Universe Cafe @ThilinaH

Watch LIVE: Total Solar Eclipse of 20 March 2015

2015-03-19T17:09:00.002+05:30

A total solar eclipse is one of the most beautiful natural phenomena to watch. On 20 March at 8:30UT, this nature's beauty will visit Europe and the North Atlantic, allowing millions of people to witness it. Those who have been lucky enough to see a total solar eclipse or even a partial one will agree that it's never really the same to watch it through a computer screen than in person - which I completely agree! However, thanks to dedicated people and groups, we are able to witness it digitally, as it happens, bringing us more closer than we could.

Enjoy the eclipse viewing and if you come across more live webcasts, please drop me a message on comments or via Twitter @ThilinaH

All live web feeds are weather permitting.

---

From Catalonia, Spain: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcPjsJk9dy4XgUoJOpR4qOw
A group of observers with the support of RTV10 tv station, will be brodcasting from Sant Esteve Sesrovires in Catalonia, Spain. The group will use a 60mm Lunt Hidrogen-Alfa telescope, equipped with a WATEC 120N+ video camera and a KIWI time inserter. (backup broadcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxiz86S1ZYh6Bhj7pu7xrEQ)

Multiple live feeds from Ireland: http://eclipse2015.ie/
Thanks to School Of Physics at Trinity College Dublin and partners, there will be streaming live eclipse feeds from Dublin, Armagh and Galway for a better chance of seeing the partial eclipse even considering the high chance of cloud.

From Longyearbyen, near the North Pole: http://www.nrk.no/troms/solar-eclipse-1.12257825
Norwegian national broadcaster NRK will stream total solar eclipse from Longyearbyen on the archipelago of Svalbard. They will run a two-hour long stream with one camera trailing the Sun during the entire eclipse. (total solar eclipse stream)

SLOOH feed from Faroe Islands: http://live.slooh.com/stadium/live/the-total-solar-eclipse-of-2015
Starting from 8:30UTC, Slooh expedition team will be broadcasting live images and commentary from the Faroe Islands. (total solar eclipse stream)

Virtual Telescope from Italy: http://www.virtualtelescope.eu/webtv/
The Virtual Telescope facility in Italy will be broadcasting with commentary by astrophysicist, Dr. Gianluca Masi. They will also attempt to show other live feeds from different locations across Europe.

Faroese Broadcasting Corporation: https://youtu.be/7Egm1Z5OYcU
Live from the Faroe Islands in broadcast quality, one camera on the Sun close up, and the other stream be from the TV-station. (backup broadcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKduWOwWC5s) (total solar eclipse stream)

Shelios and GLORIA: http://www.sky-live.tv/
A team of astronomers will be observing and broadcasting from the Centre for Maritime Studies at the University of the Faroe Islands, located in the archipelago's capital, Torshavn. The event will be transmitted live on two connections. (total solar eclipse stream)

From Denmark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Vo_b5BhVM
Live stream coverage of the solar eclipse from Mogens Winther Observatory at AGS, Alssundgymnasiet Sønderborg, Denmark.

Image feed from Austria:
Every 10 seconds, Austrian Solarobservatory Kanzelhöhe will be live feeding images in h-alpha http://cesar.kso.ac.at/sofih.php and white light http://cesar.kso.ac.at/sofiw.php throughout the eclipse.

University of Barcelona: http://eclipsi2015.ub.edu/
The Department of Astronomy and Meteorology at the University of Barcelona will broadcast the eclipse from Catalunya, Spain.

Astronomical Association of Sabadell, Spain: http://www.astrosabadell.org/directe/index.html
A team at the astronomical association will be streaming a live feed from Sabadell with some commentary (possibly in Spanish).

Ebro Observatory, Spain: http://eclipsi2015.obsebre.es/
The Ebro Observatory will follow the event live by publishing real-time photos taken with their solar telescope. They will follow this accompanied by 6th grade students in primary school Marcelino Domingo de Roquetas.

MISIÓN ECLIPSE feed from Faroe Islands: http://www.misioneclipse.es/directo/
In collaboration with elPeriodico.com (El Periódico de Catalunya), MISIÓN ECLIPSE will have a live feed from Toshvan, Faroe Islands. (total solar eclipse stream)

Live Images from Spain: http://www.eclipse.roa.es/Archivos/Eclipse_en_directo.htm
Real Instituto and Observatorio de la Armada from Spain will have an image feed refreshing every 15 seconds.

Observatory feed from Belgium: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/solar-eclips-march-20th-2015
MIRA Public Observatory in Grimbergen, Belgium will host a live feed through one of their telescopes.

###

Can MOOCs Educate the Developing World?

2015-02-16T18:34:00.002+05:30

Here's the larger question: can online classes be used to help not just a few exceptional students, but the developing world at large?

As the guest editor of The Big Future video series by The Verge, Bill Gates discussed this larger question. Gates believes that online courses can bring the world's best teachers to anyone with a smartphone or tablet, for free.

Over at edSurge, a short article discusses Gate's thoughts, "around a third of Coursera’s user base is from the developing world, but nearly 80% of those students already have a college degree--as opposed to 10% of the general population," and adds, "but Gates contends that if MOOCs are geared towards a developing nation’s elite, the courses will only exacerbate the digital divide between haves and have-nots."[1]

In their Foundation's 2015 letter, Bill and Melinda Gates share their bet for next 15 years, "The lives of people in poor countries will improve faster in the next 15 years than at any other time in history. And their lives will improve more than anyone else's" and adds further, "Before a child even starts primary school she will be able to use her mom's smartphone to learn her numbers and letters, giving her a big head start. Software will be able to see when she's having trouble with the material and adjust for her pace. She will collaborate with teachers and other students in a much richer way. If she is learning a language, she'll be able to speak out loud and the software will give her feedback on her pronunciation."

