Dubai Astronomy Group Event 23/24MAY2014 Camelopardalis Meteor Shower

Dubai Astronomy Group Event 23/24MAY2014 Camelopardalis Meteor Shower

Location: Bab Al Shams Desert Resort, Click Here for Location map.
Event start: 21.00pm of Friday 23rd May Event ends: Sunrise on Saturday 24th May

Join us to witness a potentially ‘once in a lifetime’ event. Predictions suggest that a new meteor shower will be seen on the 24th May as Earth is expected to cross the debris trail left by comet 209P/Linear. Based on professional forecasts this meteor shower could turn out to be a unique meteor storm. A meteor storm could see dense outbursts of bright multiple meteors and provide in excess of 1000 shooting stars an hour during its peak. Lowest expectation would be 60-100 meteors an hour. You won’t want to miss this…

This Dubai Astronomy Group event will also provide visitors an opportunity to look through the club telescopes at other celestial objects including; Saturn, Mars, double stars, globular clusters, nebula and other deep sky objects. In addition, the Moon rises in the morning, just before sunrise, in a close conjunction with the planet Venus. The event will feature live presentations and videos about the night sky plus featured online broadcasts to the wider international astronomy community.

The event is working in collaboration with Astronomers without Borders and will feature live links between Dubai and California.

The event is also supporting a global broadcast from Slooh Telescopes. Slooh operate a network of robotically controlled telescopes which are used by its worldwide membership for Astronomy imaging and observing. Slooh is a major worldwide outreach facilitator of public astronomy and hosts regular online events. Dubai Astronomy Group is a listed partner.

The event will also include periodic Live Google+ Hangouts On Air and will be available on YouTube for those unable to attend in person;

Google Hangout Part 1

Google Hangout Part 2

Google Hangout Part 3

Google Hangout Part 4

Dubai Astronomy Group YouTube

2014 The Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™; Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

AWB Astronomers Without Borders Update - 27APR2013

AWB Updates

As we roll toward the close of Global Astronomy Month, how about preserving your GAM experience in the form of a poem—and submitting it to our GAM2013 AstroPoetry Contest? The world of 2013 is sparkling with poetic ideas, and we’ve already received some 50 poems from 8 countries—China, Indonesia, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Sri Lanka, U.K., and U.S.A.  By the April 30 deadline, let’s double the number of poems and countries, for the best world poetry competition ever! Anything or thought, whether large as the expanding Universe or small as a grain of comet dust, can furnish the content for an astropoem, as the Japanese poet Buson showed us with this haiku more than 300 years ago: “Twilight flower-field… / moonrise in the eastern sky / sunset in the west.”  And just last year, GAM2012 contest winner Christine Rueter followed in Buson’s footsteps with this: “HAIKU FOR SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY / Through your small windows / we saw our fractious planet / blue and white and whole.” Our contest is for everyone, with three categories—children, grades 1-6; young adults, grades 7-12; and adults, age 18 and older.  Submit your poem on the contest entry form.  And for inspiration, check out last year’s contest winners and our ongoing AWB AstroPoetry Blog.

Upcoming GAM 2013 Programs: 28 April:        Cosmic Concert (online live musical) 29 April to 8 May:    GLOBE at Night 30 April:        Cosmic Depths (online observing event)

GAM 2013 Blog: 21 April - AstroArt: Daniela De Paulis 22 April - The Light at the End of the Telescope: Rogel Mari Sese 23 April - Working in Astronomy: Sarah Kendrew 24 April - Getting involved in Astronomy: Raven Yu 25 April - The International Year of Astronomy (STILL?): Ricardo Cardoso Reis 26 April - Fuelling the Fire: The Importance of Teaching Kids Astronomy: Maya Barlev 27 April - My Astronomy Awareness Journey: Fikiswa Majola GAM 2013 Blog will feature 30 bloggers for the 30 days in April. Follow the blog for posts around the world.

