Dawn of IYA2009

Choose Hubble's next discovery

2009-02-13T15:44:00.001Z

Taken from the Hubble site:

"Hubble's Next Discovery -- You Decide" is part of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA), the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Galileo's observations.

People around the world can vote to select the next object the Hubble Space Telescope will view. Choose from a list of objects Hubble has never observed before and enter a drawing for one of 100 new Hubble pictures of the winning object.

The winning image will be released between April 2 and 5, during the IYA's 100 Hours of Astronomy, a global astronomy event geared toward encouraging as many people as possible to experience the night sky.

Vote by March 1 to swing Hubble toward your favorite target."

Check it out at:

http://youdecide.hubblesite.org/

100 Hours of Astronomy SUN-day

2009-02-09T14:53:00.003Z

In an initiative promoted by the IYA2009 Solar Physics Task Group (SPG), the last day of the "100 Hours of Astronomy" cornerstone project will be dedicated to the Sun. We will have a SUN-day on a sunday.

Since you all have now a good experience organizing a Sun related event, I invite you all to join the 100 Hours of Astronomy SUN-day.

You can check the details in the SPG webpage at:

http://solarastronomy2009.org/100-hours-sunday/

Star Peace project - IYA2009 Special Project

2009-01-28T17:01:00.002Z

Congratulations to our friends from the Star Peace project (in particular the group in Qeshm Island, in Iran that joined us in "Dawn"), which have been given the status of IYA2009 Special Project.

Just to remind you, from the webpage of the IYA2009:

"The category of IYA2009 Special projects is intended to give large global projects (which satisfy the vision of IYA2009) greater international recognition and an opportunity to link with celebrations worldwide."

Well done, and I hope the project is a success.

Cold "Dawn" in Spain

2009-01-28T11:41:00.002Z

Jose Cerezuela had little luck watching the Sun as well. Here is his report:

"It was cloudy on the 1st, and we couldn't observe anything.
To the people that passed by, I explained what was the Internaitonal Year of Astronomy, and how they could safely observe the Sun. Even so, I showed them a few posters about the Sun and explained the sunspot phenomenon.
Overall, I had about a dozen people interested, because it was a cold morning, with cloudy weather and a holiday, when people don't get up early and it was very unpleasant outside."

Dawn at the SAAO - South Africa

2009-01-26T17:19:00.003Z

Due to Eclipse activities, Lolan Naicker, the Coordinator for the Development of Astronomy of the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), only now had a little time to talk about his "Dawn" event, which was integrated in the Sutherland Star Party 2008:

"For Dawn of Astronomy 2009 we included a viewing of the first sunrise of 2009 into our Sutherland New Year Starparty program.
Around 30 attendees of the starparty on new years eve braved the cold Sutherland night on the top of the telescope plateau to see the sun rise for the first time over the Karoo Desert on IYA2009. It was a beautiful red orange sunrise - an awe inspiring experience on this very restricted plateau . We followed up the sunrise viewing with an observation at noon 1 January 2009 with the few remaining attendees - seen through a H-alpha filtered coronado PST.

The sunrise viewing pictures are located at http://astrocast.org/star_party_IYA2009/"

Here are some photos from the SAAO event:

Canada "Dawn" for one

2009-01-26T16:17:00.008Z

Kim Hay, from the Solar Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (ALPO), went on her own to try and find the Sun. She had this to say:

"January 1, 2009
Temperature -9º C
wind sl S/SW
cloud cover less than 10%

(...)I haven't quite perfected the imaging aspect yet of the sun, and I have issues with the central obstruction in the SCT(...)."

Anyway, since she couldn't send us an image of the Sun, so she sent a photo of her setup instead:

January 26th Solar Eclipse

2009-01-26T14:57:00.002Z

The IYA2009 Solar Physics Task Group lend a helping hand to the South African National node in the eclipse webcast.

Please check the wonderful photos taken along the path of the Eclipse, like this one, from Helpmekaar College, Braamfontein:

Measuring the shadow, from South Africa

2009-01-22T10:35:00.002Z

Who says science and religion don't mix?

Here is a report from Dr. Abdurrazak Ebrahim, from Cape Town:

"There was a very small turnout – about 22 persons. We observed the sun per filters. As the majority of the attendees were of the Muslim faith I explained the shadow of a stick and we made various measurements for approximately 2 hours. Muslims use shadows and upper atmosphere light to compile their daily compulsory prayer times."

Fundão - Portugal

2009-01-20T18:48:00.003Z

In Fundão, Paulo Sanches had bad weather, but in the true spirit of the IYA2009, decided not to be stopped by a bit of rain. This is his report:

“We setup the telescope despite the bad weather, with no luck. I ended up going inside and did a little “lecture” about the Sun to my family, with the material I had in my laptop. Of course the more excited ones were my son and my nephews (the oldest is turning into a real astronomy enthusiast). On the laptop we also saw what we could have seen outside, and much more, because the children’s curiosity has no bounds. Even with bad weather we still ended up spending a nice “Dawn of IYA2009”, with happiness and satisfaction.”