Education is the key to everything and MOOC is the way to go to achieve it. However, there's a big hurdle to cross - accessible technology. In order to improve the education through MOOCs, specially in developing world, we need much improvement in accessible technology. If I narrow it down to a developing country that I'm most familiar with - Sri Lanka - is now the best performer in basic education in the South Asian region, with a remarkable record in terms of high literacy rates and the achievement of universal primary education [2]. Even though the government of Sri Lanka has heavily invested in information and communications technologies (ICT) for distance learning, the lack of resources, low digital literacy, poor guidance, remains at large a problem to reach the mass population of students. From slow and limited internet access to lack of technological infrastructure remains a problem. These are not only to Sri Lanka, but applicable to many developing countries.

Accessible technology is the key to MOOCs future.

###

Reference:
[1] Can online classrooms help the developing world catch up? by Adi Robertson http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/11/8014563/bill-gates-education-future-of-online-courses-third-world
[2] Developing government policies for distance education: lessons learnt from two Sri Lankan case studies. Liyanagunawardena, T. R., Adams, A. A., Rassool, N. and Williams, S. A. (2014). International Review of Education. doi: 10.1007/s11159-014-9442-0

Data Visualisation: Gendered Language in Teaching Evaluation

2015-02-14T03:13:00.002+05:30

Are you a student at a university? Do you describe your female professor as annoying, bossy and ugly or your male professors as intelligent, brilliant and awesome?

Before we jump into any conclusion, I have to say that I'm not too happy to share the results in this post. But I'm glad that someone took the time and effort to create this interactive tool.

Created by Ben Schmidt, a history professor at Northeastern University, the 'Gendered Language in Teaching Evaluation' interactive lets you explore the words used to describe male and female teachers in about 14 million reviews from RateMyProfessor.com It allows you enter specific words to see how they correspond with the professor's gender and teaching discipline.

After playing around a bit myself, the data suggests that students tend to think more highly of male professors than females. Schmidt explains further about the interactive here and seems to be quite engaged through comments to discuss further.

###

Physics of Love for Valentine's Day

2015-02-14T02:26:00.000+05:30

It's time again, the romance is oozing from loved ones and singles looking for a date or ignoring the day. For the geeks out there, folks at Symmetry magazine (published by Fermilab and SLAC) created a fun set of physics-themed Valentine's cards for both in-love and out-of-love which ever the hat you are wearing this year.

My favourite from the lot explains, 'if you seek to rekindle (or extinguish) a romance with someone intrigued by the invisible elements of the cosmos, such as the yet-to-be-discovered dark matter, one of these cards might do the trick.'

Head over to Symmetry magazine to check more cards and to print yours. Just make sure that you choose the correct one for your current (or soon-to-be-x) partner.

Happy valentine's day folks! Enjoy wherever you are with whoever you are with (or perfectly fine to let it go as just another day).

###

Will Be Back

2015-02-11T13:56:00.002+05:30

Since I moved to full-time freelance work last year (2014), I haven't been able blog that much. It's a myth that freelancers have more time in hand. When you have a full-time job with proper working hours, you stick to those and do bit more as well. But at the end of the day, you end up having time for other things. When freelancing, your work schedule gets filled around the clock, including weekends.

But after an year, I have learned to organise time management much better. I'll be back to blogging soon, with both astronomy and some personal thoughts as well. Maybe here, maybe somewhere fresh.

--
Thilina

Birthday Wish: Make a Difference!

2013-04-17T20:34:00.002+05:30

As I complete yet another orbit around the Sun, I want to make a special birthday-wish, something that anyone could help with.

According to the World Health Organisation, about 285 million people have some degree of visual impairment. About 39 million are blind, and 246 million are visually impaired. About 90% of them live in developing countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific Regions, and they are 10 times more likely to go blind than those in developed countries.

Now take a step back and think! How can we help the people with vision impairments to enjoy the beauty of the Universe?

To address this much neglected area, under the framework of Universal Design of Learning (UDL), we have created “A Touch of The Universe” project. It aims to build 30 sets of tactile astronomy KITS for children with vision impairments in underdeveloped countries in Americas, Asia and Africa.

How can you help?

The project is partially funded by International Astronomical Union - Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD). But we need more support to complete the project. Please consider making a donation. Your contribution will make a much needed difference.

Make a Difference at http://astrokit.uv.es/donate.html

Cheers!
Thilina

Watch Asteroid 2012 DA14’s Earth Fly-By Live

2013-02-15T16:32:00.002+05:30

A List of Live Webcasts to Watch the Asteroid 2012 DA14’s Earth Fly-By

NASA Television (USA) - With commentary, the live feed will start at 19:00 UTC (UStream link)

Bareket Observatory (Israel) - The observatory will have a live feed of images refreshing every 30 - 60 seconds starting from 19.30 UTC

Virtual Telescope (Italy) - Dr. Gianluca Masi will narrate and answer questions as he shares the minor planet’s motion through the sky beginning at 22:00 UTC

Slooh Space Camera (Canary Islands and Arizona) - Starting from 02:00 UTC (2/16), the webcast will provide views of the asteroid from observatories in the Canary Islands and in Arizona. The event will accompany real-time discussions with Slooh Space Camera’s Paul Cox, astronomer and author Bob Berman, and Prescott Observatory manager, Matt Francis.