Dark Skies Awareness Blog: You Can Change the World’s Skies by Christopher Kyba "The battle against light pollution will only be won once a large fraction of the population can explain in their own words what is wrong with current lighting. To get from here to there, we need everyone who understands the problem to talk about it with their friends, family, and co-workers. So how do you talk about light pollution?" Continue reading... Mount Tai and the Starry Sky by Xiaohua Wang "Mount Tai is located in Shandong Province in eastern China. It is called the "chieftain" among five famous mountains in China. In 1987, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) declared Mount Tai a World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site. However, after 90 years, light pollution has appeared at Mount Tai. The city of Tai’an near the mountain has grown 30-fold; it has a population of nearly 5.5 million and consumes 10 billion KWH of electricity a year." Continue reading... A Statewide Star Party by Amy Sayle "Across a 500-mile swath of North Carolina, from the mountains to the Outer Banks, 45 sites planned skywatching sessions for the public on April 5th, as the kickoff to the 2013 North Carolina Science Festival. Since the star party date fell at the beginning of International Dark Sky Week and during a GLOBE at Night campaign, each site was asked to educate their audiences about light pollution and encourage them to document the darkness of the sky at the star party and later on in their own neighborhoods." Continue reading...

AstroArt Blog: Spaceflight Dolphin - An Art and Technology Payload for the Space Shuttleby Richard Clar "The first real opportunity for individuals or institutions in the world to access space at a very reasonable cost arose from NASA’s Get-Away-Special Program (GAS) that was announced in 1976. Artists were not excluded per se from the GAS Program as long as they could satisfy the basic requirement that GAS payloads must have some human or technical benefit. NASA would not fly art just for art’s sake and was very strict about this requirement. Subsequently, four artists managed to meet this criterion and have their art payloads accepted into NASA’s GAS Program."Continue reading... Shrimp Cocktail – since the Apollo days by Charles Bourland "Shrimp Cocktail has been in NASA food systems since the Apollo days and is still one of the most popular astronaut foods. Shrimp are very conducive to freeze drying. When processed properly, the dehydrated shrimp are very similar to fresh shrimp after water is added. Astronaut Story Musgrave (STS-6, STS-51F, STS-33, STS-44, STS-61, STS-80)  liked shrimp cocktail so much that he requested it for every meal, every day for the duration of the mission." Continue reading... Chocolate Pudding Cake: a favourite at ISS by Charles Bourland "Chocolate Pudding Cake is one of the popular ISS deserts and is easy to make compared to other space food recipes. The recipes are complex because many ingredients start from scratch and are commercial food service products. Some of the more complex space food recipes were not included in the Astronaut’s Cookbook because the ingredients were not available and special equipment is required to process." Continue reading...

GAM 2013 Event Registration: Have you registered your GAM 2013 events yet? Tell the world what you're doing! Below are some new events. Join them! Observação de Saturno, Brazil A Journey into the Universe, Romania Thailand monthly star party, Thailand Saturn and the Solar System at the Ghana Planetarium, Ghana Saturn Watch, Morocco

AWB thanks our sponsors of GAM 2013: Media Sponsor - Sky & Telescope HOTECH Woodland Hills Camera and Telescopes

Connect With AWB Twitter: http://twitter.com/awb_org Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/astronomerswithoutborders Google Plus: http://bit.ly/gplus_awb Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/AstroWB

2013 THE Year of Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

Meteors April 22, 2013 Lyrid Meteor Shower Show - AWB and Global Astronomy Month

Meteors April 22, 2013 Lyrid Meteor Shower Show
Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) 
Sponsors GAM- GAM Global Astronomy Month 2013

The Lyrid Meteor shower peaks on the evening and early morning hours of 22APR2013.  If you have good weather and are patient you may see as many as 20-30 meteors per hour or more.  Get away from city lights, pull out your lawn chair or lay down on the ground and watch the show! Make it a family or friends event!
 The meteors will be coming from the direction of Lyra (see the map below); if you don"t know where Lyra is just look up and see where the meteor light show is originating from. Bring along warm clothes or a sleeping bag to keep yourself warm.  The best time for watching will be 11'00 pm until about 5'30 am (just prior to Sun up). The peak viewing time will be from 2'00 am - 4'30 am.'
LunarMeteoriteHunter, Tokyo
Dirk Ross
 - Astronomers Without Borders Tokyo, Japan / Japan Night Sky Watch

This is what you might see 22/23 April 2013.
Composite of Lyrid Meteors -2 or brighter from El Paso, TX-Sandia Sentinel Meteor Fireball Camera- 22-23APR2011
N is up, E is left - Click image to enlarge
Copyright 2011 Jim Gamble, El Paso All Sky

Star Map to Find Lyra

"Click on Image to Enlarge."

