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May 19
2010
GAM 2010 – A Triumph for Astropoetry
by 
Mike Simmons
Mike SimmonsAlong with Bob Eklund's Astropoetry Blog, two other major astropoetic initiatives accompanied GAM 2010: 1. The regular American magazine Astropoetica (edited since 2003 by Emily Gaskin) celebrated GAM in its "academic" style, through the Spring 2010 issue, composed of 20 astropoems, each of them adorned by a superb image. So please visit http://www.astropoetica.com/ 2 .Organizing the GAM global program of literary-artistic creativity, entitled Astropoetry to the Global Astronomy Month 2010, the Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy (SARM) and Friends created a mega-project as a long and complex story in words and images, which tried to reflect all the GAM... Read More...
May 19
2010
Irish Children on the Carina Nebula
On Friday April 30, Deirdre Kelleghan and the Hubble 20th Anniversary print visited Jane Ahern's 4 th class at St Brigids National School in Greystones Co, Wicklow, Ireland. Deirdre was invited by Ann Lee, the class Special Needs Assistant, to showcase the Hubble image. The huge 5- by 8-foot print shows a section of the Carina Nebula in fantastic detail. The Carina Nebula is one of the places in our galaxy where new stars are born, flexing the tremendous power of nature, creating new solar systems with awesome energy. The image was captured by the Hubble Telescope's new camera which... Read More...
May 17
2010
A New Form of Energy
by Mike Simmons
Mike SimmonsThousands of lights twinkled, not above me but below, as I descended into Los Angeles on April 4 of last year. The 24-hour Global Star Party of IYA2009's 100 Hours of Astronomy Cornerstone Project was underway. As many as a million people viewed Saturn's rings and the Moon's craters through telescopes worldwide. But another form of energy was also being focused that night - the energy of tens of thousands of amateur astronomers around the world working together as darkness circled the Earth. I was missing the action, returning from 100HA's opening ceremony at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia after... Read More...
May 10
2010
SAAA-AWB Starparty & Lecture in Damascus/Syria
On 29.4.2010 I arrived withe my AWB-CAR in Damsacus where Dr. Firas Safadi has perfectly organised the SAAA-AWB -Starparty. I had the opportunity to speak to a big auditorium and he translated to arabic language. I told about the mission of AWB and made a invitation to SAAA (Syrian Amateur Astronomer Association) to join AWB. I made a little present ( a limited edition Austrian poststamp containing real meteorit dust in its print) to Mohammed Al-Assiri the president of SAAA. At our location about 20 km south of Damascus we had some telescopes and made some observations of planets. At time I am in Jordan doing some... Read More...
May 08
2010
Three Famous Astropoems From the 19th Century
by Mike Simmons
Mike SimmonsOne of the most famous astropoems in the U.K. is: TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR by Jane Taylor (1806) Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are! When the blazing sun is gone, When there's nothing he shines upon, Then you show your little light, Twinkle, twinkle, through the night. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are! In the dark blue sky so deep Through my curtains often peep For you never close your... Read More...
May 07
2010
A Few of My Favorite Moons
by Bob Eklund
On Global Astronomy Night, April 24, I hosted a star party in Los Angeles where we had a perfectly clear sky, nine telescopes, and a congregation of about 200 neighbors and their children. It was, in fact, a perfect night-and, ignoring Saturn, I kept my telescope pointed at the moon all evening. What I remember most about it is how one 5-year-old girl jumped up and down around my telescope, shouting "The moon, the moon, I love the moon!" Here are some moons that I have loved, over the years: Looking for poems In the pale afternoon sky... Only a... Read More...
May 04
2010
What I see in the Sky
by Scot Norris
I suppose you could say that I am a dreamer, when I'm not selling Lake Tahoe Vacation Rentals I am staring at the sky and just wondering what's out there Read More...
May 02
2010
Hubble 20th Anniversary Image Visits a school in Greystones Ireland
by Ash McFadden
The Hubble Space Telescope is one of mankind's greatest achievements towards the answer to the questions Who are we? and where did we come from? The Hubble is 20 th years old this year and to celebrate that fact, The European Space Agency and NASA produced a limited edition extremely large print for public outreach. There are three such prints in Ireland and one of them is in the hands of astronomer / educator Deirdre Kelleghan. On Friday April 30 th Deirdre and the print visited Jane Ahearn's 4 th class at St Brigids National School in Greystones Co Wicklow.... Read More...
May 02
2010
Professor Ronald Buta at Dunsink Observatory Ireland
by Ash McFadden
Professor Ronald Buta delivered an exceptional talk on spiral galaxies during his visit to Dunsink Observatory in Dublin as part of Global Astronomy Month. The audience of amateur astronomers also included members from The Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies and Women in Technology and Science . Professor Buta was in Ireland researching at Birr Castle archives for his forthcoming book on Spiral Galaxies. He kindly agreed to come to Dunsink and share his talk and interests with an attentive audience. His presentation had a richly woven interlacing on the roots of spiral galaxy study and Irish astronomy. The talk also... Read More...