NASA JPL (USA) - Near real-time imagery of the asteroid's flyby in Australia and Europe, weather permitting, will be streamed beginning at about 17:00 UTC

NASA MSFC (USA) - Watch a feed of the flyby from a telescope at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama starting at 02:00 UTC (2/16)

The Planetary Society (USA) - Join Planetary Society Director of Projects Bruce Betts and host of Planetary Radio, Mat Kaplan for the web stream starting from 19:50 UTC

GLORIA Project (Europe) - A number of GLORIA telescopes plan to observe the asteroid. Images will be uploaded to the website every ~5 minutes starting from 19:00 UTC

Clay Center Observatory (USA) - Rreal-time high-definition video from the Clay Center Observatory will be available from 23 UTC onwards.

Image courtesy of SLOOH

Watch Live - Total Solar Eclipse, Australia 2012

2012-11-13T00:00:00.000+05:30

Links to several websites that will be streaming the total solar eclipse from Australia on 14 November (local time) are listed below. Totality will begin at 06:35 Australian Eastern Standard Time on 14 November (20:35 UTC on 13 November)

More information about the Total Solar Eclipse visit NASA Eclipse page. If you know more webcasts, please drop me an email in order to add to the below list.

Cairns Solar Eclipse, 2012

The official destination website for the total solar Eclipse over Cairns and Great Barrier Reef will feature Terry Cuttle from the Astronomical Association of Queensland as the host. He will be joined by Kate Russo (eclipse chaser and author), Ben Southall (winner of the 'Best Job in the World' promotion and tourism ambassador), Richard Fitzpatrick (an underwater cameraman, will be live from under water) and Alan Hale (from Hale-Bopp comet who is studying comets close to the Sun which can only be seen during an eclipse).

SLOOH

SLOOH will broadcast a free, real-time feed of the stunning total solar eclipse live from Cairns, Australia. The broadcast team includes Patrick Paolucci, Bob Berman, Lucie Green, Matt Francis and Paul Cox.

2012 Eclipse live from a Cairns Hot Air Balloon

Up to a dozen hot air balloons floating west of Cairns, Queensland Australia, with visitors from 20 different countries will be part of a live webcast of the 2012 total solar eclipse.

Cairns City Eclipse 2012 webcam

Can't make it to Cairns to see the Eclipse? No problem! Just check back on 14 November before 6:39am AEST (GMT+10) to see it live on our webcam.

GLORIA Project

Videos and pictures of the eclipse will be broadcast live on the internet starting at 20:30 UT. Additionally meteorological data will be collected to allow students to perform an interactive experiment. During the broadcast there will be live commentary in Spanish and English.

Live Web Camera from Port Douglas Australia 2012

Images credit: Luc Viatour / fir0002 | flagstaffotos.com.au / Jay Anderson

Another Orbit

2012-04-25T00:49:00.000+05:30

Universe is too wonderful to not to share with anyone, specially with children. Unfortunately many children discover the beauty of the Universe bit too late, or some never get to enjoy it. That's why I fully support Universe Awareness (UNAWE) - a program which put its heart and soul into inspiring every child with our wonderful Universe, regardless of the social status.

As I complete yet another orbit around the Sun, I couldn't have celebrated my birthday better than with children from an orphanage in Sri Lanka, doing astronomy!

Thank you for everyone who sent in wishes and helped with the event, specially my dad and aunt for helping with cooking, and Kavindi (UNAWE-Sri Lanka), Kaminda, Gihantha, Tijitha, and Janith for helping with the activities.

teaching basic astronomy concepts to kids

tour around the Universe

not only kids, but orphanage staff enjoyed the Universe

lunch time

it's wonderful to see how kids visualize the Universe

kids version of the Universe :-)

kids with UNAWE - Sri Lanka

busy with the "Eggnauts" challenge!

teaching kids is such a rewarding experience

"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand"

time to test those "Eggnauts"

it was a wonderful day

This was just a tiny effort to show the beauty of the Universe to children. We all need to play our part, continue our effort to educate the future generations, to help them to discover our Universe , to make the world a better place.

On a closing note, please consider making a donation towards “Astronomy in Timor-Leste: Celebrating the Transit of Venus 2012” (a project of UNAWE) – that’s my “Birthday Wish”.

Birthday Wish: Make it happen!

2012-04-17T23:10:00.012+05:30

As I complete yet another orbit, I'd like to make a birthday wish - something that my friends around the world could help to make it happen!

This year will be the last opportunity in our lifetime to see a Venus Transit. What's a better way to celebrate it than going all the way to Timor-Leste, a country that only recently became fully independent, and organise several educational activities on the occasion of this rare astronomical event.

Above will become a reality thanks to Universe Awareness (UNAWE). A team of UNAWE Student Ambassadors will travel to Timor-Leste for Venus Transit to inspire the children with astronomy, and make them believe that they can be the scientists of the future!

This is where you can help!

UNAWE is looking for financial support to purchase Safe Solar Goggles, Earthballs, Planispheres, Galileoscopes, Solarscopes, and Telescopes which will be used in educational activities in Timor-Leste. Donations can be made little as from few solar goggles to couple of Galileoscopes.