"Dawn" in Scotland

2009-01-19T18:29:00.002Z

The Scots are here!

Robin Baxter, a Member of the Wigtownshire Astronomical Society decided to travel from Newton Stewart to the Mull of Galloway, Scotland’s most southerly point. He thought this would be the ideal location for his "Dawn" activity. He had this to say:

"It was overcast during our visit to the Mull of Galloway and the temperature was zero Celsius. The Meade telescope, bottle of Scotch whisky, 2 drinking glasses, piece of tartan material along with sign containing IYA logos and Scottish and Portuguese flags were placed beside the information sign and photographed for posterity."

He also sent these photos:

"Dwan" in Iraq - impacts on the media

2009-01-19T15:58:00.004Z

Sorry for not sharing this earlier, but the work flow from my "day job" has suffered a bit with coordinating "Dawn", and I'm playing "catch-up".

Azhy Hasan, from the Iraqi Kurdistan sent me this:

"Issue #3064 (Jan.07.2009) of Khabat Daily Newspaper on Erbil put the photo of (Farid) the smallest Iraqi kid whom looked at the Sun on Jan,01.2009, also a photo of the blog of DAWN in the left upper side.

Issue #492 (Jan.13.2009) of the (Region Weekly Magazine) also published a news on the File of Science about DAWN in Iraq, under the title "The DAWN of IYA2009 Launched on Iraqi Kurdistan Region", with a nice photo of amateur astronomers
and sidewalk people waiting for their turn to observe the Sun P.S.T. Coronado.

Still there were more impacts of that 1st wonderful IYA2009's activity of DAWN.
There was a 50 minutes live radio meeting with Azhy Hasan, the president of Amateur Astronomers Assosiation of Kurdistan-Iraq, on Jan.11.2009, in Jehan FM Radio. It was really a great chance to explain the whole IYA2009 and especially "DAWN of IYA2009" and "100 Hours of Astronomy", and the world wide participatation on these events."

Dawn in Jakarta - The Peace from Indonesia to IYA 2009

2009-01-10T17:40:00.016Z

As a project of Dawn of IYA 2009, Jakarta Amateur Astronomers Association (or HAAJ) invited several amateur astronomy communities in jakarta to do the sun observation together in the new year 2009 started at 12.00 noon. The communities that were Participated in this activity are:

1. "SIRIUS" Astronomy Club, State of Senior High School 89 (SMAN 89), East Jakarta.
2. "POLARIS" Astronomy Club, State of Senior High School 38 (SMAN 38),South Jakarta.
4. Science Club, State of Senior High School 25 (SMAN 25), Central Jakarta
3. Forum of Scientist Teenagers (FOSCA).

Since this Activity was held during the school holiday, we could not send formal invitation to the other network of amateur astronomy communities. And also, Because The Public Holiday, The Jakarta Planetarium & Observatory was close. Even with the constraints on participants, observation instrument and weather, this activity went well.

Here are the fotograph of this event:

The Dawn from Astronomy Club, IIT Madras, India

2009-01-08T11:18:00.007Z

At IIT Madras, India, classes were in full force on New Year's Day and logistics didn't permit us to celebrate the Dawn of IYA 2009 as suggested. So we decided to welcome IYA 2009 differently.

Some of us got together on the terrace of the Physics Department to welcome the sun early in the morning. After a good lot of waiting for the clouds at the horizon to clear, we finally saw the sun rising. The excitement led to some fun-photography with the Rising Sun of IYA 2009!

Pictured here, welcoming the sun are Prasanna Ramaswamy, Vinay Hegde and Namrata Kamat, active members of Astronomy Club, IIT Madras.

Pictured here are Vinay Hegde and Prasanna Ramaswamy, trying to take innovative pictures with the Sun.

We hope that this will be a very fruitful year for all Astronuts.
[Original post here; More pictures here]

Photo Credits: Prasanna Ramaswamy.
License:
These works by Prasanna Ramaswamy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Still "Dawn" in Iraq

2009-01-07T13:47:00.002Z

Our friend Azhy Hasan is having a bit of trouble with his internet connection, so he asked me to share this with you:

Khabat, is a very famous daily newspaper here in the Iraqi Kurdistan region - The North - And we were pleased to see our DAWN of IYA2009's poster from the Amateur Astronomers Association of Kuurdistan published in Page 10 - The Science Page of 31.12.2008.

Azhy Hasan

DAWN from Ahmedabad, India

2009-01-07T10:57:00.021Z

IYA2009 Dawns in the City of Vikram Sarabhai

Location: Kankaria Lake, Ahmedabad, India

1st January 2009

It was twilight, well over a hour before sunrise, when over five hundred school students assembled before the gates of Bal Vatika, Ahmedabad. Over half of them were accompanied by their parents and family members.

