Planning for US IYA2009

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Planning for US IYA2009

• Susana Deustua
• American Astronomical Society
• Co-chair US IYA Program Committee

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American Astronomical Society

• ??,????individual members, 1,000 foreign
  affiliate members.
• Founded in 1899
• Publishes ApJ, ApJ Supp, ApJ Letters, AJ, BAAS
• Activities
• 5 Divisions Solar Physics, Dynamical Astronomy,
  Planetary Sciences, High Energy Astrophysics,
  Historical Astronomy
• Meetings two/year, plus Divisional mtgs.
• Public Policy
• Education
• Member society of the American Institute of
  Physics (APS, AAPT, AGU)

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The US Astronomy Community GROUND

• Ground-based astronomy primarily funded by the
  National Science Foundation, other govt agencies
  and private sources
• National Observatories (NOAO, NRAO, NSO, NAIC)
• International Facilities (Gemini, SOAR)
• Private observatories (McDonald, Keck, Las
  Campanas, HET, CfA)
• TSIP
• Future Facilities
• Near Term ALMA
• Medium Term LSST
• Long Term GSMT/T

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The US Astronomy Community SPACE

• Space-based facilities funded by NASA
• Great Observatories HST, Spitzer, Chandra
• Medium to Large Missions Navigator, New
  Horizons, WMAP, SWIFT, HETE, FUSE
• Small to Medium RHESSI, sub-orbital payloads
• Future
• Near Term SOFIA, Herschel, Planck
• Medium Term JWST
• Long Term JDEM, LISA, SIM

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The US Astronomy Community Amateurs

• Robust amateur-astronomy community 400,000
  backyard astronomers
• 750 astronomy clubs
• Astronomical League
• AAVSO (American Association of Variable Star
  Observers)
• ALPO (Association of Lunar and Planetary
  Observers)
• ASP (Astronomical Society of the Pacific)
• IOTA (International Occultation Timing
  Association)
• SAS (Society for Astronomical Sciences)
• Etc.

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Vibrant Education and Public Outreach in Astronomy

• National Observatories (visitor centers, teacher
  programs, press releases)
• NASA Centers (teacher programs, web, press
  releases, curriculum materials, etc.)
• Private Observatories (McDonald most active
  (StarDate) Hawaii ramping up with Imiloa)
• Professional Societies Astronomical Society of
  the Pacific, AAVSO, AAS, International Dark-Sky
  Association
• Astronomical League

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Vibrant Education and Public Outreach in Astronomy

• Planetariums and Science Centers (Adler, AMNH,
  Smithsonian, Exploratorium, Boston Museum of
  Science, Griffith Observatory
• National Parks (visitor centers, docent programs)
• Astronomy Clubs
• Boy Scouts
• Girl Scouts
• After-school programs

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Coordinating IYA 2009 in the U.S.

• Program Committee
• Develop themes and activities to support IYA
  goals
• Appreciation of astronomys rich scientific and
  cultural role throughout human history
• 15 members from leading organizations that engage
  in astronomy education and public outreach in the
  United States, plus liaisons to Canada and Mexico
• Co-chairs Doug Isbell Susana Deustua
• Development Committee
• Secure funding and resources to implement IYA
  activities
• 10 members from academia, industry, organizations
• Chair Peter Stockman

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Schedule of US IYA Activities

• Planning Meetings
• Washington, DC, early May, 2007
• AAS Meeting in Honolulu, HI, May 2007
• ASP meeting in Chicago, IL, September 7-8
• AAS Meeting in Austin, TX, January 2008 - First
  PR event
• Proposals to Govt agencies
• Proposals to private foundations, companies

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US IYA 2009Goals , Themes, Activities

• Doug Isbell
• Co-Chair, US Program Committee
• Associate Director for Public Affairs
  Educational Outreach, National Optical Astronomy
  Observatory (NOAO)
• disbell_at_noao.edu

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GOAL for US IYA 2009

• To offer an engaging astronomy experience to
  every person in the country.

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Six Major US Themes

• Looking Through a Telescope
• Dark Skies Are a Universal Resource
• Astronomy in Arts, Entertainment Storytelling
• Research Experience for Students, Teachers, and
  Citizen-Scientists
• Telescope Building Optics Challenges
• Sharing the Universe Through New Technology

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Looking Through a Telescope

• Star parties
• Sidewalk astronomy
• Mobile telescope vans
• Binocular experiences
• Remote telescopes (north south)
• Observing with spacecraft?
• gt 100 million first-time viewers worldwide???

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Dark Skies Are aUniversal Resource

• GLOBE at Night 2009 - classic star counting and
  digital sky-quality meters
• Coordination with Earth-orbiting satellites
• Related issues energy use, health, etc.
• Efforts in individual cities
• Ex. Sydney, Australia, lights out

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Arts, Entertainment Storytelling

• Documentaries
• Hollywood productions (TV, movies)
• Marketing opportunities
• Native cultures
• Public lectures
• Galileo impersonators!