Make it happen!

Please consider making a donation and forwarding my "Birthday Wish" to your friends as well. To make a donation and more info: Astronomy in Timor-Leste: Celebrating the Transit of Venus 2012

Cheers!

Thilina

Stars of Somalia: Tomorrow is late

2011-08-08T11:47:00.006+05:30

People in the Horn of Africa, living under the same sky as we live, are suffering from hunger and drought. Join us on August 13 to help the famine victims of Somalia.

Ever since the ancient times human being has been staring at the stars above, wondering what they are. One of these dazzling stars is the Sun, which is closer than any other star to the Earth. Our Sun has witnessed everything happened on Earth; the formation of life, all creatures, existence of human and his eagerness for knowing and finding more about the Universe. The Sun has been a witness to every crisis on earth; happiness and misery as well as war and peace. But recently the Sun is much more displease than any other time as with every dawn it observes the same old story of poverty and starvation in North Africa; this time even wider and much more tragic. The story of the drought crisis, civil wars, and enforced immigration of Somalis to find a secure place to survive, is a remarkable conflict of men against nature and men against his own race.

Many cultural and scientific organizations and NGOs around the Globe are trying to make peace and invite people to put an end to the battle of men against nature. StarPeace believes that all of us should participate in helping of the victims. According to the news, the situation is critical, and the experts warn us that even a small delay has a great impact: “Tomorrow is Late”. StarPeace invite all the members and cooperators to hold a public stargazing night in their cities and towns on August 13 to organize a fund raising event in order to help the drought victims of Somali. Donation might be inadequate, but it may well be sufficient to provide the victims a meal.

We all hope the innocent Somali children, who are enduring a hard time in refugee camps, will soon spend their nights under the twinkling stars of the Sky without suffering from hunger and fear.

More info:
Stars of Somalia: Tomorrow is late
StarPeace

###

Sources:
Text - StarPeace / Poster - StarPeace / Image - Filipe Moreira

Beauty of the Earth and Sky

2011-05-10T23:31:00.005+05:30

"I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day" ~Vincent Van Gogh

For Global Astronomy Month 2011, we held an astrophotography contest "Earth and Sky" in collaboration with The World at Night. The theme of the contest was "Dark Skies Importance”. The submitted photos were judged in two categories: “Beauty of the Night Sky” and “Against the Lights.” We received many entries from around the world. Below is the winning photos from both categories. Going through them will make you realise that words of Van Gogh's couldn't be more right.

Against the Lights category

The first prize in the Against the Lights category goes to Thomas Kurat for his photo “Alps at Night”. It shows the starry sky above a misty Alpine valley and village lights in Austria.

The second-place winner in the Against the Lights category is Mehdi Momenzadeh from Iran for his panoramic photo “Isfahan Milky Way”.

Third place: “Lisbon Sky Lights” by Miguel Claro from Portugal. The photo shows stars and the crescent moon trail over a landmark bridge in Lisbon dominated by the city’s light pollution.

Fourth place: “Venus above Reunion Island” by Luc Perrot.

Fifth place: “Lights from the Hidden City” by Ben Canales. The photo is taken from mountains near Portland in the United States and displays how the lights from the city illuminate clouds in the night sky.

Beauty of the Night Sky category

The first prize in the Beauty of the Night Sky category goes to Stephane Vetter for his photo “A Starry Night of Iceland” which displays the northern lights and the Milky Way above arctic landscape of Iceland.

“Galactic View from Planet Earth” by Alex Cherney from Australia is the second-place winner in the Beauty of the Night Sky category.

Third place: “Beauty of Southern Sky” by Luc Perrot. The French night sky photographer made this panoramic image from Reunion Island in the southern Indian Ocean.

Fourth place: “The Great Wall at Night” by Xiaohua from China. The photo displays the Milky Way above one of the gates to the Great Wall of China.

Fifth place: “Startrails above an Alien Lake” by Grant Kaye. The image shows startrails around the north celestial pole as captured from the bizarre looking structures at shores Mono Lake in California.

Credit: Images and content courtesy of TWAN. Original source: Earth and Sky photo contest.

Help SETI, Help You!

2011-05-03T01:07:00.010+05:30

The recent funding cutback on Allen Telescope Array is quite disappointing, but it’s more disappointing to see people questioning why we should spend so much money on keeping such science alive.

Here’s late Carl Sagan in his own words saying why we should.

To view this is a graphical perspective, John at μcosmologist put together a very nice infograph showing how much we spend on other things compared to the cost to run SETI for a year ($2.5 million).

Below is a part of the infograph. Full version is here. (Many thanks to John for putting this together.)

After watching the video above and the infograph below, if you think you can spare some dollars to help to SETI to get back on track, head to SETI website to donate. The science SETI does is for everyone, for the people. So...

Help SETI, Help You!

Image credit: John at μcosmologist

Pass it on when you're done with it

2011-04-21T19:15:00.004+05:30

Another orbit around the Sol concluded on April 18 and another is unfolding. It was an interesting year with many developments, both personally and professionally.

I'm pretty overwhelmed with all the birthday wishes from friends around the world. I want to "Thank You" each and everyone who sent greetings.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to do what I did last year for the birthday, because the kids were busy with a New Year program. But after seeing this moving campaign video done for Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society, I decided to donate my eyes on the morning of my birthday.

