European Association for Astronomy Education

As we announced on July 1st, the this year's edition of "Catch a Star" is now open and School students around the world are invited to take part in the 2020 Catch a Star astronomy writing contest.

To participate, students should submit a written report on an astronomical topic of their choice — for example, an astronomical object, phenomenon, observation, scientific problem or theory. Reports must be written in English and be no more than 5000 words in length. They may be undertaken by groups of up to three students, plus a group leader who is not a student.

Each submission must be emailed as a PDF file to astro.edu@gmail.com. The deadline for all entries is 23 December 2020.

The five winners will each receive a mounted image of a fascinating astronomical object, courtesy of ESO. In addition, winner teams will also have the chance to hold a video conference with a professional astronomer.

Catch a Star is organised jointly by the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE) and ESO. Its aim is to encourage creativity and independent work amongst students, and to strengthen and expand their astronomical knowledge and skills.

Find out more about the competition on the Catch a Star website.

Links

• Catch a Star 2020

This ethereal remnant of a long dead star, nestled in the belly of The Whale, bears an uneasy resemblance to a skull floating through space. Captured in astounding detail by ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), the eerie Skull Nebula is showcased in this new image in beautiful bloodshot colours. This planetary nebula is the first known to be associated with a pair of closely bound stars orbited by a third outer star. (read more)

School students around the world are invited to take part in the 2020 Catch a Star astronomy writing contest.

To participate, students should submit a written report on an astronomical topic of their choice — for example, an astronomical object, phenomenon, observation, scientific problem or theory. Reports must be written in English and be no more than 5000 words in length. They may be undertaken by groups of up to three students, plus a group leader who is not a student.

Each submission must be emailed as a PDF file to astro.edu@gmail.com. The deadline for all entries is 23 December 2020.

The five winners will each receive a mounted image of a fascinating astronomical object, courtesy of ESO. In addition, winner teams will also have the chance to hold a video conference with a professional astronomer.

Catch a Star is organised jointly by the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE) and ESO. Its aim is to encourage creativity and independent work amongst students, and to strengthen and expand their astronomical knowledge and skills.

Find out more about the competition on the Catch a Star website.

Links

• Catch a Star 2020

Source : ESA

Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May has teamed up with asteroid researchers to investigate striking similarities and a puzzling difference between separate bodies explored by space probes. The research team ran a supercomputer-based ‘fight club’ involving simulated large asteroid collisions to probe the objects’ likely origins. Their work is reported in Nature Communications.  

Source: eso2009 — Science Release

Astronomers using European Southern Observatory (ESO) telescopes have discovered giant spots on the surface of extremely hot stars hidden in stellar clusters. Not only are these stars plagued by magnetic spots, some also experience superflare events, explosions of energy several million times more energetic than similar eruptions on the Sun. The findings, published today in Nature Astronomy, help astronomers better understand these puzzling stars and open doors to resolving other elusive mysteries of stellar astronomy.

School students around the world are invited to take part in the 2019 Catch a Star astronomy writing contest.

To participate, students should submit a written report on an astronomical topic of their choice — for example, an astronomical object, phenomenon, observation, scientific problem or theory. Reports must be written in English and be no more than 5000 words in length. They may be undertaken by groups of up to three students, plus a group leader who is not a student.

Each submission must be emailed as a PDF file to astro.edu@gmail.com. The deadline for all entries is 30 December 2019.

The five winners will each receive a mounted image of a fascinating astronomical object, courtesy of ESO. In addition, winner teams will also have the chance to hold a video conference with a professional astronomer.

Catch a Star is organised jointly by the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE) and ESO. Its aim is to encourage creativity and independent work amongst students, and to strengthen and expand their astronomical knowledge and skills.

Find out more about the competition on the Catch a Star website.

Links

• Catch a Star 2019

At a time when some delusional people, some with major responsabilities, continue to deny human major role on climate changes, Europe peaks to temperatures never known before since the beginning of temperature records. Learn more about this situation at ESA.

