Michaelangelica Posted January 1, 2009 Report Posted January 1, 2009 Not my field of interest/expertise, but it certainly looks exciting and interesting. International Year of Astronomy 2009. . .Stargazers around the world are busy preparing for the International Year of Astronomy. A staggering 135 nations are collaborating to bring the Universe closer to Earth. Events and activities will take place over the coming 365 days and beyond, in a spectacle of cosmic proportions. The International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) has been launched by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) under the theme, "The Universe, yours to discover". Thousands of IYA2009 events are described on the national websites, as well as on astronomy2009.org, and a few of the global projects are listed here. The official IYA2009 Opening Ceremony will take place in Paris on 15 and 16 January 2009, and the press is invited to attend. It will feature keynote speakers, including Nobel Laureates, and live video feeds to scientists working in remote locations. Many nations are holding their own Opening Ceremonies in January and February, showing their dedication to the Year. But events will begin before then. Don't be surprised to see telescopes on the streets on New Year's Day. The IYA2009 Solar Physics Group have been busy planning a grand worldwide campaign, with over 30 countries involved at more than 150 venues, which will see amateur stargazers set up their telescopes on pavements as well as in science centres, letting passers-by observe the Sun using special safety equipment. The Cosmic Diary is an example of a global activity occurring during 2009, with the release of its official website on New Year's Day. The project concerns the daily lives of full-time astronomers. More than 50 bloggers, professionals from over 35 countries and employed by organisations such as ESO, NASA, ESA and JAXA have already begun producing content, writing about their lives, the work they conduct and the challenges they face. The public can see what being an astronomer is really like, and how ground-breaking research is conducted. Another project, 365 Days of Astronomy, will publish one podcast per day over the entire year. The episodes will be written, recorded and produced by people around the world.MORE ATThe Universe is yours to discover during the International Year of Astronomy 2009 | Release Archive | Astronomy 2009Notes for editorsIYA2009 marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first astronomical observation through a telescope. It is nothing short of a worldwide celebration, promoting astronomy and its contribution to society and culture, with events at regional, national, and global levels. The IAU is the international astronomical organisation that brings together almost 10 000 distinguished astronomers from all nations of the world. Its mission is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through international cooperation. The IAU also serves as the internationally recognised authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and surface features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world's largest professional body for astronomers. IYA2009 welcome video: A special welcome video for IYA2009 is available. Hosted by Catherine Cesarsky, President of the International Astronomical Union, it is approximately five minutes in length and available in English, French and Spanish. The video is available for download fromwww.astronomy2009.org. Additional informationIt would be nice if you could cut and paste the Urls on this pageThe Universe is yours to discover during the International Year of Astronomy 2009 | Release Archive | Astronomy 2009 Quote
Moontanman Posted January 1, 2009 Report Posted January 1, 2009 Great idea, I look forward to the next year of Astronomy. I use a pair of binoculars to check out the sky but reading about the up coming events will be fun too. Maybe this year the Radio Astronomy guys will finally find that elusive signal that says we're not alone. :hyper: Quote
Pluto Posted January 2, 2009 Report Posted January 2, 2009 G'day from the land of ozzzzzzz Just think our radio signal will take 50,000 years to go to the extreme edge of the MW. For some one to respond, we could be waiing upto 100,000 years. Than again it could be next week if they are trying to find other life. Quote
Michaelangelica Posted January 2, 2009 Author Report Posted January 2, 2009 lots of Radio telescopes hereAmazing to see them on barren Oz cow paddocks.Parkes Radio telescope A clever pic of Parkes Radio telescopeThis is an ABC (Aust) site that Star Nuts and teachers might gather info and resources fromTelescopes Tag Library (ABC News in Science) This is a good Oz site toohttp://www.spaceinfo.com.au/news.html A good commercial siteAstronomy Australia - News and Information Another interesting site with links to 250 Web Astronomy sites(Is a year going to be long enough to look at 1% of this!!??)Weblinks There were reports on today's news about a massive 'universe' collision emitting gamma rays and perhaps forming a black hole.I can't find anything about it on Google news. Although there is some old news about similar explosions Quote
Michaelangelica Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Posted January 7, 2009 International year of astronomy listen now | download audio 2009 marks the International Year of Astronomy. And it's good timing because this year is the 400th anniversary of two of the most momentous events in astronomy. In 1609 Johannes Kepler published his paper on the movement of the planets and Galilei Galileo was the first to use an astronomical telescope. It was these two events that brought about modern day astronomy. Guests Fred WatsonAstronomer at the Anglo-Australian ObservatoryInternational year of astronomy - Radio National Breakfast - 2 January 2009 Quote
Michaelangelica Posted January 31, 2009 Author Report Posted January 31, 2009 abusive astronomy http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/abusive_astronomy.jpg Quote
Michaelangelica Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Posted February 1, 2009 Wednesday, January 21, 2009History Corrected by 400-year-old Moon Map Galileo Galilei is often credited with being the first person to look through a telescope and make drawings of the celestial objects he observed. While the Italian indeed was a pioneer in this realm, he was not the first. Englishman Thomas Harriot made the first drawing of the moon after looking through a telescope several months before Galileo, in July 1609. Historian Allan Chapman of the University of Oxford details that 400-year-old breakthrough in astronomy in the February 2009 edition of Astronomy and Geophysics, a journal of the Royal Astronomical Society. Chapman explains how Harriot preceded Galileo and went on to make other maps of the moon's surface that would not be bettered for decades.As an astrophysicist of the 21st century, I can only look back and marvel at the work of 17th century astronomers like Thomas Harriot," Fabian said. "The world is right to celebrate Galileo in the International Year of Astronomy – but Harriot shouldn't be forgotten!" viaFun and Story for Everyday: History Corrected by 400-year-old Moon Map Quote
Michaelangelica Posted February 7, 2009 Author Report Posted February 7, 2009 I loved this description. It shows me astronomers have a soul and a sense of wonder. Seeing all this on a daily basis must be bloody incredible.Star Smashing Spirograph: The Planet's Craziest Cosmological ToyIn the craziest cosmological kids toy since the extremely short-lived "Kids First (and Last) Matter-antimatter Combining Oven", scientists from New York's Columbia University used pairs of black holes to create Star Smashing Spirographs. An array of simulations have categorized the possible orbits two black holes can occupy before slamming into each other in a stellar event formally known as "Oh Holy **** Wow".Star Smashing Spirograph: The Planet's Craziest Cosmological Toy Quote
Michaelangelica Posted March 5, 2009 Author Report Posted March 5, 2009 Internet-Observatory to Provide Movie-like Window on Universe"LSST is truly an Internet telescope, which will put terabytes of data each night into the hands of anyone that wants to explore it. The 8.4-metre LSST telescope and the 3-gigapixel camera are thus a shared resource for all humanity — the ultimate network peripheral device to explore the universe."Internet-Observatory to Provide Movie-like Window on Universe Pshaw! giga pixels!-,terabytes ! -what happened to pixels and Kbs? and 4mg(Wow) of RAM! that my DOS friends said just proved how stupid apple-macs were. What would you do with all that expensive RAM? Even my spell check cant cope with gigapixel or terabytes (My daughter got one 1TB HD for back up for her birthday:() Obama -just testing; SC hasn't caught up with that name either-- it suggests "Obadiah" ??? Quote
Star30 Posted March 9, 2009 Report Posted March 9, 2009 Hi there. I'm just rejoining everyone at hypography and caught your posting here. We just had a trip with Boy Scouts out to Green Bank, WV touring the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. This was a wonderful and unforgetable experience. We recorded signals from the Milky Way. Thanks for sharing your post here. Quote
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