Astroblog: International Year Of Astronomy Downunder.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

International Year Of Astronomy Downunder.

The International Year of Astronomy is upon us. This year marks the 400th anniversary of the Galileo identifying the moons of Jupiter in a telescope and is also the 40th anniversary of the Apollo Moon landings.This is an excellent excuse to celebrate astronomy world-wide.

In Australia the local organising website is http://www.astronomy2009.org.au/, there is a calendar of events colour coded by state (Western Australia has lots of activities but currently are keeping them in a WA-specific calendar on the Scitech website, and not entering them into the general IYA website. Tasmania has events in the planning but for most them the dates are not yet pinned down. South Australia is planning activities which will hopefully soon up at the Astronomical Society of South Australia website). You may like to organise your own event for your school or comunity, or find out what your local astronomical society is doing.

One of the big events will be the 100 Hours of Astronomy on April 2-5, a massive public star party. Keep an eye on this site for further developments. There is also the Cosmic Diary, a weblog with contributions from astronomy enthusiasts, professional and amateur, around the world and 365 days of Astronomy, a daily podcast that you could contribute to.

So, there is lots happening in the International Year of Astronomy for Australians (and New Zealanders and other Southern Hemisphereians), so get involved and look up!

Labels: International Year of Astronomy