Hopefully, someone will get use of my eyes, when I'm done with it.

6th worldwide GLOBE at Night 2011 campaign

2011-02-20T09:41:00.006+05:30

Less of Our Light for More Star Light
- Join the 6th worldwide GLOBE at Night 2011 campaign: Feb. 21 - March 6

With half of the world’s population now living in cities, many urban dwellers have never experienced the wonderment of pristinely dark skies and maybe never will. This loss, caused by light pollution, is a concern on many fronts: safety, energy conservation, cost, health and effects on wildlife, as well as our ability to view the stars. Even though light pollution is a serious and growing global concern, it is one of the easiest environmental problems you can address on local levels.

Participation in the international star-hunting campaign, GLOBE at Night, helps to address the light pollution issue locally as well as globally. This year, 2 sets of campaigns are being offered. For the first campaign from February 21 through March 6, 2011, everyone all over the world is invited to record the brightness of the night sky. The second campaign runs from March 22 through April 4 in the Northern Hemisphere and March 24 through April 6 in the Southern Hemisphere. The campaign is easy and fun to do. First, you match the appearance of the constellation Orion in the first campaign (and Leo or Crux in the second campaign) with simple star maps of progressively fainter stars found. Then you submit your measurements, including the date, time, and location of your comparison. After all the campaign’s observations are submitted, the project’s organizers release a map of light-pollution levels worldwide. Over the last five annual 2-week campaigns, volunteers from more than 100 nations contributed 52,000 measurements, one third of which came from last year’s campaign.

To learn the five easy steps to participate in the GLOBE at Night program, see the GLOBE at Night website. You can listen to last year’s 10-minute audio podcast on light pollution and GLOBE at Night. Or download a 45-minute powerpoint and accompanying audio. GLOBE at Night is also on Facebook and Twitter.

The big news is that children and adults can submit their measurements in real time if they have a smart phone or tablet. To do this, you can use the web application. With smart phones and tablets, the location, date and time are put in automatically. And if you do not have a smart phone or tablet, there are user-friendly tools on the GLOBE at Night report page to find latitude and longitude.

For activities that have children explore what light pollution is, what its effects are on wildlife and how to prepare for participating in the GLOBE at Night campaign, see the Dark Skies Rangers activities. Monitoring our environment will allow us as citizen-scientists to identify and preserve the dark sky oases in cities and locate areas where light pollution is increasing. All it takes is a few minutes during the 2011 campaign to measure sky brightness and contribute those observations on-line. Help us exceed the 17,800 observations contributed last year. Your measurements will make a world of difference.

Resources:
- GLOBE at Night website.
- Follow GaN on Twitter (use #lightpollution and #darkskies to Tweet).
- Join GaN on Facebook.
- Star Maps for GaN campaign.
- Submitting Measurements.
- Web App for Reporting.
- Audio Podcast on GaN.
- Powerpoint presentation on GaN.
- Accompanying Audio for the Powerpoint presentation.
- Dark Skies Activities.

RIP Mimi Burbank - a wonderful person

2010-11-30T18:08:00.008+05:30

Mimi and one of her favorite activities - playing with the kids !

It is with great sadness I share with you that my good friend and a good supporter of Astro Book Drive, Mimi Burbank passed away on 28th of November 2010, just few days after her 69th birthday.

Few months back my friend, Larry Klaes introduced me to Mimi and suggested that she could use some help via my project - Astro Book Drive, which works on getting astronomy reading materials to groups in developing countries. Ever since the introduction, Mimi and I have been good friends and in regular contact, we have never spoken via phone or met in person. It was always via email and Facebook. I dearly regret that I missed two opportunities saying hello to her on Skype.

Even though it was only been few months since I got to know Mimi, I learned that she's genuinely caring person about life in Uganda and tried everything in her capacity to improve it. I was always amazed at the strength she had.

We were discussing ways of improving Astronomy in Uganda and how I could help them to get some materials. She went to meet Dr. Simon Anguma and Dr. Edward Jurua at Mbarara University to discuss these further and explored the idea of setting up an Astronomical Society for Uganda and how Astro Book Drive could help them. As a result Simon and Edward took forward the idea of setting up the society. Mimi and I decided it was best to start the book drive in January 2011.

Though she's not with us anymore, the book drive for Uganda will continue as planned and it will be dedicated to Mimi - a wonderful person, may she rest in peace.

Ask an Astronomer

2010-11-27T13:09:00.009+05:30

It's not usual to have professional astronomers visiting Sri Lanka, in fact the number of Sri Lankan Professional Astronomers are probably less than a dozen and most of them resides abroad except Prof. Kavan Ratnatunga, a retired research astronomer who's settled in Colombo enjoying his hobbies and serving as the President of Sri Lankan Astronomical Association. Of course whenever any of our astronomers visit Sri Lanka for holiday, I never miss the opportunity to get hold of them and organize events locally. It's not everyday you meet an astronomer, and students find it fascinating to meet and discuss astronomy with a "real" astronomer.

Other than the Sri Lankan astronomers, we have been visited time to time over the years by a foreign astronomer - Michael Snowden - who's very fond of Sri Lanka, and a long term friend of late Sir Arthur C Clarke. I met Micahel through Prof. Kavan in 2005 and ever since we have been good friends and done quite a few programs together. In his last visit in March 2010, I organized a discussion session called "Ask an Astronomer" for few high school students which turned out to be very well received. The objective of the session was to gather couple of students who are serious about pursuing higher studies in Astronomy and give them an opportunity to interact with an astronomer directly, learning, raising their questions, sharing their views...