GAM Global Astronomy Month 2013
You are not to late to join GAM 2013

1 to 22 April	International Earth and Sky Photo Contest
1 to 30 April	30 Nights of Star Peace - Program for astronomy clubs!
1 to 30 April	Astropoetry Contest for GAM2013
3 to 29 April	Moon Watch - Click the tab at the top for all observing dates
5 to 28 April	AstroArt - Click the tab at the top for all event dates
5 to 11 April	International Dark Sky Week

20 April	Global Star Party
20 April	Stars for All (online observing event)
20 to 22 April	Lyrid Meteor Watch
27 April	Saturn Watch
27 April	Around the Ringed Planet (online observing event)
28 April	Cosmic Concert (online live event)
29 April to 8 May	GLOBE at Night
30 April	Cosmic Depths (online observing event)

Visit the AWB GAM Website!
http://astronomerswithoutborders.org/global-astronomy-month-2013.html

If youi wish to join the Astronomers Without Borders -AWB or support the AWB  anywhere in the world please contact me for details;  thank you!  
Dirk Ross...Japan Night Sky Watch - AWB
LunarMeteoriteHunter <lunarmeteoritehunter@gmail.com>
2013 THE Year of Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

AWB Updates - Lyrid Meteor Shower and other events April 2013

AWB Updates - Lyrid Meteor Shower and other events April 2013

Upcoming GAM 2013 Programs:

20-22 April: Lyrid Meteor Watch
25 April:      Lunar Eclipse Watch
25 April:      8 Years Around Saturn
26 April:      Aerogel, Jupiter, and Galileo's Bones
27 April:      Serene Universe
27 April:      Saturn Watch
27 April:      Around the Ringed Planet (online observing event)

Connect With AWB

Twitter: http://twitter.com/awb_org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/astronomerswithoutborders
Google Plus: http://bit.ly/gplus_awb
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/AstroWB

AWB thanks our sponsors of GAM 2013:

Media Sponsor - Sky & Telescope

HOTECH

Woodland Hills Camera and Telescopes

Star Map to Find Lyra and the Lyrid Meteors

"Click on Image to Enlarge."

If youi wish to join the Astronomers Without Borders -AWB or support the AWB  anywhere in the world please contact me for details;  thank you!  
Dirk Ross...Japan Night Sky Watchers - AWB
LunarMeteoriteHunter <lunarmeteoritehunter@gmail.com>
2013 THE Year of Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

Astronomers Without Borders -AWB Updates - 12-20APR2013

Astronomers Without Borders -AWB- 12-20APR2013

AWB Updates

Friday, 12 April brings another in a series of special film screenings and panel discussions as part of the GAM 2013 AstroArts program. A screening of Overview – a 19-minute film produced by Planetary Collective for the Overview Institute – will be followed by a panel discussion with Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, shuttle astronaut Byron Lichtenberg, author Frank White, and Overview Institute co-founder David Beaver. The panel will also take questions from the worldwide audience.

For his book, The Overview Effect, White interviewed astronauts whose perceptions of our home planet were transformed by their experiences in space. Seeing Earth not just from space, but seeing it in space like any other planet, had a profound effect on some astronauts’ understanding of our place in the cosmos.

Overview is a powerful and enlightening film that has been seen by more than 1.7 million people so far. The participating astronauts will describe their own experiences in space as they relate to the film’s message.

This special event – part of the GAM 2013 AstroArt program – is brought to you by Astronomers Without Borders, Cosmoquest, the Overview Institute, and Planetary Collective.

GAM 2013 Trailer is out!
Global Astronomy Month 2013 has begun and there’s more to do than ever. Spread the excitement with the GAM 2013 trailer! Featuring photos from past GAM events around the world and beautiful night sky images and time-lapse videos, it’s a two minute summary of what GAM is all about. It’s perfect for club meetings and outreach events. Watch the GAM 2013 trailer and share with your friends.