There were students from several different schools. Their teachers were also around to give them moral support. Their main object - to welcome the closest star, also called the Garden Star by Sidewalk Astronomer John Dobson and herrald the arrival of the International Year of Astronomy. The plans for this day had been going on for weeks. Their parents reported that the children were more excited then they were during the school picnics.

Minutes before sunrise, four hundred of the children were given colorful ballons to relase at the appointed hour. Dozens of amateur astronomers and several volunters were around, wearing caps with the IYA2009 & Solar Physics 2009 Logos. Children were also carrying play cards and flyers with the Logo of the DAWN of IYA2009 and also the regular IYA2009 logos.

Minutes after the sunrise, after a brief prayer, the children release the 400 colorful baloons in the sky. They clapped their hands. Amateur astronomers, briefly explained to them the object of the celebration. The amateur astronomers also explained why the lake was selected as a venue for DAWN of IYA2009. Besides being a well known landmark in Ahmedabad, it was also had some relation with solar observation. While highlighting that most observatories were located in dark skies region on high altitude areas, the children were informed, that in case of a solar observatory, it was necessary to have it close to a water body, preferably on an island. The cool winds that blew across the lake water, was important to reduce the turbulant motion of the air and provide clarity in studing our nearest star - The Sun.

Telescopes fitted with safe astro solar filters were soon mounted at the venue. We are grateful to Galileo Telescopes of Mumbai for providing these filters to all registrants of the DAWN of IYA2009. The children, as well as their parents, teachers and the morning walkers joined the long line of observers, who had a look at the sun through the scope.

A small group of children sat on the lake side, played a guitair and sang astronomy related songs. All of them were determined to make the Year 2009 as one of the most eventful year in their lives and a fitting tribute to Dr. Vikram A Sarabhai, the Father of Modern Indian Sciences.

Dawn reports from Vadodara,India

2009-01-07T10:27:00.003Z

Dawn of IYA2009 in vadodara was very successful, in terms of all areas from Press coverage to people attraction and reaching to people. major Gujarati news paper publish press-note of DAWN on 1st January, all local media telecast News in evening and again major newspaper publish Report on next day after event.

We have arrange 2 telescoe at 2 places of Vadodara.

1. at our Regular meeting place Balbhavan of Vadodara. 5inch Reflector telescope without filter on Projection sheet we shaw sun to students. (today we also launch our prime project "hamari hi mutthi me Aakash sara - reaching to unreached" showing and teaching astronomy to those who still unexplored, about 35 physically and mentally disable students see the sun through Scope, it was quite exiting for them when i ask few of them did you know what is this white Ball ?? they says "DADA-suraj dada" it is quit fascinating for them too see telescope and to look at screen..i also learn that it is very difficult to teach them still i love it. and hope we get surely good success in our project. Gujarat Samachar of Vadodara edition publish image of this on next day.)

team members at place :Myself (bhargav) on scope, Lekhraj on Screen,Prakash at PPT and sundial. timings 9:45 AM to 12:10 NOON.

2. 2nd place is Faculty of Science of MS university , we placed our 5 inch reflector with filter at entry gate of faculty of Science and near H.M Library so students of all stream can benifit to watch sun.about 300 students watch sun through scope we have announced time from 10 to 12, but we have to extend it till 2PM.

team members at Place : Mansi at Scope, Riddhi at sundial, Sreejit at PPT. Mehul and Rakesh with students to explain physics funda (just to avoid big rush and que) later on at 12:30 we three people from place 1 join place 2 till 2 PM.

timing:10:15AM to 2:00 PM

apart of showing sun through scope, simultaneously we have arrange ppt presentation on Sun , it's structure and phenomenons on sun at both place. also make small 15CM dia sundial and teach them concept of Sundial. all in all Good Successful Event.

Cluster Oaks Drive - Humble, TX, USA

2009-01-06T22:22:00.002Z

My objective was to introduce folks on my street to the IYA by setting up the telescope to look at the sun. We were ready a little before noon (local time), skies were clear, and curious neighbors began to emerge from their homes. We were prepared to go all afternoon. The Sun was there, in the eyepiece, still no clouds, but alas, no sunspots either. We had some good discussions about the sun, the sunspot cycle, the IYA, and the new, soon to open observatory. Sadly, by 1 PM, the clouds moved in and we were totally overcast for the rest of the day. So brief, but we got the IYA off to a good start. We had 13 visitors ranging from elementary school children to adults. - Aaron Clevenson

Dawn IYA 2009 in Coastal NC, USA

2009-01-06T19:50:00.009Z

Dawn IYA 2009 was not only a fun way to usher in (and introduce) the International Year of Astronomy 2009, it offered me a perfect opportunity to share the sky with fellow residents of my small town of Shallotte, North Carolina, USA.

We had beautifully clear skies for the event - that famous cloudless, Carolina Blue; and the temperatures were just right - not too hot for a sunny day, nor too cold considering the winter season.