Michael returned last month again, and as usual I organized couple of events with him. We managed to do another session on "Ask an Astronomer" with 6 high school students. The discussion started with Michael talking about Exoplanets - a much discussed topic these days and then the students got the opportunity to join the discussion raising questions and talking various aspects of Astronomy. Also another important subject discussed during the session was higher education in Astronomy! Each student talked about their field of interest in astronomy and was advised how they can achieve it, what are the available options, etc... Overall the session went well clearing some doubts, sharing more knowledge and most of all inspiring them to continue the path to higher education in Astronomy.

This was a much needed session as Sri Lanka currently is in a critical place as there are only 2 students doing higher studies in Astronomy or related fields. Although the interest in astronomy among students is high, many hesitant to continue that enthusiasm to do higher studies mainly due to lack of guidance, financial support, less awareness of opportunities, etc... Via Sri Lanka Astronomical Association, we hope to hold more of these sessions to help the students and encourage them to pursuit their dream.

The session was also a part of "ET are you out there - Voyager Campaign" and was held on the 30 October 2010 at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo.

Michael Snowden with students.

John Dobson webcast videos available!

2010-11-27T06:51:00.005+05:30

John Dobson

Perhaps no name is better known in the global community of astronomy enthusiasts than that of John Dobson, popularizer of the widely-used Dobsonian telescope design that now bears his name. Now age 95, he has had a lifetime of outreach and activism. His determination to bring astronomy to the people was a driving force behind the creation of the sidewalk astronomy movement.

Dobson, who paved the way for astronomy outreach beyond professional facilities, was interviewed in the first episode of a new series of webcasts, "Living Legend Series" - a project of Astronomers Without Borders - on Saturday, November 13, 2010.

Watch the 5-part webcast videos:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Astronomers Without Borders' Events for December 2010

2010-11-24T07:55:00.006+05:30

To keep you busy in the coming month - December 2010, Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) has organized two great events.

Event: Cosmic Treasures: Online Observing Event with Virtual Telescope
Date: December 9
Time: 22:00 UT
URL: http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/projects/online-observing/495.html

Cosmic Treasures is an online event giving you a unique opportunity of experiencing Universe through the Virtual Telescope at Bellatrix Observatory in Italy. You will be able to see beautiful cosmic treasures of the Universe such as galaxies, nebulae and clusters of stars in real time, with live commentary by astrophysicist Dr. Gianluca Masi.
This is a free event and open to anyone. You can also chat with others online during the event, interact with the Dr. Masi in real time, or just watch and listen while exploring the Universe. Experience One People, One Sky as we share the sky together.

Event: Seasons without Borders 4
Date: December 21
URL: http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/projects/seasons-without-borders/488.html

When the Northern Hemisphere will experience their “shortest” day while the Southern Hemisphere will celebrate their “longest” day of the year, AWB invites astronomy groups around the world to join in with the 4th Seasons Without Borders event to celebrate solstice which will occur on December 21st, 2010, officially at 23:38 UTC.

Join with AWB in December to explore the beauty of Universe and enjoy the feeling of One Sky One People.

Follow AWB on Twitter and join the Facebook page and group.

Save the Dates: April 2011 is Global Astronomy Month

2010-11-23T16:46:00.010+05:30

April 2011 will again be a busy month for amateur and professional astronomers, educators and astronomy enthusiasts as Global Astronomy Month (GAM) returns for its second edition. The annual event, organized by Astronomers Without Borders, celebrates the Universe in the spirit of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 cornerstone project "100 Hours of Astronomy."

Astronomy clubs, science centers, schools, educators, and other astronomy enthusiasts worldwide are invited to reserve dates in April 2011 for public outreach, hands-on activities, observing sessions and more while sharing the enthusiasm with others across the globe during Global Astronomy Month. Everyone is invited either to join the global programs or initiate their own activities during April 2011.

This is the second edition of GAM, after its launch last year, when Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) coordinated seven global events dedicated to remote observing, fighting light pollution, world peace, observations of the sky and cultural manifestations, as well as encouraging the organization of local events.

GAM2010 Trailer

A growing list of global programs are scheduled for GAM 2011. The month kicks off with the lord of the rings on April 2/3, designated as Saturn Watch. With the planet at its closest to Earth, it's a perfect night to admire the unequaled beauty of the ringed planet. On April 9 the Global Star Party will unfold as darkness sweeps around the Earth. This is the night to set up your telescopes and share the wonders of the sky with others. From April 10 to 16 it's Lunar Week as our gaze turns toward Earth's natural satellite. Just as the Moon has captured our imagination for millennia, it never fails to fascinate with close-up views of its craters and mare. Educational and cultural events dedicated to the Moon are also planned. On April 17 we switch from night to day, dedicating ourselves to our closest star on SunDay. The month closes on a high point with a peak - of meteors. On April 21/22 get comfortable in something warm and spend the night scanning the sky for meteors caused by debris left behind by Comet Thatcher. An incredible show awaits during Lyrids Watch.

More programs are to come as GAM grows with every group of people that joins us in the celebration of the Universe. Among these are Remote Observing Programs and a Cosmic Concert.

