Visit: www.bruneiastronomy.org/timoreclipse

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) – Imagine you’ve stumbled into an open clearing. It’s well past sunset, and the Moon is new – what do you see when you look up at the sky? Are there city lights? Stars? Can you spot any planets? The Milky Way? What do these views mean to you?

In alignment with UNESCO’s International Day of Light on 16 May, the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach is dedicating the entire month of May to Dark and Quiet Skies Awareness. The project raises awareness about the need to preserve dark and quiet skies, their importance for human culture, heritage, and health, as well as their use for astronomy research.

Using any medium you’d like, create a piece of art that describes what dark skies mean to you and your community. Three submissions will be randomly selected to win a BRESSER NANO AR-70/700 AZ Telescope, courtesy of Sterren Schitteren Voor Iedereen (Stars Shine For Everyone – SSVI). Winners will also have the chance to share their artwork during One Home, One Sky: A Seminar for the Protection of Dark and Quiet Skies (more details below).

The deadline to send in artwork is 24 May 2022 via this form. Winners will be randomly selected and contacted via email.

You can read more about the contest’s eligibility, terms and conditions in this document.

Source: https://www.iau.org/public/darkskiesawareness/

The Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) is pleased to announce the second round of its astrophotography contest, in a joint endeavour with OAE Center Italy as co-sponsor. Following the success of the first contest, held in 2021, the OAE aims to increase its foundational collection of high-quality educational resources available to astronomy educators around the world.

• An international contest organised by IAU Office of Astronomy for Education
• Competition theme focuses on still images of celestial patterns, and time-lapse videos of celestial patterns
• Cash prizes €750, €500 and €250 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners respectively, plus €250 prize awarded to 30 entries for still image category.
• Deadline 12 June 2022
• Submit your photos via online form on OAE website (https://astro4edu.org/oae-astrophoto-contest-2022/)

Astronomy is a powerful tool for engaging students and the general public in science thanks to its multidisciplinary characteristics and the relevant discussions it triggers, such as our cosmic origins and Earth as our home planet. It is therefore a potential gateway to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM subjects).

Are you an astrophotographer with an enthusiasm for astronomy education? If so, this contest is for you. Participants can submit images and videos in the following categories: still images of celestial patterns, and time-lapse videos of celestial patterns. The images and videos should be of patterns in the night sky that have cultural significance associated with them. Still images and videos should picture large scale celestial patterns visible by the naked eye, captured in a wide angle (wide field) image. These patterns are of many types and can include asterisms, constellations, dark constellations, dark spots, bright diffuse patterns, and single stars. You are free to consider both the constellations officially recognized by the IAU and also non-IAU-constellations. We particularly encourage you to submit photographs of both ancient and contemporary indigenous celestial patterns, from different cultures all over the world.

This year’s contest will run until 12 June 2022 at noon CET. Submissions will be evaluated by an international panel of astrophotographers and astronomy educators who will consider not only the aesthetic and technical qualities of the images, but also the educational value of each entry in the context of primary and secondary school teaching. In the educational context, it helps to present a constellation in a wide field with other nearby bright stars or constellations visible for reference. A picture may show more than one constellation and other celestial patterns.

The winning participants will receive cash prizes and their images will be made available as Open Educational Resources for teachers and learners worldwide. There will be three winning entries for the category of time-lapse videos of celestial patterns. Cash prizes of €750, €500 and €250 will be awarded for the first-, second-, and third-place entries respectively. For the category of still images of celestial patterns, up to 30 entries will be awarded a prize of €250 each. All winning entries will be published in the OAE’s astronomy education resources collection and the IAU Image Archive under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 International Licence (note that the photographers will still retain the copyright to their images). Moreover, participants are encouraged to allow us to publish their images and videos under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licence even if they don’t receive a prize, as long as the images and videos are considered by the jury to be of high educational value.

• Before submitting your entries, please read carefully the competition rules for the 2022 edition, which you can find here.
• You can submit your entries here.
• For any queries regarding the competition, please contact astrophoto​atastro4edu.org
• Results from the astrophotography contest 2021 edition can be found here.
• For more information about the contest rules and the submission process, please check the contest webpage.

Source: https://www.astro4edu.org/news/K7906Jp/

The Shaw-IAU Workshops on Astronomy for Education are a series of events organized by the Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), in support of the IAU’s goal of leveraging astronomy to support teaching at primary and secondary school level.