My husband helped me with the event, assisting in the transport and setup of my telescope, banner, chairs, and pamphlets table, and by keeping me company for the duration. I was glad to have him with me. We don't often get to enjoy the sky together, and this gave us that time.

We set up near the entrance to our town, along what is essentially the only main road, fittingly named Main Street. Passersby were greeted by a large banner announcing Dawn IYA 2009 and free solar viewing and a smaller sign encouraging people to stop and look at the sun.

The solar viewing apparatus included a 10" Dobsonian telescope outfitted with a Seymour Solar filter, a 10x25 pair of Coronado White Light Binoculars, and a 12x50 pair of Celestron binoculars for non-solar viewing. Our table included various handouts printed from the Dawn IYA 2009 resources page and a homemade solar kit that included a solar glasses template and a swatch of Baader solar film.

The turnout was small but respectable considering the date. Few people were out, probably home recovering from the festivities of the night before. The good news was that all of our visitors were completely new to astronomy and had never before viewed the sun through a filter. One man even asked, "What am I looking at?" - and nearly all asked about that bright "star" in the sunset sky. They were intrigued to learn that it was actually a planet and were thrilled when I showed them Venus and the crescent moon in the daytime sky.

The excitement and curiousity was genuine and even contagious between those who happened to stop by together. Several people even asked where they could get their own telescope or binoculars. Fortunately, one of my handouts - a Fun Sun Facts that I created - included a list of various astronomy websites where they could learn more about the nightsky and even download simple charts for backyard observing.

The one unfortunate thing in all this is that I spent so much time answering questions, I forgot to take pictures! After each visitor left, I reminded myself that I needed to take pictures of the next visitors - and each time, I forgot. I do, however, have pictures of our handouts and equipment. Nothing exciting.

I have several handouts remaining and plenty of baader film for more solar viewing kits. I am planning to host another solar viewing event in a few weeks; and this time I will promote it more heavily to bring in more people. I've already been offered free printing and banner services from the local printers (Skippergraphics) for any future events.

Ultimately, my Dawn IYA 2009 event was a success. More people will "look up" and I feel confident that they, too, will encourage others to look up, as well.

Happy IYA 2009 and Clear Skies to All!
Tavi Greiner

Solar Observation in Fife, Scotland, UK

2009-01-05T21:57:00.003Z

As could be expected, the sky was mostly overcast at the appointed hour. However, the telescope (Celestron Nexstar 5i with glass solar filter) was set up at a country location outside Cupar, about 15 miles from St Andrews, in the county of Fife, Scotland. House-guests from the New Year Party made it to the telescope nursing the customary hangover and we all managed to make a solar observation at 12 noon. It was disappointing that the solar disk was clear of sunspots but at least we had enough clear sky to take part in the first event of IYA 2009. Then it was back inside for a hair of the dog!
Happy New Year to all.
Lyn Smith, BAA Solar Section Director,
Chris Hobster and Chris Longmore.

moore new years day party

2009-01-05T19:47:00.002Z

We had about fifteen come out an look at the sun in my 4" DOB with a white light filter. Not much to see. Talked about haow large a sunspot would be before we could see it and what they really are. We then looked at the moon. Most were suprised to be able to see in the daylight. I used a basketball and a tennis ball to show how the moon "Phases" and why we could see it in the daylight. Most were interested and stuck around while I answered questions. We even discussed how planets are being discovered around stars other than ours.

Fred Gassert, President
Kansas Astronomical Observers

"Dawn" in CiWalk Mall, Bandung, Indonesia - 2

2009-01-05T19:18:00.004Z

Here are some videos from the activity in Indonesia:

"Dawn" in Bharuch, India

2009-01-05T16:17:00.002Z

Arvind Panchal sent this report:

Greetings,

The dawn of new year was welcomed by over 450 students, accompanied by their teachers, students and members of Astronomy Club, Bharuch
The venue was at Narayan Vidhyalay Bharuch, in the centre of the city. I contacted the Principal well in advance and the manage for the same nicely.

All the students enjoyed Solarsys CD presentation , observe the Sun by Projection method as the safest way.

In the evening at the terrace of B/3 Narayan Nagar 4 , Bharuch I have arranged to view Jupiter, Venus and craters of the moon

Clear skies and IYA2009 greetings,
Arvind Panchal

"Dawn" in Porto, Portugal

2009-01-05T14:43:00.010Z

I just realized I'm guilty of the same fault as most other participants. I also haven't properly described the activity in Porto, so here it goes:

Has I posted before,the skies in Porto where cloudy, and it even rained later in the afternoon, so we couldn't observe the Sun directly.

We started around 14h00 (2 p.m.), with a live interview in the national TV channel (RTP), to the news leader at lunch time, "Jornal da Tarde" (check at 04:07 minutes in the video). The bearded guy being interviewed is me, so you now know what the annoying guy that keeps sending you "Dawn" e-mails looks like.