If you need another reason to join us during Global Astronomy Month, try these:

* GAM lets your science center or astronomy club participate in an internationally recognized project;
* GAM provides several events to attract visitors to your institution or astronomy club;
* GAM allows you to connect with your local community, including public authorities and the media;
* GAM gives you the chance to inspire young people to look up and wonder. Show your commitment to educating young people.

"There's something for everyone", says Mike Simmons, President of Astronomers Without Borders. IYA2009 showed the way to involving more people than ever," and GAM is riding that wave of excitement in the discovery of our Universe."

Join the celebration in April 2011 as Global Astronomy Month brings together thousands of passionate individuals and hundreds of organizations worldwide to share their enthusiasm in innovative new ways, connecting people through a great sense of sharing the Universe! It's a month of celebrating Astronomers Without Borders' motto - One People, One Sky!

Save the dates - April 2011 is Global Astronomy Month.

####

More information:

* Website: http://www.gam-awb.org
* Twitter: http://twitter.com/GAM_AWB
* Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Global-Astronomy-Month-2011/139709899412771

Astronomers Without Borders

Astronomers Without Borders is dedicated to fostering understanding and goodwill across national and cultural boundaries by creating relationships through the universal appeal of astronomy. Astronomers Without Borders projects promote sharing, all through a common interest in something basic and universal - sharing the sky.

For further information please contact:

Mike Simmons
President, Astronomers Without Borders
Chair, GAM2011 Working Group
mikes@gam-awb.org
+1 818 486 7633

Thilina Heenatigala
GAM2011 Coordinator
thilina@gam-awb.org
+94 716 245 545

Oana Sandu
GAM2011 Public Relations Coordinator
oana@gam-awb.org
+40 724 024 625

Webcast of Briefing on Discovery of First Habitable Exoplanet

2010-09-30T04:44:00.005+05:30

The planetary orbits of the Gliese 581 system compared to those of our
own solar system. Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation.

Steven Vogt and Paul Butler lead a team that discovered the first potentially inhabitable exoplanet.

Steven Vogt of UC Santa Cruz and UC Observatories and Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington join NSF's Lisa-Joy Zgorski to announce the discovery of the first exoplanet that has the potential to support life.

Credit: National Science Foundation

More info:
"The Lick-Carnegie Exoplanet Survey: A 3.1M⊕ Planet in the Habitable Zone of the Nearby M3V Star Glie" (pdf) - full paper published on APJ
Newly discovered planet may be first truly habitable exoplanet - University of California - Santa Cruz
Earth-Like Planet Can Sustain Life - Discovery News
What is an exoplanet?

Wish John Dobson a happy 95

2010-08-02T22:26:00.011+05:30

John Dobson

John Dobson is arguably one the most influential personalities in amateur astronomy in the last couple of decades. He has almost single-handedly revolutionized backyard astronomy by bringing it out to the street, making it possible for everyone to enjoy the beauty of the Universe!

As an amateur astronomer his contributions to the world of amateur astronomy are immense. He is most notable for being the promoter of a design for large, portable, low-cost Newtonian reflecting telescopes that bears his name, the Dobsonian telescope - a telescope that brought amateur astronomy to a whole new level.

On September 14 2010, John is turning 95 and here's your chance to send birthday wishes to him!

How to send the birthday messages:
1) Email your message to wishdobson95@gmail.com.
2) Leave your message as a comment to this article.

Make sure to include your name and location (city, country)

Do you have any photos taken with John Dobson? We would like to make a community album for him as well. Email your photos to wishdobson95@gmail.com please include: when and where was the photo taken.

The birthday wishes will be put together by Thilina Heenatigala (Astronomers Without Borders) and these will be presented to John Dobson by Donna Smith (Sidewalk Astronomers).

Let's get together and wish John Dobson many more healthy orbits around the Sun!

John Dobson in January 2010

Some links:
A Brief Biography of John Dobson
Articles by John Dobson
Articles About John Dobson
Official John Dobson page on Facebook

A Sidewalk Astronomer - a DVD featuring John Dobson
The Moon is New - science fiction book by John Dobson
John Dobson's 90th Birthday - a commemorative Book
Beyond Space and Time - book by John Dobson

Image credit: Louisville Astronomical Society.

Report: "A Match Under Starlight"

2010-07-28T00:10:00.005+05:30

Beginning of July 2010 concluded one of the most exciting sporting event - FIFA2010. While many football fans around the world celebrated the victories and the losing, Astronomers Without Border's National Coordinator for Iraq - Azhy Hasan came up with the idea to celebrate the World Cup with a touch of astronomy and peace - "A Match Under Starlight".

Amateur Astronomers Association of Kurdistan celebrated the event by gathering a youth group to play a football match which was followed by an observation session. Players enjoyed beautiful views of Saturn and medals for participating in the match. Azhy who organized this event took the extra effort to show the unity of other AWB member countries by displaying the national flags and playing the national anthems. You can see some unforgettable photos and a video of the event here.

Group from Iraq says "YES TO PEACE"

This wonderful event was also celebrated by UNAWE - Romania. With the collaboration of “Angela Gheorghiu” School from Adjud, Vrancea, UNAWE Romania, organized a football game with 23 children aged between 5 and 9. All the children were awarded with a "Stellar Football Player" diploma for their enthusiasm and spirit. You can see this wonderful effort in a report with photos put together by Catalina Movileanu of UNAWE - Romania here.

kids with national flags pinned to shirts playing football

Another event to celebrate the project was organized by “Rudolf Walter” foundation – Timisoara branch, the Astronomical Observatory of Timisoara, and the “Antares” astro-club of Timisoara. Kids at the “Rudolf Walther” foundation (a model institution where disadvantaged kids are educated and cared for) got to play football which was followed by 3-D projections and captivating talks. The kids got a special treat as well, Andrei Juravle – owner of astrovest.ro – donated a telescope. You can read a report of this event with photos put together by Virgiliu Pop of Romanian Space Agency here.