Upcoming GAM 2013 Programs:
12 April - Yuri's Night
12 April - Overview: A Film by Planetary Collective (LIVE online)
14 April - No Gravity by Silvia Casalino (LIVE online)
18 April - Walking on the Moon (LIVE online)
20 April - Global Star Party

GAM 2013 Blog: 01 April - Our Place in the Universe by Mike Simmons 02 April - The Search for Exomoons by Thijs Kouwenhoven 03 April - Favourite Sky Observation Sites in the Indian Himalayas by Ajay Talwar 04 April - Branching out with Public Science: From IYA to IYL by Kimberly Kowal Arcand 05 April - Placebo Effect by Peggy Walker 06 April - It Takes a Village of One People to Make One Starry Sky by Connie Walker 07 April - Raising Awareness About Light Pollution Issues in Morocco by Hatim Madani 08 April - Astronomy For A Better World: What Are We Doing About It? by Kevin Govender 09 April - The Other Side of Astronomy? by Grom Matthies 10 April - Exploring the Invisible Sky by Nicole Gugliucci GAM 2013 Blog will feature 30 bloggers for the 30 days in April. Follow the blog for posts around the world.

AstroArt Blog: Astro-Artist of the Month - April 2013: Richard Clar Richard Clar, a Los Angeles/Paris new media interdisciplinary artist, founded Art Technologies in 1987 as a liaison between the worlds of art and technology. His philosophically-oriented artwork turned towards art-in-space in 1982 with a NASA-approved art payload for the U.S. Space Shuttle. For Global Astronomy Month four of Richard Clar’s projects will be presented; Spaceflight Dolphin, COLLISION II, ALMA da AGUA and New Butoh Space Dance – IMC.Continue reading... Skylab Butter Cookies for GAM 2013 by Dr. Charles Bourland For GAM 2013, Dr. Charles Bourland - author of the book “The Astronaut’s Cookbook” - will share recipes throughout the month. The recipe for this week is Skylab Butter Cookies used on the Skylab Missions from June 1973 to February 1974. Continue reading...

Dark Skies Awareness Blog: "A Call to Arms... er, dark" by David Fuller Ask any random person what “light pollution” or means, and the odds of you getting a correct response from a non-astronomer is pretty slim.  It just isn't on the radar of the average person.  But placed into context, “Do you know why you can't see the stars at night?” or “Does light shining into your window at night keep you from sleeping?” then the response often changes significantly.  People understand those concepts, but what they need is an incentive to change their own behavior. That is a huge challenge, but it is not impossible. How? Continue reading...

GAM 2013 Event Registration: Have you registered your GAM 2013 events yet? Tell the world what you're doing! Below are some new events. Join them! Astrophotography Special Field Trip, India Meet The Cosmonaut 2013, Nepal Spaceflight to the Moon at the Ghana Planetarium, Ghana Dark Sky Awareness, Iran Global Star Party 2013, Philippines

Connect With AWB
Twitter: http://twitter.com/awb_org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/astronomerswithoutborders
Google Plus: http://bit.ly/gplus_awb
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/AstroWB

2013 THE Year of Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

AWB: New Programs Starting Late August / Early September 2012

AWB: New Programs Starting Late August / Early September 2012



Three Exciting New Programs That You Can Help
From schools on a mountain in Tanzania to schoolchildren in Afghanistan to Earth orbit - here are three exciting new AWB programs that can make a difference that need your support!

SkyCube: The First Satellite Launched by You!

Astronomers Without Borders is partnering with Southern Skies, developers of the popular SkySafari apps for Apple and Android devices, to put a new satellite into orbit. A nanosatellite whose "owners" contribute as little as one dollar, SkyCube will allow its thousands of supporters to send messages from space and take images looking back at Earth. Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) member programs will use the satellite's unique capabilities, including its high visibility when it inflates a reflective balloon near the end of its mission. Southern Skies will in turn donate up to 50% of proceeds from SkyCube donations made through Astronomers Without Borders back to AWB global programs.

Reach for the Stars - Afghanistan

A new Astronomers Without Borders project, Reach for the Stars - Afghanistan, has launched with the goal of establishing the first astronomy curriculum for young children in Afghanistan. Created in collaboration with the Astronomical Association of Afghanistan, Reach for the Starts - Afghanistan will be based on Afghan culture, the countries rich heritage of Islamic astronomy, and modern science. Schools, orphanages and refugee camps in and around Kabul will also receive scarce educational resources to be used in the programs. Supporters are needed to bring the stars and science to the children of Afghanistan.