Later in the day we also had the visit of a regional TV Channel, "Porto Canal". Other references where made in the portuguese news agency "Lusa" the 2 most read daily newspapers, "Público" and "Jornal de Notícias".

Over the next 4 hours (we finished after sunset), we got around 100 visitors, which is pretty good, considering we where "watching the Sun" on a rainy day.

We had the debut of our next Planetarium show, called "The Sun: Diary of a Star". We intended to have only 2 presentations, but by popular demand we ended up doing 4. The crowed seem pleased with the result.

Among younger children, the sundials where without a doubt the favorite (and among some of the parents). We had both equatorial and horizontal cut-out sundials, of our own design. These were corrected for Portugal's latitude and longitude, but you can donwload the "international" equatorial sundial in "Dawn's" resources webpage.

Southeastern Wisconsin, USA

2009-01-04T18:31:00.005Z

We were going to have solar observing at Bayshore Town Center in the northern Milwaukee suburb of Glendale, but skies were overcast and it was lightly snowing! Since we were unable to secure an indoor alternative site ahead of time, we had to cancel the event. For 100HA, we'll be sure to have the indoor site reserved in case of inclement weather.

The Dawn of IYA2009 did have a very special meaning for at least one person in the area. We had a good friend from Minnesota stay with us over the holiday, and on New Year's morning she had a gift waiting for her -- an Orion XT 4.5 Dobsonian telescope. Her very own first telescope! That night it was clear enough to catch the Moon for a short while, which she never saw through a telescope before. She is excited to take the scope back with her and go stargazing with her young nephew, who always wanted a telescope, so in a small way the spirit of the Dawn of IYA2009 was fulfilled.

Where are you?

2009-01-04T16:39:00.007Z

I'm a bit disappointed (and surprised) by the low number of posts so far.

We have 30 countries registered, with more than 100 activities. So where is the rest? Are you still catching up from the lack of sleep on New Year's day?

If you haven't done so already, please, please, please post.

Even if you don't have any photos/videos to post, post a brief description of your activity anyway. How it went, roughly how many people visited you and so on... We are all eager to know how it worked out in you part of the world.

We want to ear from you, whether you are from the Middle East (thanks for the posts from both our Iranian and Iraqi friends), Asia (the smile of that little Nepalese girl is worth a billion euro) South America (obrigado Florianópolis), or Oceania (nice sunrise New Zealand).

Where are the rest of our friends from USA, India and Brazil?

Your reports are important for us in the International Year of Astronomy 2009, because they help us to know what worked and what went wrong, so we know what to repeat and what not to do again.

By the way, I know some of you already know about this, but I personally invite every one from the "Dawn" family to register in the IYA2009 Cornerstone project, 100 hours of Astronomy. Please check it out.

Waitarere Beach, New Zealand

2009-01-03T22:02:00.009Z

We were on Waitarere Beach for new years day, one of New Zealands many beautiful holiday and camping spots on the west coast of the Lower North Island. I am one of the members from a nearby observing group called The Levin Stargazers but this time it was just me, my wife and my 6 month old daughter doing our bit for the world.

It was a scorching hot day and we set up outside a local cafe and store where we knew everyone

would go for ice creams. There was some cloud floating around but mostly the sky behaved for us.

We used the solar projection method.

My wife's the artist that chalked up a quick sign to attract attention. This worked very well, especially announcing that it was FREE! Even those that chose not to take a closer look were still exposed to the fact that this is the year of astronomy.

For the sign, we took at old painting and used chalk paint over the top, this meant we had a

nice cheap but effective eye catcher.

We had a reasonable turn out, we were there from 1pm to 3pm. Its amazing the people that you meet, some people have no knowledge of astronomy but many have at least an interest in learning and in a small place like New Zealand most people have connections to the subject in one way or another.

It feels good to have kick started the year. A big thanks to all the local organisers who made the call to get us out on the streets making a difference.

Dawn in Qeshm Island, Iran

2009-01-03T15:13:00.016Z

StarPeace team starts its astronomy activities during International Year of Astronomy with Dawn of IYA2009.
The team was celebrating the first day of IYA in Qeshm Island, Persian Gulf, south of Iran. There were three telescopes with solar filters and some sunglasses.

We put the telescopes in the sidewalk and invite passengers to take a look at their mother star by telescopes or sunglasses.

People were so interested. For some of them it was the first time they see a telescope. We gave them a gift too: a special issue of one of the most popular Iranian newspapers, Jam-e-Jam newspaper, which published a special issue for welcoming International Year of Astronomy.