Virgiliu Pop kicking off the match

Many thanks to everyone who participated in this wonderful project highlighting world peace and the joy of togetherness. We hope you will join us in future events.

Credit: The beautiful poster of the project was designed by Azhy Hasan.

Totality and Victory

2010-07-12T07:44:00.020+05:30

Total Solar Eclipse of 11 July 2010

FIFA 2010 World Champions - Spain

Above two images definitely sums up everything happened yesterday - Sunday 11 July 2010 - and it was one of those days you completely rely on technology and be thankful about it. Being able to watch two amazing events, FIFA 2010 Finals and the Total Solar Eclipse via internet simultaneously and share it with others was a great experience.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth, blocking its rays and casting a shadow. The eclipse took place on the 11 July 2010 followed an 11,000km (6.900-mile) path over the South Pacific. The longest time of eclipse - five minutes and 20 seconds - was over the sea.

It's reported that some 5000 astronomers were spread out across the atolls of French Polynesia catch this spectacular solar eclipse. And few among this group took the extra effort to web-stream the Eclipse online for the rest of the world to watch!

As an effort to expand their outreach, I contacted few eclipse chasers, researched more and compiled a list of web-streams to one place, so everyone can easily access. This effort was publicized via Facebook, Twitter and other email groups. Should note that many of my twitter and facebook friends did a great job by sharing it with more people.

The first live web stream came via a group from Wakayama University at Hao (French Polynesia). Below are some screen captures from their web stream.

Few minutes into the Totality it got clouded and Wakayama web-stream went off line. Then a group called Shelios started a web-stream. Below are some screen captures from their web-stream.

During the 5-hour event, sky watchers spent as much as 4 minutes completely enveloped in the Moon's shadow watching in awe as the solar corona revealed itself to the human eye.

As soon as the eclipse ended, photos started pouring in, and it was a well treat for everyone. Below are some of the best images available up to now ( 5:30UT 12 July 2010). Enjoy!

Photo by Donald Gardner (Atoll de Hao, French Polynesia)

Photo by Constantinos Emmanouilidis (Mangaia, Cook Islands)

Photo by AFP (Martin Bernetti)

Photo by Bill Kramer (Paul Gauguin - South of Tahiti)

Photo by Alson Wong (Paul Gauguin - South of Tahiti)

Photo by Stefan Krause from El Calafate-Argentina

Shelios expedition crew after the Eclipse and celebrating the Spain victory

It was a fantastic Sunday with the Total Solar Eclipse and the FIFA 2010 finals. If you missed the eclipse live feed, check the below video complied by Reuters.

First video from Reuters

Image: above images are copyrighted by the respective photographer.

Blind Date With An Asteroid

2010-07-11T04:34:00.008+05:30

Asteroid Lutetia, seen from Rosetta's OSIRIS imaging system.
(click on the image for a High-Res)

We know how blind dates are, always not sure of what to expect! This was how exactly felt by ESA scientists and rest of the world watching the live web cast of ESA's Rosetta spacecraft's flyby of 21 Lutetia; the largest asteroid ever to visited by a satellite.

After weeks of maneuvers and optical observations, Rosetta is perfectly lined up to skim by the asteroid only 3,162 km (2,000 miles) away. ESA hosted a live web cast at 16:00 GMT on July 10 which was followed by many around the world.

I managed to watch the live web feed while Tweeting (@ThilinaH) and sharing updates on Facebook as well. It was a great experience and below are some stunning images of the Asteroid Lutetia.

At a distance of 36000km the OSIRIS Narrow Angle Camera (NAC)
took this image catching the planet Saturn in the background.
(click on the image for a High-Res)

Approach images of Asteroid Lutetia. The first image was
taken at 06:18 (about 9.5 hours before closest approach,
510000 kms from the asteroid), the last one at 14:15 (about
1.5 hours before closest approach, 81000 km from the asteroid.).
The resolution changes from 9.6 km/px to 1.5 km/px.
(click on the image for a High-Res)

an animation of the approach
(click on the image for a High-Res)

Zoom in on a possible landslide and boulders at the highest resolution.
(click on the image for a High-Res)

Rosetta took multiple images of asteroid Lutetia during the fly-by.
Shown here is the final sequence of images before closest approach
(CA): CA-8, CA-4:40, CA-2, CA-1:50.
(click on the image for a High-Res)

Farewell Lutetia.

(click on the image for a High-Res)

Rosetta will continue on to its primary target, comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It will rendezvous with the comet in 2014 and accompany the comet for months, mapping it and studying it. Then in November 2014, Rosetta will deploy Philae to land on the comet nucleus.

Rosetta's route through the inner Solar System.

Rosetta orbiting the comet with Philae in view in this artist's impression.

Until then the ESA scientists will spend time getting to know this newly found friend (then stranger), analyzing data.

You can watch the replay of the web cast at: http://bit.ly/liverosetta

Credit: ESA 2010 - MPS for OSIRIS Team, MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA. Astrium.