Telescopes to Tanzania

Telescopes to Tanzania (TtT), a successful program that brings scarce educational resources to one of the world's poorest countries, is now under the aegis of Astronomers Without Borders. TtT is expanding the educational capacity of the teachers and schools of a country where a lack of basic resources means stronomy is taught without telescopes, chemistry without labs, geography without maps. In the fall of 2012, TtT will expand its program with training sessions for 80 secondary and elementary teachers in the use of basic science equipment donated by the program, impacting the education of thousands of students.

Telescopes to Tanzania needs supporters to make this dream come true for as many teachers and students as possible. The costs in Tanzania are very low by western standards, but far beyond what Tanzanians can afford.

2012 THE Year of Meteors!

AWB Global Astronomy Month 2012 News - 29 March 2012

Global Astronomy Month 2012 News - 29 March 2012

OPTICKS returns with live Moonbounce OPTICKS, a live performance during which digital images are sent by radio to the Moon and back, returns for GAM 2012. OPTICKS will stream live on April 28 from the radio telescope in Dwingeloo, Netherlands where the signals are received. Pictures can be submitted to be Moonbounced as part of this live event.

Bats and Radio Astronomy - Live Presentation What do bats have in common with the work of radio astronomers? More than you might think. Find out during this live presentation on April 8.

AstroArt Video Presentation A video titled “Space Trip,” celebrating new works by the Austrian artist Thomas Riess, will be featured as part of GAM's AstroArt program.  Riess works at the very forefront of the artistic experience, seeking to break the limitations of painting and establish a “dialogue on the phenomenon of reality.”

New Artwork Featured in Video Presentation The artwork series “Neurostar,” created by the leading Canadian artist Landon Mackenzie, will be showcased in a new video accessible from the GAM website on 21-22 April 2012.

Popular Cosmic Concert Returns The very popular Cosmic Concert returns for the third time in GAM. This new online musical performance for GAM 2012 is again based on music by Giovanni Renzo and features images from the World at Night project. Watch the trailer on the GAM website.

Feature Video on the Effort to Create the First Map of our Galaxy A 45-minute video describing how a group of Dutch astronomers created the first-ever map of our Milky Way Galaxy will have a special showing for GAM on April 14-15.Spiral Galaxy: the Milky Way Unraveled features astronomers involved in the creation of this historic map after decades of effort of centuries of mystery about Earth's place in our galaxy.

GAM Kids and Teens Go to the Moon Submit pictures to be part of a mosaic going to the Moon and back in Kids & Teens' MoonBounce Global Collaboration. This special Celebrate Starlight photo mosaic poster  will be Moonbounced during GAM 2012, video-taped and showcased at the Astronomical League Conference in July.

Sky and Telescope Features GAM GAM 2012 is featured on the Sky and Telescope magazine website with an article by AWB President and Sky and Telescope contributing editor Mike Simmons. The article is on the website's home page as this newsletter goes out on March 29. Watch for more articles on GAM 2012 on the Sky and Telescope website. Sky and Telescope is once again the Media Sponsor for GAM.

Reminders Register Your GAM EventsAdd your events to the GAM 2012 calendar. GAM 2012 Program Schedule See when everything is happening all through April. GAM 2012 Trailer - Watch It, Share It! On YouTube On Vimeo GAM 2012 Astropoetry Contest Share your work with others as this popular contest returns for 2012.

Connect with GAM2012: Web: http://www.gam-awb.org/ News Updates: http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/news/newsletters/subscribe.html Email: info@gam-awb.org Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gam.awb Twitter: http://twitter.com/GAM_AWB (#GAM2012) Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/globalastronomymonth Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/gam/ Mike Simmons Chair, GAM2012 mike@gam-awb.org +1 818 486 7633 Thilina Heenatigala GAM2012 Coordinator thilina@gam-awb.org +94 716 245 545

Connect With AWB Twitter: http://twitter.com/awb_org Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/astronomerswithoutborders Google Plus: http://bit.ly/gplus_awb Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/AstroWB

Visit Astronomers Without Borders' website

2012 THE Year of Meteors!