We showed the Sun to the public and talked about our star, the Sun for them. Watching their mother star by naked-eyes through sunglasses prepared by StarPeace team brought joy and excitement to Qeshm people. But most of the people asked why there is nothing, no spots, on the Sun!
Here is more photos from that day:
Report and photos by Irene Shivaei and Mohammad Javad Torabi

First Sunrise and Sun images for IYA2009 from New Zealand

2009-01-03T12:44:00.008Z

Dawn of IYA .. Down-Under

Our key mission for New Years day was to try for the first sunrise and sun images, at the very beginning of the dawn of IYA.

We had 21 hours of Astronomy!! we left Wellington (Capital City of NZ) at midnight NYE(UT+12hrs) and arrived on our East Coast at Castlepoint (North-East of Masterton) around 4am new years day (pre-dawn), after stopping in the middle of the Waiararapa (a valley with very dark sky) and gazing at the incredible dark skys, bright with stars!!! Saw a few slow meteors ( from around Orion) and got spoken to by the police patrol. We managed to get one of the better sunrises I ever saw, despite the fastest winds I ever went out in.. Aaron (my 10 year old) was a bit freaked out as we all had to shuffle up the path to the lighthouse with both arms around the fence all the way. It was a wicked wind GALE force for about 4 hours..

Extreme Astronomy. The images don’t show it!!.

sunrise at longitude 177 degrees East

After the dawn we wandered back to Stonehenge Aotearoa for the visitor presentation, very impressive and hugely informative. (thanks to Richard Hall, Kay Leather and Jennifer Picking) The sky danced a bit more with ice crystals and cloud colours.. Finished the astro day with a shot of the first new moon for 2009.

I’ve just posted 40 shots as a shortlist to my IYA DAWN facebook album here;
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=47519&id=651354529&ref=mf

Our sillouette from the first light of IYA 2009.

I am also posting a set of images from the first day of 2009 at http://www.sky.org.nz/

Paul Moss (New Zealand)

The site of our image making, a lighthouse at Castlepoint.

NOTE!

2009-01-02T14:18:00.004Z

There is mistake of photos dates on the images, thats becuase I did not correcting the camera's date system, Sorry for that. hope that will not put our activity in Iraq to far away from DAWN 2009!
Regards

Azhy Hasan

Night Sky watching at Coimbatore, India

2009-01-02T05:26:00.005Z

Here at Gobichettipalayam near Coimbatore in India, we conducted astronomy awarness programe with night skywatching to see Jupiter, Venus and Moon through our 6" Reflector Telescopes. Not only the school students but public also attended this program.Post by D.MURUGESSH, murugessh@gmail.com

Dawn in Bhuj, India

2009-01-02T04:49:00.005Z

Narendra Gor sends me his updates on the Dawn event in Bhuj, India:

Dawn to IYA2009 Program at Bhuj very successful:

We had more than 150 participants from primary and secondary level. Among the drawings we did, these were the winners in both levels:

Narendra Gor
Bhuj

(Posted on his behalf by Bruno)

UPDATE:

One more (great) photo from the event.

"Dawn" in CiWalk Mall, Bandung, Indonesia

2009-01-02T03:02:00.015Z

As the new year begin, langitselatan also celebrate the first day in 2009 with Dawn of IYA event in Cihampelas Walk (CiWalk) mall, Bandung, Indonesia. With the idea to bring the telescopes to public area, we choose a mall where many people came to spent their ney year vacation as the venue. Ciwalk itself is an urban mall with town concept, so they have several building separate by pedestrian street with a square in front of the main building. We hold the event in CiWalk town square area, where many people gathered in front of the building.

We started Dawn of IYA at 11 am, under sunny and cloudy sky. Aside of telescope, binocular, and sunglasses, we also brought “You Are Galileo Telescope”. Our purpose are to give insight and excitement on observing with small telescope. And we also share the knowledge of Galileo activities 400 years ago. "You Are Galileo Telescope” is a project from IYA JAPAN. It is a small telescope which is the same size as the one Galileo used 400 years ago. With this telescope, children could watch the same planets and objects Galileo once see through his scope. It is about experiencing again Galileo excitement when he pointed his telescope for the first time to the sky.

There are high curiosity about astronomy among visitors. Their first question were,” What are you doing here?” “what is this?”, “why you bring telescope during the day ?” Could we see something during daylight?” or “isn’t it dangerous to see the sun?”. The question rise from sun observation and telescope to global warming, dark skies issues, 2012 issues and extraterrestrial life. All these help us building awareness about astronomy and universe among public.

We gave chances for visitors to observe the sun and inform them about how to observe the sun. We also teach them about sundials. Among visitors there was astronomy teacher forum community whose very interested to know more about practical astronomy that they can shared with students. Most of our visitors were family with high interest on education session like this for children. It was great to see excitement and happiness in the children face as the parents also gave positive respond about this event and “You Are Galileo Telescope” brings excitement and curiosity about celestial objects.

At the end of my story I would like to add a comment from one of our visitor yesterday. He says," this is exciting to watch the sun and to have this event in a mall. I am happy to know there are scientist who come and visits us here to spread the knowledge. This is good for children".