May 02
2010
Midlands Astronomy Club Moon Watch Ireland
by Ash McFadden
MAC also hosted a Moon Watch on April 24th in the town of Athy. Members Declan Molloy and Seanie Morris attempted to bring the Moon up close and personal, but bad weather prevailed - the only bad night in 18 nights - so the event was kept indoors. They each presented a short talk, provided demos on the telescopes present from a 70mm refractor to a 16" Dobsonian and answered many questions from the crowd that arrived on the night. More details on these events and more will be online at www.midlandsastronomy.com Seanie Morris MAC Read More...
Apr 29
2010
Midlands Astronomy Club COSMOS 2010 Ireland
by Ash McFadden
The Midlands Astronomy Club (MAC) in the heart of Ireland held its 18th annual COSMOS 2010 Star Party on April 9th to 11th. Visitors from around Ireland descended on Tullamore for another year of fortuitous lectures, exhibits, buy and sell, and plenty of observing both day and night on each of the 3 days. Blessed with clear skies, Venus, Mercury, Saturn, plenty of Iridium Flares and deep sky wonders were the order of each night. The Sun exhibited small prominences for daytime viewing too. 7 well-received speakers contributed to the programme of events, as well as the annual Cosmos Table... Read More...
Apr 28
2010
Hands on activities saved the day!
Astronomy Day and Global Star Party at Astronomical Society of Northern New England On April 24th Astronomical Society of Northern New England in Kennebunk, Maine celebrated Astronomy Day and held their Global Star Party. Members met at the Starfield Observatory at 1:00 PM to view the sun and to prepare for the night’s star party. Only a few members of the public came to look through the telescope. Unfortunately the event had not been well publicized. Photos in the full article. Grace, Brad, and Gene are getting the 10 inch Dob ready for solar viewing. Unfortunately there were no sunspots.... Read More...
Apr 28
2010
Two Days of GAM on a Maine Island
On April 11th,Joan Chamberlin, Kerry Kertes, and Ron Thompson from Southern Maine Astronomers and Brian Stephenson, a senior astronomy student from Cape Elizabeth High School, boarded a ferry for North Haven Island with all their astronomy gear and activities in tow. Joan and Ron are waiting for the ferry. Kerry, Ron, and Brian are ready for GAM. Where’s the ferry? After an hour and ten minutes on the ferry, North Haven village is in sight. Their hostess, Lisa Shields, greets them and takes them to the school, where they set up the solar telescopes, the big silver-domed portable planetarium, and... Read More...
Apr 28
2010
Global Star Party at Fernelmont,Belgium
Saturday april 24th, at Fernelmont , Belgium (about 30 km from Namur), we were 3 astronomy clubs to show the heavens to the public: Astronamur (Namur), Astrovega (Gembloux) and CAO (Ottignies) . The weather was perfect! We saw the Moon and Venus appeared right after sunset ; we saw M45 too, Mars with M44, and especially Saturn! And a big WOW for M13 ! It was a great sphere among club members with quite expensive devices right next to each other at the parking lot which had turned off lights for the event! I brought my Dobson Orion SkyQuest 12... Read More...
Apr 28
2010
Last event of GAM in Ranya district, Iraq
AGAIN…WE DON'T SAY GOOD BYE April, 24.2010 It is passed away so fast, as IYA2009, but definitely it left behind wonderful memories to talk and tell about for a long time. GAM was the mini (International year of Astronomy 2010 or IYA2010). AAAK make two teams to make the last event of GAM. 3 weeks ago we got an invitation from Ranya district Directorate of Education to visiting them and made activity in there. We was very pleased and we set the plan to be on Global Star Party on April, 24.2010. Second team prepared to a big star party... Read More...
Apr 28
2010
Continuing the MEP in Erbil, Iraq
April, 21.2010 Students of Fakir Mergasuri private high school requested Amateur Astronomers Association of Kurdistan (AAAK) to extending the exhibition - "Mobile Exhibition Project" (MEP) - for another day to let more students and guests watching the real beauty of the universe. Two of AAAK's members and other students volunteered to arrange the event on that day from 09:00 till 01:00 pm local time, and there was a great respond from all students from deferent classes. Nearby 500 students and guests outside of the high school joined the MEP on another successful day. Report by: Azhy Hasan Photos by: Aso... Read More...
Apr 28
2010
GAM in Indonesia
Jogja Astro Club (JAC) from Indonesia participated in the Global Astronomy Month last night, April, 22 2010. From the dark site in Parangkusumo Beach of Yogyakarta, 12 members of this amateur community tried to observe the Lyrids Meteor Shower on the night peak. Actualy this is not good site because light pollution was pretty bad. Not only that, the weather also not friendly, clouds covered most of the sky. However, we only could seen a few of meteors. Exactly 12 meteor before the sky was full covered by thick clouds so that no stars was seen. . It was decided... Read More...