WORKSHOP CONTENTS: https://astro4edu.org/shaw-iau/3rd-shaw-iau-workshop/

REGISTER: https://astro4edu.org/shaw-iau/3rd-shaw-iau-workshop/registration/

THE DEADLINE TO REGISTER IS THE 30TH OF SEPTEMBER 2021 AT 21:59 (UTC TIME)

There are different paths into astronomy education. Some of us are school teachers and educators. Others are astronomers, whether professional or amateur. Typically, that means that most of us have formal training in some of the areas important for astronomy education, but not in all areas. And of course, both the content and the methods of astronomy education itself are evolving over time. Plus, it’s fun to learn about new things, but also to revisit the basics!

This year’s Shaw-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education is all about opportunities for *everybody who is active in astronomy education, whether as a practitioner or an education researcher, to go back to the basics. What are the things that, in an ideal world, all of us should know? Which new developments, effective teaching methods, evaluation techniques, and which aspects of astronomy education research should all of us be aware of?

So this year’s workshop is less about speakers presenting their own work and projects, but about speakers telling participants what they think everybody should know about a particular aspect of astronomy education.

The 3rd Shaw-IAU Workshop will take place via a virtual online platform. The Shaw-IAU Workshops are organised with generous funding from the Shaw Prize Foundation.

In order to make astrotourism more accessible, researchers working between the University of Namibia and the University of Oxford have come together to develop an introductory course which will be run via Zoom, free of charge. The course will consist of five, 1.5-hour sessions, and will be delivered on Tuesdays at 4pm CAT (UTC+2) on the following dates:

24th August (16:00-17:30 CAT / 22:00-23:30 Brunei Time) – Introduction to astronomy
31st August (16:00-17:30 CAT / 22:00-23:30 Brunei Time) – Astronomy facilities and research in Southern Africa
7th Sept (16:00-17:30 CAT / 22:00-23:30 Brunei Time) – Astronomy for development and astrotourism
14th Sept (16:00-17:30 CAT / 22:00-23:30 Brunei Time) – Stargazing and indigenous astronomy in Namibia
21st Sept (16:00-17:30 CAT / 22:00-23:30 Brunei Time ) – Light pollution and dark skies for sustainable development

This course serves as an introduction to several relevant topics relating to astrotourism, and sessions 2 and 4 will largely be in the context of Namibia. No prior knowledge is needed to take part in this course, and where possible we will share additional resources where you can learn in more depth. This course is not officially accredited, and cannot be used as credits towards other programmes. All sessions will be recorded, and material (PDFs and slides) will be made freely available to participants afterwards.

If you are interested in taking part, complete this registration form by Wednesday 18th August; our capacity is 300 participants. Here https://forms.gle/c6okSDfttXCvLmTo8

The information you provide in this form will be used for the sole purpose of contacting you about the course, and for understanding the demographics of those taking part. Your personal information will not be shared in any way and if you agree, will be kept for evaluation purposes for one year. Otherwise, it will be deleted after the course has been completed.

The course will be delivered by: Dr Hannah Dalgleish (University of Namibia, University of Oxford); Dr Meghan Hughes (University of Oxford). And was prepared with the additional help from: Dr Getachew Mengistie (University of Namibia). This project is led by Prof. Garret Cotter (University of Oxford), Dr Michael Backes (University of Namibia) and Dr Eli Kasai (University of Namibia), and has been funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (ST/S002952/1) and Exeter College, Oxford in the UK.

• IAU OAO NOC Brunei Darussalam

The 2021 project received 225 applications from 54 countries with the active support of the IAU National Outreach Coordinators (NOCs). The selected proposals will bring telescopes to socially deprived communities in Poland; help tackle educational disparities and improving access to STEM for women and girls in Botswana and Mauritius; reach rural areas in Malaysia; and refugee camps in Jordan, to name a few.

The telescopes have been awarded to the following proposals:
• Telescopes for All in Afghanistan, Kayhana Astronomical Group, Afghanistan
• Telescopes for All in Botswana, Machana Satellite School, Botswana
• Tomorrow’s Stars (Astros do Amanhã), Leva Ciência Institute (Instituto Nacional Leva Ciência – INALC), Brazil
• Telescopes for All in Ghana, Tetteh-Ocloo School for the Deaf, Ghana
• Namma Telescope, Open Space Foundation (OSF), India
• Telescopes for All in Iraq, Freelance, Al-Muthanna University (Lecturer), Iraq
• Telescopes for All in Jordan, Jordanian Astronomical Society (JAS), Jordan
• Telescopes for All in Malaysia, SJKT JUGRA School, Malaysia
• Telescopes for All in Mauritius, Hindu Girls’ College Astronomy Club, Mauritius
• Evening Meetings With Astronomy, Grupa Edukacji Astronomicznej na Czarnej Hucie (The Black Ironworks Astronomical Education Group), Poland
• Telescopes for All in Samoa, Tiapapata Art Centre, Samoa
• Telescopes for All in Timor Leste, Knua Sentrál ba Prátika Siénsia no Matemátika (KSP), East Timor

News Source: IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach

Bandar Seri Begawan – Nine (09) endorsed proposals from Brunei Darussalam will go through the next selection process of Telescopes for All 2021 at international level.