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We also got several media covered from national media. This is the link from detiknews, kompas newspaper and sindo newspaper.

Report in Indonesia could be found in here

More picture could be found in here and more picture will be upload in the next few days.

For the youtube can be seen from here and here.

Another report and pictures can be read from here.

Dawn in Florianopolis

2009-01-02T00:17:00.002Z

I mounted my 60mm refractor in Armação Beach, Florianopolis, Brazil.

Cloudy sky and south wind had confused observations. During 10 minutes the clouds had only allowed the visibility of Sun and about 20 people observe it through filter and projection. Another 50 ones who transited the place at least learned basic information on refrator telescope. One of groups allowed this image:

More information in Portuguese:

http://www.geocities.com/costeira1/sol.html

"Dawn" in Murcia (Spain)

2009-01-01T23:49:00.002Z

Símon Garcia, send this lovely pictures. As always, it was a pleasure to count on you Símon. Muchas Gracias.

San Clemente coast overcast

2009-01-01T23:46:00.006Z

In spite of it being a wonderful day for the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl football game in Pasadena, the California coast had fog and slight overcast. Several hundred yards inland it was brighter. I set up at the foot of the park and beach access where the trains run past, right near the city pier. A dozen people dropped by for a look a plain orange sun through a glass solar filter on my 114mm reflector. After a couple hours it was very hard to see the sun with the filter, but the sun was shining a bit through the clouds. The overcast got worse. After a short break I went up to the City Hall parking lot for a while. that was fairly sunny but deserted up there. I enclose pictures from the early day.

Gregg

Dawn in Derby Kansas

2009-01-01T22:53:00.002Z

Well I did stay up all night getting ready for the event and writing a research paper. but in that time I was able to make a very nice sundial and an amazingly cool Spectra Scope. I decorated the box with the IYA US poster and my clubs logo with the spectral colors and everybody thought it looked great! So lets talk really quick about the event. I wasn't expecting many people to show up (Due to the fact most were drinking the night before) but I had a turn-out of 10 people looking through the scope and 17 people watching the Solar Max DVD i put on my laptop. They loved seeing how the sun was this bright red round "blob". Then I had this one very interested person who loved seeing the Solar Flare on the Top left hand side of the view in the PST. I also had this one little girl who didn't want to come out and look but her grandpa did, well it turned out the little girl looked first and kept on looking for about 10min! she even told her grandpa to leave her there for the Day! Well i think it went very nicely. Not to many people but enough. I gave away two CD's and a poster. Well I started to set up at 9:54 and started observing at 10:08 and then ended at 12:54. Then I would also like to apologize, because I could not post any pictures. (every time I would upload a picture it would take 10 min and then say the connection was terminated) I will try to post using the FTP sever. Thanks for reading,
Elias Jordan

Dawn event in Nanded, India

2009-01-01T21:29:00.008Z

The "Dawn" event started with enthusiasm in our observatory. The exhibition on the Impact of Sunsopts on Earth Climate" was inaugurated by hon. Shri. Kamal Kishor Kadam (former minister of education, gov. of Maharashtra state). Dr. mrs. Geeeta S. Lathkar (director, MGM's College of Engineering, Nanded) was present during the whole function.

Movies about the Sun and the IYA2009 trailer were projected and we observed the Sun with a Meade 14" telescope with solar filter.
Students we inculcate from this events.

SHRINIVAS AUNDHKAR , DIRECTOR, MGM CAST, NANDED - INDIA ( NC FOR INDIA)

Cloudy DAWN and Shiny Noon in Iraq

2009-01-01T20:23:00.003Z

Greetings from Iraq to all DAWN's World Wide Participants

Although the weather was cloudy last night till today's noon, Jan.1st.2009,but afternoon it changed to shiny day but still with very cold winds!!
Too many peoples observed the the Sun with Amateur Astronomers Association of Kurdistan's Personal Solar Telescope and MEADE LX200 8 inch provided with solar filter.

Azhy Hasan

Solar Observing from Pennsylvania

2009-01-01T19:45:00.002Z

I invited neighbors on my block to view the Sun in H-alpha. 15 people showed up with friends and neighbors in tow. There were many "Wows!" when shown a prominence, a first for many of them. They will be back to view Venus and the Moon.

Astronomical Observatory, U. Coimbra, Portugal

2009-01-01T17:05:00.004Z

Our friend Adriana, from the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Coimbra (OAUC), in Portugal, makes a living from photographing the Sun, and was kind enough to send us these beautiful pictures, in H-Alpha and Calcium II lines:

You can even see the prominence in the lower right corner in the last image.

A much larger archive of (almost daily) solar images can be found in OAUC's webpage.

Sunny "Dawn" in Nepal

2009-01-01T16:27:00.005Z

Jayanta Acharya, the Chair of International Year of Astronomy 2009 in Nepal send these nice photos:

Venue: Takshashila Academy, Bishalnagar
Time: Noon to 2 PM

Cloudy Skies in Porto

2009-01-01T15:30:00.005Z

The weather in Porto is as clousy (that's Cloudy+lousy) as possible... But the rest of our activities are going well.

