INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
UNION ASTRONOMIQUE INTERNATIONALE
************ IAU1001: UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 8 JANURY 2010 11:00
CET ************
http://www.iau.org/public_press/news/release/iau1001/
The International Year of Astronomy 2009: The Largest Science
Education and Public Outreach Event in History
8 January 2010, Paris: As the International Year of Astronomy
2009 (IYA2009) comes to a close, the true scope of the venture
is becoming clear. The final count of countries involved stands
at 148, a staggering number that confirms that the IYA2009
network is the largest ever in science. Activities and events
from these participating nations paint a picture of professional
and amateur astronomers bringing the Universe down to Earth
through countless projects, opening the eyes of the public to
the wonders above.
IYA2009 was launched by the International Astronomical Union
(IAU) and UNESCO under the theme “The Universe, Yours to
Discover”. Abundant in grass-roots initiatives and global
projects, this venture has been highly visible and its impact
will last for years. As from today, astronomers from around the
world have gathered in Padua, Italy for the two-day official
conclusion of IYA2009. Reflecting on the events of the past year
is on the agenda, and there is no shortage of success stories to
tell.
Most of the incredible initiatives have come from individual
countries. IYA2009 supporters in Sweden created the world’s
largest model of the Solar System. The Sun is represented by the
huge spherical Ericsson Globe Arena in central Stockholm and the
planets are distributed along the country. Finland also made a
huge scale Solar System model, with the Sun located at the
Helsinki Central Railway Station, with a giant sticker
representing our local star. During the display around 50 000
people saw it every day! Sticking with the transport theme, some
Paris Metro stations have been decked out with about 500 metres
of astronomical images, allowing millions of passengers to
marvel at the Universe.
During 2009 more than one million Canadians have experienced a
so-called “Galileo moment”, an engaging astronomical experience
that has opened their eyes to the Universe. In Portugal more
than 300 000 people participated in this year’s astronomy-themed
Oceans festival. It featured a Guinness World Record 4.8-km long
canvas painted with the help of enthusiastic volunteers. In
Japan more than 7 million people were outside stargazing during
2009.
The IYA2009 presence in the new media sphere has been
tremendous: the number of IYA2009-related blog entries and
tweets reached millions. The IYA2009 Cornerstone Project Cosmic
Diary, a blog where 60 professional astronomers from around the
world blog about their lives, families, friends, hobbies and
interests, as well as their work, had more than 250 000 visitors
and more than 2100 blog entries. As another example, more than
10 000 people participated in Meteorwatch on Twitter, making
this the first event of its kind, and also one of the biggest
mass-participation events of IYA2009. On both nights of the
Perseid meteor shower it was the #1 top “trending topic”, by far
the most-discussed thing on the Twitter network anywhere in the
world!
Astronomy enthusiasts proved keen to innovate in ways of sharing
astronomy with the public, and one original way was through
street parades. In January Indian astronomers took the grand
opportunity to showcase IYA2009 to the citizens of India by
presenting a tableau on astronomy in the Republic Day Parade in
New Delhi. Around 30 000 people were present to witness it.
During the Brazilian carnival Unidos da Tijuca, a samba school
from Rio de Janeiro themed its parade “astronomy” in celebration
of IYA2009. The parade typically has 600 000 spectators, and the
number of TV viewers can reach hundreds of millions, or even a
billion. In Dublin astronomy topics lined the streets during the
St. Patrick’s Day Parade, with more than 675 000 participants.
In October a Galileo-actor marched as part of the famous
Columbus Day Parade in New York City, the world’s largest
celebration of Italian-American culture.