Winners will be announced by the IAU at a later date.

To all participants, thank you for the time and energy you invested in crafting the proposals.

Find out more: www.bruneiastronomy.org/telescopes4all

Oleh : Dk. Vivy Malessa Pg. Ibrahim / Pelita Brunei
Foto : Ihsan Persatuan Astronomi Negara Brunei Darussalam

ASTRONOMI adalah kajian tentang segala sesuatu di alam semesta di luar atmosfera bumi. Ini termasuk objek yang dapat dilihat dengan mata kasar seperti bulan, bin tang dan matahari serta objek yang hanya dapat dilihat dengan menggunakan teleskop seperti galaksi jauh dan partikel kecil.

Persatuan Astronomi Negara Brunei Darussalam (PABD) Sebagai dedikasi kepada masyarakat dan bidang sains astronomi, PABD merupakan persatuan bebas dan persatuan bukan kerajaan yang berkaitan dengan bidang astronomi di Negara Brunei Darussalam. PABD telah didaftarkan secara rasmi kepada Pendaftar Pertubuhan, Polis Diraja Brunei pada 6 Januari 2003. Peraturan-peraturan dan keterangan PABD telah termaktub di dalam Perlembagaan Persatuan Astronomi Negara Brunei Darussalam oleh ahli-ahli sementara PABD pada tahun 2002.

Persatuan ini mempunyai Penaung iaitu Ketua Hakim Syarie, Yang Amat Arif / Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Paduka Seri Utama Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Salim bin Haji Besar; dan Penasihat-penasihat Persatuan terdiri dari Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi Syarie, Juruukur Agung, Naib Canselor UBD dan Rektor Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali.

Aktiviti PABD Pelbagai aktiviti yang telah dilaksanakan oleh PABD, antaranya ialah Cerapan Anak Bulan Rejab; Penganjuran International Astronomy and Astrophysics Competition pada 7 Mac 2019 dalam talian; Pameran PABD pada 3 Mei 2019; Bicara ‘Bruneian women’s involvement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics’ sempena Hari Wanita Antarabangsa pada3 Mei 2019; Kajian Awal Waktu Fajar dan Kualiti Langit Gelap di Negara Brunei Darussalam pada 17 Mei 2019; Cerapan Gerhana Separa pada 17 Julai 2019 dalam talian; Sesi Praktikal Cerapan Anak Bulan Zulhijjah 1440 Hijrah; Perkhemahan Cerapan Juraian Meteor Perseids pada 10 Ogos 2019; Stargazing in the Garden pada 19 Ogos 2019; Cerapan Juraian Meteor Quadrantids pada 5 Januari 2020; Cerapan Comet Neowise (C/2020 F3) pada 15 Julai 2020 – 23 Julai 2020; dan ‘Stargazing Night’ pada 28 Ogos 2020 di Warisan Puk Belaban.

Keahlian PABD Lebih 80 orang telah mendaftar sebagai Ahli PABD pada ketika ini dan bagi sesiapa yang berminat untuk menjadi Ahli PABD boleh menghantar permohonan dan hendaklah mengisikan dalam satu borang khas melalui laman sesawang www.bruneiastronomy.org/daftar dan dihantar kepada Setiausaha Agung PABD dan hendaklah mengemukakan permohonan itu dengan secepat mungkin kepada Jawatankuasa Eksekutif untuk diluluskan.

Setiap pemohon yang permohonannya telah diluluskan seperti yang tersebut di atas
hendaklah setelah menjelaskan bayaran pendaftaran untuk diterima menjadi Ahli PABD. Kadar bayaran bagi jenis keahlian PABD ialah BND15 bagi Biasa; Pelajar BND5; Korporat kadar bayaran ditentukan oleh Ahli Jawatankuasa Eksekutif PABD; dan Keahlian Kehormat sebanyak BND50.

