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Asiac.ir ; International Year of Astronomy 2009

International Year of Astronomy 2009 - 2008/01/26 01:26:36 ق.ظ

Coinciding with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the publication of Johannes Kepler's Astronomia nova in the 17th Century, 2009 has been declared the International Year of Astronomy. This global scheme, laid out by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), has also been endorsed by UNESCO - the UN body responsible for Educational, Scientific and Cultural matters.

The UNESCO application was submitted by the Italian Government and accepted during the 33rd session of the UNESCO General Conference. This was followed by a recommendation to the UN General Assembly for UN approval of this declaration.

The International Astronomical Union will be coordinating the International Year of Astronomy in 2009. This initiative is an opportunity for the citizens of Earth to gain a deeper insight into astronomy’s role in enriching all human cultures. Moreover, it will serve as a platform for informing the public about the latest astronomical discoveries while emphasizing the essential role of astronomy in science education.

In 1609, Galileo Galilei first turned one of his telescopes to the night sky and made astounding discoveries that changed mankind’s conception of the world forever: mountains and craters on the Moon, a plethora of stars invisible to the naked eye and moons around Jupiter. Astronomical observatories around the world promise to reveal how planets and stars are formed, how galaxies assemble and evolve, and what the structure and shape of our Universe actually are. In the same year, Johannes Kepler published his work Astronomia nova in which he described the fundamental laws of planetary motions.

Astronomy, the oldest science in history, has played an important role in most, if not all, cultures over the ages. The International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) will be a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture, stimulating worldwide interest not only in astronomy, but in science in general, with a particular slant towards young people.

The IYA2009 is deemed to mark the monumental leap forward that followed Galileo’s first use of the telescope for astronomical observations, and portray astronomy as a peaceful global scientific endeavour that unites amateur and professional astronomers in an international and multicultural family that works together to find answers to some of the most fundamental questions that humankind has ever asked.

Several committees will be formed to oversee the vast majority of IYA2009 activities (“sidewalk astronomy” events in planetariums and public observatories), which will span local, regional and national levels. These committees are collaborations between professional and amateur astronomers, science centres and science communicators. Individual countries will be undertaking their own initiatives as well as assessing their own national needs, while the IAU will be acting as the event’s coordinator and catalyst on a global scale. The IAU plans to liaise with, and involve, as many as possible of the ongoing outreach and education efforts throughout the world, including those organized by amateur astronomers.

As part of the scheme, the IYA2009 will also help less well-established organizations from the developing world to become involved with larger organizations and deliver their contributions, linked via a huge global network. This initiative also aims at reaching economically disadvantaged young children across the globe and enhance their understanding of the world.

The IYA2009 activities will take place at the global and regional levels, and especially at the national and local levels. National Nodes in each country have been formed to prepare activities for 2009. These Nodes establish collaborations between professional and amateur astronomers, science centres, educators, and science communicators.

Goals, Objectives, Evaluation

The major goals of IYA 2009 are to:

Increase scientific awareness.
Promote widespread access to new knowledge and observing experiences.
Empower astronomical communities in developing countries.
Support and improve formal and informal science education.
Provide a modern image of science and scientists.
Facilitate new networks and strengthen existing ones.
Improve the gender-balanced representation of scientists at all levels and promote greater involvement by underrepresented minorities in scientific and engineering careers.
Facilitate the preservation and protection of the world's cultural and natural heritage of dark skies in places such as urban oases, national parks and astronomical sites.

IYA2009 will be evaluated by a qualitative and quantitative analysis of how well each objective, as implemented in hundreds of national, regional and global activities, has been reached. Data will be collected by online questionnaires after the completion of each activity. The IYA2009 Secretariat will coordinate the evaluation. A rigorous evaluation procedure will follow each of the four phases of the project:

I. Planning (2006-2007).

· II. Preparation (2008).

· III. Implementation (2009).

· IV. Closing, follow-up, evaluation (2010).

Goals
To:

Objectives
To:

Evaluation estimator

1. Increase the scientific awareness among the general public through the communication of scientific results in astronomy and related fields, as well as the process of research and critical thinking that leads to these results.

·       • Make astronomical breakthroughs more visible in the daily lives of billions of people through all available means of c ommunication (TV/radio documentaries, newspapers, web pages, exhibitions, stamps, blogs, web portals, advertising campaigns etc).

·      • Facilitate individual astronomical observing opportunities.