Video credits: Channel 4 News

Mankind celebrates the 50th aniversary of the first landing of men on the Moon. On July 20th, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins concluded an adventure that had started seven years earlier when John Fitzgerald Kennedy stated at Rice University "We choose to go to the Moon...We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too."

Neil Armstrongs last sentence before he stepped down on lunar soil are as valid today as they were 50 years ago: "It's a small step for a man, but a giant leap for mankind".

School students from around the world are invited to take part in the 2018 Catch a Star contest. This is a European astronomical writing contest, with some prizes that will leave students starry-eyed!

To participate, students should submit a written report on an astronomical topic of their own choice — for example, an astronomical object, phenomenon, observation, scientific problem or theory. Reports must be written in English and be no more than 5000 words in length. Contestants may work in groups of up to three students, plus a group leader who is not a student.

The idea of the Catch a Star program is to encourage students to work together, to learn about astronomy and discover things for themselves by researching information on an astronomical object.

Each submission must be emailed as a PDF file to astro.edu@gmail.com. The deadline for all entries is 17:00 CET on December 14th, 2018.

There will be five lucky winners chosen in the Main Category that will have prizes like mounted pictures, video conference with a professional astronomer, and more.

Also a Special category has been created for students up to 15 years old. This category will also have Winner and Runner-Up prizes each of which will receive prizes like the main category.

The goal of the European Astronomy Contest Catch a Star is to stimulate the creativity and independent work of students from European secondary schools, to strengthen and expand their astronomical knowledge and skills, and to help the spread of information technologies in the educational process.

Catch a Star is a contest that has been held as a result of the collaboration between the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE) and European Southern Observatory (ESO).

Alice Antonelli, who won the first place in the Explorers Category of the 2016 Odysseus Contest, in parallel with her studies on Aerospace Engineering at the University of Pisa is actively mobilizing young pupils’ and students’ interest on space science. Alice who is European Youth Space Ambassador for 2016-2017 has been already invited by schools in Tuscany and in Rome to share her experiences from the contest and to talk to students about space science challenges.

Source: Chandra Space Telescope

VLA J2130+12.
Image credits:X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Alberta/B.Tetarenko et al;
Optical: NASA/STScI; Radio: NSF/AUI/NRAO/Curtin Univ./J. Miller-Jones.

Astronomers have identified the true nature of an unusual source in the Milky Way galaxy. As described in our latest press release, this discovery implies that there could be a much larger number of black holes in the Galaxy that have previously been unaccounted for.

The result was made by combining data from many different telescopes that detect various forms of light, each providing key pieces of information. These telescopes included NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, NSF's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), Green Bank Telescope, Arecibo Observatory, and the European Very Long Baseline Interferometry Network. (learn more)

Space Art Contest 2016 is still open and teachers can present their students works june 15th 2016 which means today is the last day for submissions.

Space Art is a project that aims to stimulate very young students (6 to 12 years old) to discover the universe and its beauty. Art is a perfect way to achieve this.

Students should make an image (picture, drawing or painting) and submit it at Space Art's website.

The goal of the European Astronomy Contest Space Art is to stimulate the creativity and independent work of students from European secondary schools, to strengthen and expand their astronomical knowledge and skills, and to help the spread of information technologies in the educational process.

The idea of the Space Art program is to encourage very young students to imagine about the Universe, to learn about astronomy and discover things for themselves by researching information on an astronomical object.

They just have to look for it in the sky, books or the internet and then draw it or make a picture of it using photography or combined techniques.

Space Art is organised jointly by the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE) and Universe Awareness (UNAWE). Its aim is to encourage creativity and independent work amongst young students, and to strengthen and expand their astronomical knowledge and creativity. (learn more)

Space Art Contest 2016 is  open and teachers can present their students works until june 15th 2016, so you only have two more weeks to submit your students' works.

Space Art is a project that aims to stimulate very young students (6 to 12 years old) to discover the universe and its beauty. Art is a perfect way to achieve this.