PABD pada masa ini belum mempunyai Pejabat Tetap, walau bagaimanapun bagi sebarang persuratan, alamat sementara yang didaftarkan ialah Pusat Kepimpinan dan Pembelajaran Sepanjang Hayat, Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali, Simpang 347, Jalan Pasar, Gadong, Bandar Seri Begawan. Negara Brunei Darussalam, BE1310.

Teleskop Untuk Semua

Ke arah memperluaskan bidang ilmu pengetahuan kanak-kanak, ibu bapa dan juga tenaga-tenaga pengajar untuk mencetuskan minat dalam bidang sains, serta meningkatkan peluang yang sama rata (ekuiti) untuk menceburi kerjaya dalam bidang astronomi, justeru, Program Teleskop Untuk Semua (Telescopes For All) merupakan program bertaraf antarabangsa yang dianjurkan bersama oleh Kesatuan Astronomi Antarabangsa (IAU) melalui ‘Office for Astronomy Outreach’ (OAO) dengan ‘Stars Shine for Everyone’ (Sterren Schitteren voor Iedereen-SSVI) dan ‘Universe Awareness/University of Leiden’.

Penganjuran program berkenaan merupakan tindakan susulan bersempena Sambutan Ulang Tahun Ke-100 kesatuan tersebut pada tahun 2019, yang mana kesemua teleskop tersebut adalah pemberian ihsan dari Syarikat Bresser. Teleskop Untuk Semua 2021 dibukakan penyertaannya kepada penduduk di negara ini sehingga penghujung Mei 2021 ini.

Program yang dianjurkan IAU itu menawarkan hadiah sebanyak 12 buah teleskop istimewa yang ditandatangani oleh para angkasawan dan saintis, termasuk pemenang Hadiah Nobel, kepada komuniti di seluruh dunia dalam mengatasi kekangan akses dalam bidang astronomi. Bagi penerima anugerah Teleskop Untuk Semua 2021, penerima anugerah akan menerima teleskop yang dihantar dengan pemasangan khas serta dibuat khas oleh Kumpulan Pembuat Teleskop Amatur Kijkerbouw of the Public Observatory Armand Pien Belgiumuntuk SSVI. Teleskop Refraktor Bresser 90/1200 yang peralatannya dilengkapi dengan tube teleskop, view finder, zenit prisma, penapis suria, Plössl eyepieces 25mm dan 15mm, sebuah elektronik cermin mata (kamera web), dan pelekap. Teleskop ini dapat digunakan untuk mengamati bulan, planet-planet dari Sistem Suria dan objekobjek Messier yang paling terang seperti Nebula Orion, globular clusters, bintang binari.

Negara Brunei Darussalam merupakan antara 53 negara yang mengambil bahagian projek pada tahun ini. Pertandingan dari negara ini akan diselenggarakan oleh IAU National Outreach Coordinator (NOC) Brunei Darussalam dengan sokongan PABD. Negara-negara lain NOC adalah Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia (Contact Deputy NOC), Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mongolia, Morocco, Nicaragua, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Viet Nam dan Zambia.

Orang ramai yang berminat menyertai Teleskop Untuk Semua 2021 dikehendaki menghantar cadangan di dalam bahasa Inggeris dengan menjelaskan kaedah dan strategi menggunakan teleskop berkenaan untuk dimanfaatkan oleh masyarakat dalam
memberikan inspirasi kepada kanak-kanak yang kurang mendapat pendedahan astronomi. Maklumat lanjut program Teleskop Untuk Semua dan syarat-syarat penyertaan boleh dicapai melalui laman sesawang www.bruneiastronomy.org/telescopes4all.

Setiausaha Agung PABD yang juga selaku IAU NOC bagi Negara Brunei Darussalam, Awang Hazarry bin Haji Ali Ahmad menyarankan, ”Orang ramai adalah dialu-alukan untuk menyertai program ini bermula 1 April sehingga 30 Mei 2021. Cadangan-cadangan yang diusulkan perlulah inovatif, memfokuskan aktivitiaktiviti yang sesuai dan berimpak tinggi serta mampan dalam usaha mendekatkan astronomi kepada kumpulan masyarakat yang memerlukan sokongan dalam bidang astronomi di Negara Brunei Darussalam melalui penggunaan teleskopberkenaan”.

Di peringkat saringan, semua cadangan dari negara ini yang memenuhi semua syarat kelayakan akan mendapat kelulusan daripada IAU NOC Brunei Darussalam selaku penyelaras projek untuk meneruskan ke peringkat antarabangsa. IAU akan meneliti serta menilai semua kertas cadangan yang dihantar daripada setiap negara yang menyertai program ini bagi penganugerahan. Pengumuman rasmi hasil keputusan oleh IAU dan para pemenang bagi program ini dijangka pada 15 Jun 2021.

