IYA 2009:  Off To An Auspicious Beginning

By an extremely conservative estimate at least 100,000 Canadians have experienced a moment of personal astronomical discovery – a ‘Galileo Moment’ – since 1 January so we are on our way to reaching our goal of 1,000,000 Galileo Moments. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to creating early Galileo Moment opportunities or has made plans to do so as IYA 2009 advances.

To keep abreast of activities in your area, or anywhere in Canada, check the Events Register at www.astronomy2009.ca, as well as our monthly reports posted there.  If you are involved in organizing events in your community, please register them on our web site and report attendance afterwards.  It’s easy to do and your attendance reports drive our Galileo Moment meter. 

One of the most important developments of Q1 2009 has been the awarding of a 3-year NSERC PromoScience grant to CASCA (PI John Percy) for: (i) an EPO specialist to coordinate and create opportunities for new and enhanced activities for IYA that meet community needs and solidify partnerships and processes that secure the legacy; and (ii) creation, through highly leveraged partnerships, of engaging youth-oriented activities and materials whose impact will be long lasting.  Thanks to this award we are seeking a part-time EPO coordinator.

Educational materials developed by the RASC with translations by FAAQ members (see Resources on our web site) are a huge hit with the public at IYA events.  While your university or college liaison (unsure who that is? see Contacts on our web site) has access to these materials for your use at your open houses, Galileo Lectures, etc., the supplies of all but one item are nearing exhaustion.  Wish us well as we seek corporate donations for their reprinting.

In addition to these effective materials, some of the initial IYA legacies made their appearance during the first quarter of 2009: 

• At the national media launch at the Canada Science and Technology Museum on 7 January the beautifully illustrated video of the Mi’kmaq story of Muin and the Seven Bird Hunters produced by Cape Breton University was released.  Muin links the traditional story with circumpolar motion and astronomy and is available on our website in English, French and Mi’kmaq. 

• The glorious music and spoken words of Tafelmusik’s The Galileo Project may now be heard at http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/media/20090109tafel/all.asx.  Even without the striking astronomy images of the live performance, the recording conveys the powerful messages of this incredible work of art created for IYA 2009.

• A Victoria team created a digital From Earth to the Universe image exhibit displayed on SONY monitors in the Bay Centre Mall, the largest in downtown; for an impression of the show see http://vimeo.com/3142835.  The  videos, which include images from the Canadian image exhibit curated by Michael Bietenholz’s team, are now running at the Victoria Airport, as well as on a monitor at the University of Victoria.  NRC’s Garry Sedun (Garry.Sedun@nrc.gc.ca) offers to share the Blu-ray videos he created with others in Canada who wish to mount digital image exhibits.

One of the highlights of launching IYA in Canada surely has been the Cool Cosmos  ad campaign on Toronto Transit (http://www.di.utoronto.ca/coolcosmos/), where over a month ~1.5 million riders were treated to five provocative astronomy teasers conceived by Ray Jayawardhana.  Contact Ray if you are interested in adapting these teasers to your community.

Canada’s SkyNews magazine is now providing on-line IYA information (http://www.skynews.ca/pages/IYA.html) and is launching a repository for photographs of IYA events throughout the country.

To remain current, please refer frequently to our website, as well as to the international one (www.iya2009.org), for updates on the rapidly changing universe of IYA 2009.  And please register and report your events, including those you are undertaking in support of global cornerstones such as:

• Dark skies awareness (http://www.darkskiesawareness.org/), including the Globe at Night (http://www.globe.gov/GaN/) and Earth Hour (http://www.earthhour.org/home/) activities in March.

• 100 Hours of Astronomy 2-5 April (http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org/).

Below I share with you a few photographs I took at early IYA events.

Clear skies and successful IYA 2009 events to everyone,

Jim Hesser

Lunch following the Canadian media launch event at the Canada Science and Technology Museum on 8 January at which the video of Muin was released.  From the left, Mi’kmaq Elder Lillian Marshall, Lise Charlebois and Rémi Lacasse (FAAQ), Marilyn Iwama,  Randall Brooks (CSTM) and Elder Murdena Marshall. The Elders worked very closely with Cape Breton University’s Sana Kavanagh to create the Muin. Video available for download at: www.astronomy2009.ca.	U. Calgary’s Phil Langill with volunteers preparing Star Finders for distribution at the Banff premier of Tafelmusik’s The Galileo Project on 9 January.
Audience members receiving instructions during the interval on Star Finder use	Looking down on Victoria’s Bay Centre From Earth to the Universe exhibit in February, where digital images were displayed on SONY monitors and volunteers from the RASC, U. Victoria and NRC-HIA interacted with the public.
Domenico Trombetta with son Fabiano looks through a replica of Galileo’s telescope. In the background is a poster with small versions of all the images in the videos and a brief explanation about each	Students Deanna Pineau (U. Victoria, left) and Annemarie Pickersgill (UWO,  right) selected by CASCA and ACURA through a competitive process to represent Canadian astronomy undergraduates at the official launch of IYA at UNESCO headquarters in Paris chatted with Nobel Laureate Robert Wilson at the reception.
CFHT had a strong presence at the Paris launch, including these large-scale prints of some of their magnificent images.  From the left, CASCA President Paul Hickson (UBC), CFHT Executive Director Christian Veillet, Annemarie Pickersgill, Deanna Pineau and Betty Hesser.	.