Apr 28
2010
Sidewalk Marathon in Erding
Yesterday (Sunday 25 April), At 14:00, a joined exhibition with the local fine art club on the topic "the Tower of Babel" officially started our Star party. 2 hours later, EurAstro's President Jean-Luc Dighaye kicked of an incredible Astronomy Marathon in Erding, Germany. At around 16:00, his Coronado started duty in the middle of the "Schranneplatz", intiating a queue of people waiting in the line which disappeared only 8 hours later as the exhausted organizers collapsed under the demand! The twilight inevitably showed the EurAstro' device be replaced by standard telescopes, first to look at the moon, and later Saturn... Read More...
Apr 28
2010
Excellent weather over Germany
The Erding Sidewalk Astronomers are taking part in a multi-event, comprising a music festival, an art exhibition about the Tower of Babel (telescopes being part of it), a solar observation - on the pictures, Christophe Claude shows a solar prominence to a young lady and she definitely likes it! - and a sidewalk observing session till late night. POR is ready to reach for the Moon, says SPoC. Read More...
Apr 27
2010
A la Gloire des Cieux (To the Glory of the Heavens)
by Bob Eklund
For the benefit of our friends who are able to read French, we are posting this superb astropoem by the Belgian poet Emile Verhaeren (1855-1916). Born in a Flemish, but French-speaking Belgian family, Verhaeren wrote in French and became known as one of the chief founders of the French Symbolist movement. By the turn of the century he was world-famous and his works were translated into more than 20 languages. Verhaeren's deep love for the starry sky imparts a luminous and vibrant richness to this poem, "To the Glory of the Heavens." The third and fourth lines, for example (repeated... Read More...
Apr 25
2010
Irish Astronomical Society Star Party in Sandymount Dublin
The IAS held a public observing session in Sandymount on Friday 23 rd April as part of Global Asttonomy month. Three IAS members, Val, Robin and Michael turned out with their telescopes and binoculars to show the public the moon. Two friends Aubrey and another Michael also turned up with their scopes to help out. The weather forecast was not great with 100% cloud cover forecast but we decided to go anyway. When we arrived, there was a nice gap in the clouds with the Moon in the middle. It was still bright when we started but that did not... Read More...
Apr 25
2010
Moon talks and Moon views in Balbriggan and Swords Libraries
On April 19th Balbriggan Library hosted Deirdre Kelleghans talk on Our Moon, Moon Stories and Moon News as part of Global Astronomy Month 2010. The mostly family audience were very engaged in the presentation and they learned a lot about our natural satellite. Afterwards Deirdre treated the audience to excellent views of the young moon from the courtyard beside the library. On April 22 nd again as part of Global Astronomy Month Swords library hosted Deirdre’s Moon talk which was attended by families from the area. The sky was clear after the presentation so the audience, the librarians and several... Read More...
Apr 24
2010
Hubble Anniversary Image Art Astronomy Workshop in Dublin
5th class pupils at St Peters National School enjoy the Hubble Anniversary Print The 20 th Anniversary of the launch of The Hubble Space Telescope was celebrated in St Peters National School Walkinstown Dublin 12 on April 23 rd . As an outreach educator I decided to put on my Astronomy hat and my Artists hat that morning and bring the enormous printed image of the Carina Nebula to the attention of the children and teachers from 5 th class. The Carina Nebula was the image of choice by both The European Space Agency and NASA to mark the 20... Read More...
Apr 23
2010
Bad weather didn't stop Harmony Dark Sky Festival
We have had a busy April going to Harmony Florida The Dark Sky Festival 2010 we had a great Star Party with 3 main Astronomy clubs involved Brevard Astronomical Society (BAS), Melbourne Astronomical Society(MAS), and Central Florida Astronomical Society(CFAS). With the weather looking so bad, very cloudy we still managed to get over 6,000 persons to the event. All we could do for the people was show them the different types of telescopes we had and how they were used, we passed out Astronomy Magazine handouts, on the 25 brightest stars in the night sky. We also passed out Welcome... Read More...
Apr 23
2010
Astronomers Without Borders at NEAF
NEAF is the Northeast Astronomy Forum, an annual two day event featuring 130 on-site vendors, astronomy workshops, daily solar viewing, space and astronomy events for kids, and well-known speakers in the field of astronomy. It is held in Suffern, New York, which is about 30 minutes away from New York City. Basically NEAF is a giant toy store for astronomers!! People come from all over New England and even from the south to see the latest astronomy toys and purchase things they’ve been hoping for all year. This year NEAF took place April 17- 18th and had 5, 343 visitors.... Read More...
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