Pada tahun lepas, projek ‘Making Space For All’ (MASA) yang diusulkan oleh Dayang Nur Bazilah binti Zainal Abidin, Ahli PABD, melalui penyertaan program ini telah mendapat kejayaan di peringkat antarabangsa dengan menerima anugerah berupa sebuah teleskop daripada IAU sumbangan Syarikat Bresser. Sebanyak 17 golongan komuniti yang memerlukan sokongan dalam bidang astronomi di serata dunia termasuk negara ini telah dipilih untuk menerima teleskop khas berkenaan yang ditandatangani oleh para angkasawan dan para penerima Hadiah Nobel. Kumpulan tersebut merupakan kumpulan yang pertama untuk menerima teleskop yang diedarkan oleh ‘Telescopes
for All: Inspiring Starts & Stars Shine for Everyone Collaboration’.

Sumber: Pelita Brunei Rencana – Teleskop untuk semua (pelitabrunei.gov.bn)

Astronomy education is a powerful tool to teach students about our place in the Universe, and it is also an exciting gateway science to the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). One of the OAE’s goals is to provide astronomy educators around the world with a foundational collection of high-quality educational resources. While many excellent images are already available for public use, the OAE has identified a number of astronomy-related themes with which educators could use further support.

Participants in the contest can submit images in the following categories: star trails, meteor showers, comets, total lunar eclipses, light pollution, aurorae (still images and time-lapses), wide star fields, Sun/Moon haloes, and time-lapses of the Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter. Submissions will be evaluated by an international panel of astrophotographers and astronomy educators. In addition to aesthetic and technical criteria, the judges will consider carefully the educational value of each entry in the context of primary and secondary school teaching.

There will be three winning entries in each category; cash prizes of €750, €500 and €250 will be awarded for the first-, second-, and third-place entries respectively. All winning entries will be published in the OAE’s astronomy education resources collection under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 International Licence (note that the photographers will still retain the copyright to their images).

Submit your Astrophotos

Before submitting your entries, please read carefully the competition rules, which you can find here.

You can submit your entries here.

More information

The IAU is the international astronomical organisation that brings together almost 12 000 active professional astronomers from more than 100 countries worldwide. Its mission is to promote and safeguard astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development, through international cooperation. The IAU also serves as the internationally recognised authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and the surface features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world’s largest professional body for astronomers.

Contacts

Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE)
Haus der Astronomie
Heidelberg, Germany
Email: oae@astro4edu.org

Lars Lindberg Christensen
IAU Press Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 320 06 761
Cell: +49 173 38 72 621
Email: lars@eso.org

Links

Astrophotography contest | House of Astronomy (haus-der-astronomie.de)
Office of Astronomy for Education Launches Astrophotography Contest | IAU

The Astronomical Society of Brunei (PABD) on Saturday night gathered night sky enthusiasts at Warisan Puk Belalan in Kampong Bukit Udal, Tutong District to catch a glimpse of our nearest neighbour in space – the moon.

The gathering was the society’s first participation in the International Observe the Moon Night celebration that has been held annually around the world since 2010 as a global community outreach initiative to encourage the observation, appreciation and understanding of the moon.

The yearly event, officially registered with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), brings together amateur astronomers, educators and lunar enthusiasts to either gaze at the moon with the naked eye or observe the night wonder through powerful telescopes.

The Saturday’s event in Brunei, organised by the PABD and the management of Warisan Puk Balaban, was attended by PABD Vice President Haji Abdul Aziz bin Haji Akop as the guest of honour.

Following the officially opening of the event, a recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah and Doa Selamat was carried out, led by PABD Treasurer Ustaz Shaifulbahri bin Haji Ahmad.

Telescopes and binoculars were set up at the premises to provide all-night stargazing and guided tours of the moon, planets and other celestial objects.

The event also offered members and other participants an opportunity to view the landscape of lunar mountains and craters along the line between light and dark.

There were also exciting hands-on activities, such as a mini craters experiment, a touch-the-lunar topography, a make-and-admire moon art competition for children and an astronomy quiz.

Participants were briefed on the exploration of the moon as well as cultural experiences influenced by the moon.

Meanwhile, there are more than 1,800 virtual and in-person events around the world this year in honour of the International Observe the Moon Night. The celebration falls in September and October when the moon is in the first quarter, providing a great phase for evening examination of the lunar terrain.