The global IYA2009 projects have also been more successful than
anyone initially dared to imagine. Two worldwide star parties
were held in 2009: 100 Hours of Astronomy in April, and Galilean
Nights in October. In total more than 3 million people got
involved, with many members of the public seeing night sky
objects such as planets and the Moon through a telescope for the
very first time; a life-changing experience for many. A
record-breaking and unprecedented live 24-hour webcast called
Around the World in 80 Telescopes was a true highlight during
100 Hours of Astronomy. Featuring astronomical research
observatories both on and off the planet, the webcast gave
members of the public a snapshot of life at research
observatories around the world during a single 24-hour period,
showing viewers the wide range of astronomers’ activities at
many, often very different, observatories. The marathon webcast,
which had at least 200 000 viewers worldwide, gave a striking
demonstration of the global diversity of astronomical research.
Another hit of IYA2009 is the Galileoscope, a low-cost telescope
kit especially designed for the project. More than 110 000 of
these educational tools have been distributed in 96 countries,
and another 70 000 are in production. This style of practical
science extended to a wide variety of award-winning dark-skies
education programmes that are underway worldwide. More than 20
000 measurements of the night sky were made by citizen
scientists during IYA2009; many of these projects will continue
in 2010. These involve people in scientific research that is
beneficial to researchers measuring the impact of human
development on our environment, highlighting the fact that we
all live on a single planet with shared resources.
The From Earth to the Universe project enabled more than 500
exhibits of the most beautiful and inspiring large-format
astronomical images in 70 countries. The IYA2009 Special
project, The World at Night, coordinated exhibitions in 24
shopping centres in 18 states across the US, during summer and
autumn 2009. Both global projects are a reminder of the beauty
of the night sky and for others it was the impression of how all
humanity is one family under the universal eternal roof of the
celestial vault.
More than 75 nations have run Galileo Teacher Training Programs,
creating one of the largest astronomy education networks at a
global level. The Portal to the Universe created the first
“one-stop shop” for astronomy news and has so far had more than
300 000 visitors since its opening in April 2009.
Catherine Cesarsky is the Chair of the IYA2009 Working Group and
was the IAU’s President during the majority of IYA2009. She
says, “Over the past 12 months we have seen astronomy enter the
public’s imagination and inspire people to ask the grandest
questions. The International Year of Astronomy 2009 has been an
unforgettable journey and I am pleased to see that many of the
projects will continue.”
Political interest in IYA2009 was also high, which in itself is
an achievement for any popularisation initiative. In the United
States of America, the House of Representatives passed a
resolution supporting IYA2009. The Spanish Congress of Deputies
also passed a law supporting astronomy in the framework of
IYA2009. Heads of State were keen to express their support for
the Year. The President of the Portuguese Republic, Prof. Dr.
Aníbal Cavaco Silva, personally presided over the Portuguese
IYA2009 Honour Committee. The President of the Republic of
Slovenia, Dr. Danilo Turk, became the patron of IYA2009 in
Slovenia. Lech Kaczynski presided over the Polish IYA2009 Honour
Committee, while Prince Felipe of Spain (Prince of Asturias) did
the same for the Spanish IYA2009 Honour Committee. The former
Belgium Prime Minister and current President of the European
Council, Herman Van Rompuy, voiced support of astronomy during
an IYA2009 event in Belgium held in April 2009. In the US, the
event celebrating IYA2009 at the White House with President
Obama and the First Family on 5 October 2009 made headlines. In
Nepal the total solar eclipse observation event on 22 July 2009
was attended by the Prime Minister of Nepal, Madhav Kumar
together with thousands of members of the public. Iran's
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pointed that IYA2009 provided a
chance for young scientists to develop a more vivid vision of
man’s future during his inaugural speech of the 3rd
International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad in Tehran,
Iran. Pope Benedict XVI gave an eloquent speech in which he said
“The International Year of Astronomy is meant not least to
recapture for people throughout our world the extraordinary
wonder and amazement which characterised the great age of
discovery in the sixteenth century.”
IYA2009 was a huge event not only on Earth, but also above it.
