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IAU 100 Events during 2019

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Centenary of the INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION 1919 – 2019

IAU100 website 

Women and Girls in Astronomy Women and Girls in Astronomy Day on February 11th, the IAU are encouraging events throughout 2019 to increase participation of women and girls in science.

Dark skies for all The Dark Skies for All project aims to raise awareness of the preservation of quiet and dark skies. The project will address two fundamental areas – capitalising existing education programs on light pollution to reach out to students and forming a new IAU Dark Skies Ambassadors Network for public engagement on light pollution protection actions, including government lobbying actions, making the term “light pollution” a household term etc. In particular, the project will encourage the organization of worldwide activities around the UNESCO International Day of Light 16th May 2019.

IAU Amateur Astronomy Day  This event in Belgium will be hosted on 13 April 2019 at the Palace of the Academies in Brussels and we (the IAU) have been asked to get the information out to our amateur communities. It’s believed this is the first IAU event dedicated to amateur astronomers and it is hoped this can be a place where both amateurs and professionals share their experiences and contributions etc.

Campaign to Protect Rural England – Star Count 2019

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The Campaign to Protect Rural England

Help us reclaim our dark skies

TAKE PART: 2 February – 23 February

Dark, starry skies are one of the most magical sights the countryside can offer. But light pollution means many of us can’t see the stars. We want to reconnect people with the wonder of our glorious night skies.

You can take part in #StarCount2019 and help us map light pollution, to ensure more of us can enjoy the most magical sight the countryside has to offer.

Our Star Count will take place this February, with support from the British Astronomical Association, and we’ll be asking you to look up at the night sky and tell us how many you can see in Orion. You can do this from anywhere in England.

Goto StarCount2019 for more information.

12th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) in Beijing

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Following on from the talk that Charles Barclay FRAS (far-right in picture) gave at the FAS 2018 AGM & Convention in York we can report that the UK team has returned from the 10 day long 12th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) in Beijing having won 2 Silver medals and 2 Honourable Mentions. The competition was particularly tough (one 5 hour theory paper, one 5 hour Data-Analysis and a one hour Observational paper) and we are delighted with the result from this young team of five 17 year olds (two from state school and 3 independent school) led by Charles and Dr Alex Calverley FRAS.

For more information on the IOAA please contact Charles at ceb@astro.ox.ac.uk.

Mexborough & Swinton AS 40th Anniversary

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MSAS 40th Anniversary

 

Click the badge to visit their website MSAS.org.uk

 

Mexborough & Swinton Astronomical Society are celebrating the 40th year of our formation. on Saturday 27th October 2018. As part of our year long series of events we have designed a programme of talks at a special day “AstroCon” that we are hosting. There will be a number of trade stands available selling goods.

Click the flyer to find out more 

Community Observatory St Martin’s, Isles of Scilly

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Community Observatory St Martin’s, Isles of Scilly

We are a small group of amateur astronomers who have just got funding and are in the process of building a community observatory on St Martin’s.
This will enable our community and our visitors to fully appreciate the wonders of our amazing unpolluted dark skies.

To help raise funds we are holding a Gala Dinner on the 6th October 2018 at the Karma Hotel on St Martin’s.

The guest speaker is acclaimed astrophotographer Damian Peach.

For more details & to purchase tickets click here