Students should make an image (picture, drawing or painting) and submit it at Space Art's website.

The goal of the European Astronomy Contest Space Art  is to stimulate the creativity and independent work of students from European secondary schools, to strengthen and expand their astronomical knowledge and skills, and to help the spread of information technologies in the educational process.

The idea of the Space Art program is to encourage very young students to imagine about the Universe, to learn about astronomy and discover things for themselves by researching information on an astronomical object.

They just have to look for it in the sky, books or the internet and then draw it or make a picture of it using photography or combined techniques.

Space Art is organised jointly by the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE) and Universe Awareness (UNAWE). Its aim is to encourage creativity and independent work amongst young students, and to strengthen and expand their astronomical knowledge and creativity. (learn more)

Space Art Contest 2016 is now open and teachers can present their students works until june 15th 2016.

Space Art is a project whose aim is to stimulate students to discover the universe and its beauty. Art is a perfect way to achieve this.

Students should make an image (picture, drawing or painting) and submit it at Space Art's website.

The goal of the European Astronomy Contest Space Art  is to stimulate the creativity and independent work of students from European secondary schools, to strengthen and expand their astronomical knowledge and skills, and to help the spread of information technologies in the educational process.

The idea of the Space Art program is to encourage very young students to imagine about the Universe, to learn about astronomy and discover things for themselves by researching information on an astronomical object.

They just have to look for it in the sky, books or the internet and then draw it or make a picture of it using photography or combined techniques.

Space Art is organised jointly by theEuropean Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE) and Universe Awareness (UNAWE). Its aim is to encourage creativity and independent work amongst young students, and to strengthen and expand their astronomical knowledge and creativity. (learn more)

EAAE Summer Schools for Teachers

Loulé, Algarve, Portugal, 11th July to 15th July 2016.

The European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE) is collaborating with the NASE Working Group of IAU   to organize the 21st EAAE Summer School for Teachers under the theme "Astronomy at our Schools",

The Summer School will take place from Monday 11th July 2016 to Friday 15th July 2016, in Loulé, Algarve, Portugal, and has local organization by Câmara Municipal de Loulé,  and  Escola Secundária de Loulé  and has the support of Ciência Viva and the Portuguese Ministery of Education.

The Summer School will explore several topics in astronomy didactics appropriate for teaching since very early ages until college.

Topics since  Solar Physics, Solar System and basic concepts of astrophysics, up to galactic astronomy, extragalactic astronomy and cosmology are the topics of some of the workshops of the Summer School.

Highlights include an expedition to the Almendres Cromelech, near Évora, and to Lisbon Astronomical Observatory that include lectures from the biggest experts about the subject at each place. During the visit, some sightseeing to the most interesting places is also considered, both at Évora and at Lisbon.

Astronomical observations are also programmed (if the weather conditions allow them). Astronomical lectures will be presented by lecturers from Universities and research centers.(read the whole program here)

The registration fee is 125 euros before the May 15th, 2015.

Between the May 15th and July 1st, 2016 registration fee will be 150 euros.

After this date registration fee will be 200 euros.

The fee covers all astronomical activities and materials, including a proceeding book. The price also includes the 4 lunches at school and the expedition to Évora and Lisbon.

People interested in presenting posters or short communications should contact Rosa Maria Ros.

The organization is also preparing extra programs for Sunday 10th (before the Summer School) and Saturday 16th (after the Summer School) for people that have early arrivals or late departures. These activities are not include on the price.

Due to the workshops (maximum 30 participants per workshop) Summer School can have a maximum of 60 participants because this means that each workshop is repeated twice as presented in the timetable.

This Summer School is done in Association with IAU and NASE.

Registration

Registration should be made using the form at the following link

http://goo.gl/forms/Hq3ttl1Du6

After making your registration the participation fee must transferred to the bank account with the following data

Holder EAAE
Bank Kreissparkasse München Starnberg BLZ 702 501 50
Account Number 10815850
IBAN DE21 7025 0150 0010 8158 50
Swift / BIC BYLADEM1KMS

Your registration will only be complete when your fee is payed.