We have preview of a new Planetarium show called "The Sun: Diary of a star", which seems to please the crowd.

Some pictures below, more to follow.

Observatorio La Cambra, Spain

2009-01-01T13:30:00.001Z

A Sun between the clouds.

"Dawn" at dawn, in New Zealand

2009-01-01T11:35:00.006Z

Paul and Aaron Moss in Castlepoint, East Coast of New Zealand had this to say about their "Dawn" activity:

We just had 21 hours of Astronomy!! Left Wellington (Capital city of NZ) at midnight and arrived at Castlepoint (North-East of Masterton) around 4am New Years day after stopping in the middle of the Waiararapa broad valley and gazing at the incredible dark sky, bright with stars!!! Saw a few slow meteors ( from around Orion) and got spoken to by the police patrol (they were happy and sped off).

I managed to get one of the better sunrises I ever saw, despite the fastest winds I ever went out in.. My 10 year old son Aaron was a bit freaked out as we all had to shuffle up the path to the lighthouse with both arms around the fence all the way. It was a wicked GALE for about 4 hours. (Tawhirimatea in full flight, respect!) Extreme Astronomy. For sure. We wandered back to Stonehenge Aotearoa, experienced the visitor presentation, very impressive and hugely informative. The sky danced a bit more with ice crystals and cloud colours. Finished the day with a shot of the new moon.

Photos by Paul Moss. Canon 20D, 18-55mm and 90-210 lens. Polarizing
and ND filters. Location at the bottom of the North Island of New Zealand.

Yet the Sun in Sydney

2009-01-01T11:32:00.003Z

We had 120 people come along to see through the telescopes despite the heat and cloud. One family travelled 60km to be first in line to look at the Sun. Most were amazed they could look at the Sun at all yet alone through two different filters. Sadly though no sun spots could be seen the competing neutral density and H-alpha views kept us busy explaining many aspects of solar viewing to adults and children alike. The small prominence was a real bonus though we could only see it every now and then because of the cloud.

A wonderful start to the IYA 2009!

Geoff Wyatt

"Dawn" down under

2009-01-01T04:48:00.004Z

First pictures from Australia, from Geoff Wyatt, in Sydney. (Thanks Geoff).

Best Wishes to all "Dawn" participants

2008-12-31T17:28:00.009Z

First, best wishes to all participants of the "Dawn" project. We are preparing and opening an exhibition on Sun-Earth weather connection, solar movies from SOHO and live solar observation with 14" and 5" Meade telescopes using Baader filters. The filter was kindly offered by Galileo Telescope Makers - Mumbai.

Thanks to Galileo Telescope Makers from all participants.

SHRINIVAS AUNDHKAR, NC FOR INDIA

"Dawn" in Porto, Portugal

2008-12-30T15:18:00.004Z

The Planetarium of Porto as joined the Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto for this event. The program begins around 14h00 (2 p.m.), and includes:

- Solar observations with a Celestron C8 with solar filter and Coronado H-alpha telescope.

- Planetarium presentations about the Sun, at 15h00 and 16h00 (3 p.m. and 4 p.m.).

- Exhibit about Space Weather (see http://www.sweets2007.de/panels.html).

- Construction of Sundials (See Dawn's Resources section).

- Viewing of a documentary about the Sun

We hope to see you here in Porto.

View Larger Map

"Dawn" in Nepal

2008-12-30T15:16:00.002Z

If you are in Nepal I would like to welcome you to Takshashila Academy on January 1 2009, at noon, to see the big ball of Sun with my telescope.

Please contact Jayanta Acharya, at 9841313313

"Dawn" in Bhuj Kutch, India

2008-12-30T02:55:00.003Z

Venue : Hill Garden Park, Near Rawal wadi Relocation Site, Bhuj Kutch

Time : 7.00 am to 8.30 Am

Program : Brief introduction about IYA 2009, Lecture " Know Our SUN " , Drawing Competition for Primary and High school level Students, Watching the Sun With Telescope and Projection, Balloons will flow in to air

The program is conducted by Kutch Amateur Astronomers Club Bhuj and sponsored by Rotary Club of Bhuj.

The Certificates will be given to all participants, The first two drawings will be awarded by prize and certificate. Tea and snacks will also provided by the sponser

Contacts:

- Narendra Gor narendragor@gamil.com +91 9428220472, KAAC,

- Rotarion Bankim Upadyay, +91 9879040314

The last date for the entry for Drawing Competion is 31st January 2008

Narendra Gor
KAAC
Bhuj

Welcome

2008-12-29T14:57:00.001Z

January 1st 2009 is the dawn of a special year, the International Year of Astronomy 2009. Here you will find descriptions of "Dawn" activities all around the world.