Vojtech Rušin’s Summary:
Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (Tatranska Lomnica, Slovakia) with the cooperation of the Slovak Astronomical Society, planetaria and public observatories will provide public outreach as follows:
1/ “Meetings with universe” (lectures, posters, postcards, teacher’s seminar – October 4-6,2007 at Tatranska Lomnica, brochure, open doors at all observational sites – Tatranska Lomnica nad high mountains observatories at Skalnate Pleso and Lomnicky stit, etc.);
2/ “Olympiad in Astronomy for Scholars” (two categories: 11-14 and/or 15-18);
3/ “Astronomy – science for teachers and students”. Projects are for 3 years (2007-2009).
Many other local meetings, lectures, etc. will be provided by public observatories (about 11) and planetaria (total 6 in Slovakia).
Summary on the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) by Ed de Mulder and Werner Janoschek
Ed de Mulder's Summary
The IYPE launch will be on 12 and 13 February 2008 in Paris.
In my short intervention in the Outreach and Education meeting I informed the audience on:
1. the close cooperation between the 4 science years, including the IYPE-IHY relation
2. the fact that we have 35 National IYPE Committees in place and expect to have 20 more soon.
3. some of these committees are for all four years, for example the one for India. They will have a 18-wagon train crossing the country with exhibitions for a 2-year period
4. the Top Conference cum official launch of the IYPE in February 2008 at UNESCO HQ
5. the presence of IYPE at AGU in Acapulco and the possibilities for joint education, science and outreach projects, perhaps through GEOSS
6. the IYPE presence at IUGG General Assembly in Perugia, where we will participate in the I*Y event on the 7th of July.
Werner Janoschek's Summary
"The International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly for the year 2008, but there will be a 3 years time span, starting with the beginning of 2007 and ending with the end of the year 2009. This time span should give enough possibilities to perform scientific projects which should be in accordance with 10 “Sciences Themes” and which should be proposed bottom up. The three years should also give enough time to complete a comprehensive outreach and education program. The IYPE is based on 2 main tracks: The international one which basically should coordinate projects, programs and activities on a regional, continental and global scale, and the national one which should be based on national committees for the IYPE. So far 35 (since yesterday 36, including the Slovak Republic) national committees were established and operating, in 20 more countries national committees should be established soon and many other countries are considering to create a national committee. Launching the IYPE on national level took already place in India (3/4 January 2007), in London and in Brazil, other countries are preparing launching events. The official opening of the UN year will take place on 12 and 13 February 2008 at UNESCO Paris. Various Earth Science Congresses chose the IYPE as their leading topic, the culmination of the IYPE should be at the 33rd International Geological Congress, 6 – 14 August 2008, Oslo, Norway. Agreements with the other science years IHY, IPY and eGY will provide a better public outreach and will avoid any rivalry between the years. For more information please visit www.yearofplanetearth.org or contact Ed de Mulder [e.demulder@planet.nl] or Werner Janoschek [janwer@pdg.at]."
Helmut O. Rucker's Summary
Austrian Contributions to IHY 2007 Public Outreach
(as of Feb 28, 2007)
Open Day June 10, 2007:
Efforts will be undertaken to establish a series of activities in observatories (e.g. Lustbuehel Observatory Graz, Sun Observatory Kanzelhoehe), in specific institutes (e.g. Space Research Institute Graz), in planetaria (e.g. Vienna, Judenburg), in museums (e.g. House of Nature, Salzburg), and in specific colleges in Austria, to provide public lectures on the IHY 2007, including space weather, sun-Earth relationship, and recent achievements of related space science.
Two series of presentations will be given to the public in which the aspect of the International Heliophysical Year 2007 will be addressed:
50th Anniversary of Spaceflight:
June 17, 2007, Planetarium Vienna:
H.O. Rucker: The Planets under Fire of the Sun: The International Heliophysical Year 2007
The Solar System through the Ages:
Nov 13, 2007, Graz University of Technology:
H.O. Rucker: The Outer Planets and IHY
Fall 2007: Public Documentation on Space Weather, Graz (details follow)
Bernd Heber's Summary
Bernd Heber
Institut für Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik
Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel
Leibnizstraße 11
24118 Kiel
About a new exhibition « Das Reich der Sonne: Heimat der Menschheit »
“From the Sun towards the Earth and beyond”
A group of scientists from Germany, Horst Fichtner, Bernd Heber, Berndt
Klecker, Klaus Scherer, Ole-Ammon Staack, and Alexander Warmuth, with
the help from Eduard Thomas (Mediendom, Kiel) and the artist Indira
Heber-Novkinic have developed an exhibition in the frame of the
International Heliophysical Year recognized by the United Nations. The
exhibition is supported by the Heraeus Stiftung, European Space Agency
and the Copernicus group, and has been developed in German. It will
travel to the computer fair CEBIT and planetaria in Germany, and
Austria. The exhibition consists of 26 panels, 3D modules of the Sun,
the Ulysses trajectory, and miniature models of the satellite HELIOS,
SOHO, Ulysses, and CHAMP. It has interactive elements with movies
presented at different stations.
More details are on the web site http://www.ihy.de in German. Within the
next month all panels will be available in different formats and can be
used for any non commercial purposes.
Frank Janßen from the University of Greifswald has organized a teacher’s
conference on the topic space weather in Feb. 2007. Four IGY gold club
members have been honoured.
Events in the Pauliner Kirche in Göttingen are organized by the
Max-Planck-Institute for Sonnensystemforschung and the University of
Göttingen. From April to June the MPS organizes public lectures and an
exhibition “Our Sun – the Fire of Life”
The open door day has been recognized in Germany and several
institutions will organize public talks. For details see
http://www.ihy2007.de
Deborah Scherrer's Summary
Deborah Scherrer
HEPL Solar Physics
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305
USA
Stanford Solar Center - Diretor
Space Weather Monitors - Project Lead
Education and Outreach Advisory Committee for the United States - Chair
Space Weather Monitors
Stanford's Solar Center in conjunction with
the Space, Telecommunications and Radioscience Laboratory and local
educators have developed inexpensive Space Weather Monitor instruments
that students around the world can use to track and study changes
to the ionosphere caused by intense X-ray and ultraviolet
radiation released by the Sun during solar events and by lightning
during thunderstorms. There are 2 versions of the monitor -- one
extremely sensitive and broad-band, for use in universities and
research programs. The other version is less sophisticated, less expensive,
and targeted to high-school-age students and their teachers.
Through the United Nations Basic Space Science Initiative (UNBSSI)
and the IHY Education and Public Outreach Program, our monitors are
being deployed to high schools and universities in up to 192 countries.
Our project directly supports the IHY by developing global understanding
of the response of the terrestrial atmosphere and magnetosphere to
terrestrial
and extraterrestrial drivers. Through our educational component, we hope
to inspire the next generation of space and Earth scientists and spread
the knowledge of our solar system and the exciting process of scientific
exploration to the people of the world!
25 research-quality monitors will be placed in universities and at least
140 less-sensitive student-targeted monitors distributed to high schools
around the world. Data collected by Stanford in connection with these
IHY sites
will be made available in a centralized database and freely accessible
by all.
Supporting classroom materials, jointly developed with the Chabot
Space & Science Center, will be distributed along with the materials.
We also make available a training exercize to teach students to
read their data and a selection of research suggestions for
further study. The project includes student access to Scientist Mentors
and translation of materials for IHY distribution.
Monitors are being provided free of charge to developing nations
and can be set up anywhere there is access to power.