The number of people “touched”:

·       • Number of press clippings and readership.

·       • Number of people visiting national, regional and global webpages (webstats).

·      • Number of activities.

·       • Number of new products etc.

2. Promote widespread access to the universal knowledge of fundamental science through the excitement of astronomy and sky-observing experiences.

·      • Enable as many laypeople as possible, especially children, to look at the sky through a telescope and gain a basic understanding of the Universe.

·     • Number of laypeople, especially young people and children, viewing the Universe through a telescope at street astronomy events, star parties, professional observatory webcasts etc.

·      • Number of “cheap” new telescope kits produced, assembled and distributed.

3. Empower astronomical communities in developing countries through the initiation and stimulation of international collaborations.

·     • Involve astronomical communities of the developing nations in the Year, thereby providing examples of how outreach and education is carried out in different parts of the world.

·      • Number of participating developing nations as measured by the establishment of National IYA Nodes.

·      • Number of new international partnerships and joint programs formed.

·      • Number of people reached by new initiatives.

4. Support and improve formal and informal science education in schools as well as through science centres, planetariums and museums.

·      • Develop formal and informal educational material and distribute all over the world.

·      • Conduct focused training of event leaders and presenters.

·      • Number of participating teachers and schools.

·      • Number of educational materials distributed.

·      • Number of new event leaders and presenters trained.

5. Provide a modern image of science and scientists to reinforce the links between science education and science careers, and thereby stimulate a long-term increase in student enrolment in the fields of science and technology, and an appreciation for lifelong learning.

·      • Popular talks by scientists of all ages, genders, races.

·     • Facilitate portraits – on TV, in web blogs, biographies – of scientists that break with the traditional “lab coat view” of scientists, showing the excitement of scientific discovery, the international aspect of scientific collaborations and portraying the social sides of scientists.

·     • Number of popular talks.

·      • Number of scientist portraits.

·                                 Public response questionnaires.

·      • Evidence for penetration of astronomy into popular culture (media, web, TV, radio talk shows…)

6. Facilitate new, and strengthen existing, networks by connecting amateur astronomers, educators, scientists and c ommunication professionals through local, regional, national and international activities.

·      • Connect as many individuals (named “IYA ambassadors”) as well as organisations (amateur and professional) in networks, for instance by creating of new internal and external electronic c ommunication infrastructures. These networks will become part of the heritage of IYA2009.

·     • Number of National IYA Nodes.

·     • Number of new networks and partnerships formed.

7. Improve the gender-balanced representation of scientists at all levels and promote greater involvement by underrepresented minorities in scientific and engineering careers.

·      • Provide access to excellent role models and mentors, formally and informally, and publicise them.

·      • Provide information about the female “dual-career” problem and possible solutions.

·      • Number of active new role models and mentors.

·     • Number of new international partnerships, projects and activities.

8. Facilitate the preservation and protection of the world's cultural and natural heritage of dark skies in places such as urban oases, national parks and astronomical sites, through the awareness of the importance and preservation of the dark skies and astronomical sites for the natural environment and humanity heritage.

• Involve the dark-sky community in the IYA2009.

• Collaborate on the implementation of the UNESCO and IAU “Astronomical and World Heritage” initiative.

• Lobby the organizations, institutions, as well as local, regional and national governments to approve preservation laws for dark skies and historical astronomical sites.

• Bring the issues of natural environment and energy preservation to the agenda of decision makers.

• Number of activities and events related with the night sky protection

• Number of countries/cities with the laws or guidelines for dark sky preservation.

• Areas protected by dark sky laws

• Number of historical astronomical sites identified and protected under the UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention

The fulfilment of these objectives will be achieved through the national, regional and global activities, see http://www.astronomy2009.org

The IYA2009 is, first and foremost, an activity for the citizens of Planet Earth, which will convey the excitement of personal discovery, the pleasure of sharing fundamental knowledge about the Universe and our place in it and ultimately, the value of the scientific culture.

For national IYA2009 matters, please contact your National Node Chair/Single Point of Contact (see below).

Islamic Republic of Iran Single Point of Contact:

Professor Jamshid Ghanbari, President
Astronomical Society of Iran

PO Box 15875-3651
Tehran
Iran

Phone: +98-21-8989550
Fax: +98-21-8989550
Email: ghanbari@ferdowsi.um.ac.ir
URL: http://www.asi.ir