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Research Experiences for Students, Teachers, and
Citizen-Scientists

• Observing at telescopes
• Remote observing image processing
• Data mining
• Work with members of NASA/ESA science teams
  (Spitzer under way)
• Coordinated ground-space-amateur observing?

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Telescope Building Optics Challenges

• Telescope amnesty
• A new telescope kit? (5-10 each x 1 million
  copies?)
• Hands-On Optics
• Contests Science Festivals
• Internships with big telescope projects?

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Sharing the UniverseThrough New Technology

• Planetaria
• Science Centers
• Blogging and Podcasting
• YouTube -type portals for self-made videos
  (contests?)
• Videoconferencing
• RSS news feed
• Real-time Web counter of IYA participation?

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US IYA 2009 Program

• Each theme supported by 1-3 working groups of 6-8
  people each (professional and amateur)
• Supported by Web portal _at_ AAS
• Kick-off event at National Air Space Museum?

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2 0 0 9 Sky Events and Related Opportunities Rick
Fienberg Editor in Chief, Sky
Telescope Member, AAS Program Committee for the
International Year of Astronomy rfienberg_at_SkyandT
elescope.com
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Looking Through a Telescope
Astronomy is experiential anyone can see what
Galileo saw. So lets give everyone a chance to
look through a telescope!
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Schedule sidewalk astronomy events on weekends
closest to first-quarter Moon
2009 Jan 4 (Sun), Feb 2 (Mon), Mar 4 (Wed), Apr 2
(Thu), May 1 (Fri), May 31 (Sun) - blue
Moon Jun 29 (Mon), Jul 28 (Tue), Aug 27
(Thu), Sep 26 (Sat), Oct 26 (Mon), Nov 24 (Tue),
Dec 24 (Thu)
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Some Other Sky Events in 2009

• Mercury best in evening sky April 26, near
  crescent Moon
• Venus best in evening sky mid-January, then
  sinks down
• Mars opposition Jan. 29, 2010 _at_ 14 arcsec, not
  good in 09
• Saturn opposition March 8, ring-plane crossing
  Sept. 4
• Perseid meteors mid-August (ruined by
  moonlight)
• Leonid meteors mid-November (dark sky)
• Geminid meteors mid-December (dark sky)
• Partial lunar eclipse December 31 (last night
  of IYA!)
• visible almost exclusively in the Eastern
  Hemisphere

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Jupiter and the Galilean Satellites

• Opposition Friday-Saturday, August 14-15
• Coincides with end of IAU GA in Rio de Janiero
• Jupiter and Neptune barely 3 degrees apart
• Bonus! Jupiter and Neptune fit together in a
  low-power eyepiece field 3 times!
• late May (morning sky)
• early July (late evening/early morning sky)
• late December (evening sky)

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Longest Total Solar Eclipse of the 21st Century
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First Looks and Telescope Amnesty

• Each IAU national node could set up a website to
  collect peoples comments on their IYA telescopic
  observations, especially reactions to first
  looks
• Set national targets (U.S. could aim for 10
  million)
• Fly comments on a space-astronomy mission?!
• At all IYA events where amateurs set up
  telescopes, the public could be invited to bring
  their little-used scopes to get advice on
  repairs, improvements, and/or replacements.

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Dark Skies Are aUniversal Resource

• Build on existing efforts, e.g.,
• International Dark-Sky Association
• U.S. National Park Service
• GLOBE at Night draws attention to light pollution
  without getting into difficult political issues
  of safety and security raised by lights out
  events.
• GLOBE at Night 2009 Great Backyard Star Count
• Count naked-eye stars in Orion
• One week observing window in March 2009
• Report data to central clearinghouse

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Arts, Entertainment Storytelling
Two IYA 2009 TV productions already in the works!

• 400 Years of the Telescope
• A Journey of Science, Technology, and Thought
• Produced by Kris Koenig
• Written by Don Goldsmith and David H. Levy
• Companion planetarium show in development
• The Quest to See Infinity
• The 400th Anniversary of the Telescope
• Produced by Richard Hudson and David Axelrod
• Senior advisor science historian Albert van
  Helden

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Research Experiences for Students, Teachers, and
Citizen-Scientists
Next eclipse begins mid-2009! (First in the
Digital Age.)
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Telescope Building Optics Challenges
A Telescope in Every Pot
Project STAR telescope kit 16x refractor, 5 per
scope! (Price could be drastically reduced with
volume discount.)
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Sharing the UniverseThrough New Technology
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All I Want for IYA 2009 Is