Scorpion). This mosaic was assembled from 52 different sky fields made from about 1200 individual images totalling 200 hours exposure time, with the final image having a size of 24,403 x 13,973 pixels. Click on the image to get access to larger versions of the image. Jump right in and enjoy the views!
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Greetings! In case you weren't tuned into Galactic TV yesterday… We had us a regular skyfest! Truly pristine dark skies ruled and the IYA "Live" telescope rocked the Aussie night away. For more than 8 hours we went from target to target – and loved every minute of it. While we could have done a lot more than four objects, allowing you time to enjoy them is a worthwhile effort, too. While I'd ordinarily spread this over a couple of days I'm going to post all our objects – M2, M41, M93 and M46 – right now because I'm outta' here for the Hidden Hollow Star Party. Want to party at your end? Then check out information on our iPhone Galactic TV Weekend Marathon! Enjoy!! Read more…

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Art and astronomy often intersect, and it's wonderful when art can provide an emotional connection to science. Amateur astronomer and artist Sayward Duffano has captured the personalities of several astronomers through history as well as individuals in astronomy related fields in a gallery of paintings she created especially for the International Year of Astronomy. "I knew I wanted to paint something special for the IYA," she said. "So last year I had started painting a few astronomers, some planets, and some other types of astro art."

And Sayward says she is looking for a place to display her work.
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A stunning new 800-million-pixel panorama of the entire sky has been released online for everyone to enjoy. GigaGalaxy Zoom is a project for the International Year of Astronomy, and it allows users to dive right into the Milky Way Galaxy, and learn more about our celestial neighborhood. The project allows stargazers to explore and experience the Universe as it is seen with the unaided eye from ESO’s observing sites in Chile, one of the darkest and best viewing locations in the world.
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