In March the space shuttle Discovery launched towards the
International Space Station. On board was the Japanese astronaut
and IYA2009 supporter Koichi Wakata. He took a special flag with
the IYA2009 logo with him. Another IYA2009 enthusiast, Canadian
Space Agency Astronaut and Expedition 20/21 crew member Bob
Thirsk, recorded a special IYA2009 message during his long-term
mission on board the International Space Station, to remind the
marvels of the night sky and propose once more a rediscovery of
interest in astronomy and the Universe. In May the space shuttle
Atlantis was launched to refurbish the NASA/ESA Hubble Space
Telescope, carrying on board a replica of Galileo’s telescope
that was used 400 years ago to change our view of the Universe
and our place within it. May also saw the launch of the highly
anticipated European Space Agency missions Herschel and Planck,
which are probing the origins of our Universe. The IYA2009 logo
was proudly displayed on the Ariane 5 launcher that lifted the
two spacecraft into space.
Several IYA2009-affiliated movies were made during the Year, and
received critical acclaim. More than 300 000 Eyes on the Skies
DVDs, a film documenting the story of the telescope in 33
languages, were distributed worldwide and received a MEDEA 2009
Jury Award. Another film, 400 Years of the Telescope, has been
seen by over 2.5 million individuals. The film has garnered four
peer-reviewed Telly awards for animations, writing,
cinematography and documentary production. Naming Pluto, the
film about Venetia Burney Phair, the most influential 11
year-old in the history of science, has won cinematic and
scientific acclaim in different festivals, including the prize
for Best Documentary, second place at the Palm Springs
SHORTFEST, the Best Short Documentary at the Rockport Film
Festival, Best UK Documentary at the Falstaff Film Festival, a
Remi Jury Award at the Houston Worldfest and the Festival Award
at the Paso Robles Festival.
Some projects crossed country borders in a literal sense. The
GalileoMobile was a science education itinerant project that
spent two months bringing life-changing experiences and the
excitement of astronomy to young children in Chile, Bolivia and
Peru. In total the GalileoMobile visited around 2500 children in
30 schools, covering a distance of 7000 km. Tunisia’s Astro-Bus
was a similar project. From January to September the Astro-Bus
visited around 60 regions all over the country, crossing
approximately 15 000 km, sharing its content with 100 000
Tunisians of all ages. Telescopes have also travelled more than
20 000 km across Argentina, providing thousands of people with
the opportunity of observing the firmament through a telescope.
The International Year of Astronomy 2009 was never seen as a
“one-off” event lasting just one year, but as a means of
creating structures for collaboration, lasting self-sustaining
activities and innovative concepts for the communication of
astronomy. Most of the IYA2009 Cornerstone projects will
continue beyond 2009 unchanged or in a slightly changed form.
The maintenance of the IYA2009 networks is one of the priorities
of the IYA2009 legacy and the global networks will continue to
operate and engage millions of people.
Robert Williams, the current IAU President, continues: “IYA2009
may be over, but it leaves an important legacy for us to
continue. The groundwork has been laid for astronomers and
enthusiasts around the world to use the momentum gained from
IYA2009 to ensure that the Universe is still ours to discover
far into the future.”
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Links
• IYA2009 Closing Ceremony website:
http://www.beyond2009.org/
• IYA2009 website:
http://www.astronomy2009.org/
• The IYA2009 Legacy document:
http://www.astronomy2009.org/resources/documents/detail/iya2009_legacy/
For more information:
Pedro Russo
IYA2009 Coordinator
ESO ePOD, Garching, Germany
Tel: +49 89 320 06 195
Cellular: +4917661100211
E-mail: prusso@eso.org
Lars Lindberg Christensen
IYA2009 Secretariat Manager/IAU Press Officer
ESO ePOD, Garching, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6761
Cellular: +49-173-3872-621
E-mail: lars@eso.org
Further contacts
Yolanda Berenguer
UNESCO Focal Point for the International Year of Astronomy 2009
UNESCO HQ, Paris
Tel: +33-1-45684171
E-mail: y.berenguer@unesco.org
Ian Corbett
IAU General Secretary, Paris, France
Tel: +33 143 258 358
Cellular: +44 7919 888 942
E-mail: icorbett@eso.org