Important:

• Fee before the 15th of May - 125 euros.
• Fee from 15th of May to the 1st of July registration- 150 euros.
• Fee after the 1st of July - 200 euros.

Read the full program here.

Accomodation

You can find accomodation at local hotels/hostels at the following prices for the venue:

Hotel Loulé Jardim*** (includes breakfast)

• Single room - 54.00€/night
• Double room - 72.00€/night
• Triple room - 94.50€/night

HotelStar* (includes breakfast)

• Single room - 43.00€/night
• Double room - 55.00€/night

Guesthouse Dom Fernando (includes breakfast)

• Single room - 40.00€/night
• Double room - 52.50€/night
• Triple room - 62.50€/night

Scientific Organizations

Organization Partners and Sponsors

Source: ESA/Hubble Science Release heic1603

For the first time astronomers were able to analyse the atmosphere of an exoplanet in the class known as super-Earths. Using data gathered with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and new analysis techniques, the exoplanet 55 Cancri e is revealed to have a dry atmosphere without any indications of water vapour. The results, to be published in the Astrophysical Journal, indicate that the atmosphere consists mainly of hydrogen and helium. (learn more)

EAAE Summer Schools for Teachers

Loulé, Algarve, Portugal, 11th July to 15th July 2016.

The European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE) is collaborating with Escola Secundária de Loulé, Câmara Municipal de Loulé and Ciência Viva to organize the 21st EAAE Summer School for Teachers under the theme "Astronomy at our Schools".

The Summer School will take place from Monday 11th July 2016 to Friday 15th July 2016, in Loulé, Algarve, Portugal.

The Summer School will explore several themes in astronomy didactic appropriate for teaching since very early ages until college.

Topics since Earth, Moon and Sun relations, atmospheres of the planets, basic concepts of astrophysics, brightness of variable and binary stars, and how do work astronomical imaging in the classroom are the topics of some of the workshops of the Summer School.

Highlights include an expedition to the Almendres Cromelech, near Évora, and to Lisbon Astronomical Observatory.

Astronomical observations are also programmed (if the weather conditions allow them). Astronomical lectures will be presented by lecturers from Universities and research centers.(read the hole program here)

The registration fee is 125 euros before the May 15th, 2015.

Between the May 15th and July 1st, 2016 registration fee will be 150 euros.

After this date registration fee will be 200 euros.

The fee covers all astronomical activities and materials, including a proceeding book. The price also includes the 4 lunches at school and the expedition to Évora and Lisbon.

People interested in presenting posters or short communications should contact Rosa Maria Ros.

The organization is also preparing extra programs for Sunday 10th (before the Summer School) and Saturday 16th (after the Summer School) for people that have early arrivals or late departures. These activities are not include on the price.

Due to the workshops (maximum 30 participants per workshop) Summer School can have a maximum of 60 participants because this means that each workshop is repeated twice.

This Summer School is done in Association with IAU and NASE.

Registration

Registration should be made using the form at the following link

http://goo.gl/forms/Hq3ttl1Du6

After making your registration the participation fee must transferred to the bank account with the following data

Holder EAAE
Bank Kreissparkasse München Starnberg BLZ 702 501 50
Account Number 10815850
IBAN DE21 7025 0150 0010 8158 50
Swift / BIC BYLADEM1KMS

Your registration will only be complete when your fee is payed.

Important:

• Fee before the 15th of May - 125 euros.
• Fee from 15th of May to the 1st of July registration- 150 euros.
• Fee after the 1st of July - 200 euros.

Read the full program here.

Accomodation

You can find accomodation at local hotels/hostels at the following prices for the venue:

Hotel Loulé Jardim*** (includes breakfast)

• Single room - 54.00€/night
• Double room - 72.00€/night
• Triple room - 94.50€/night

HotelStar* (includes breakfast)

• Single room - 43.00€/night
• Double room - 55.00€/night

Guesthouse Dom Fernando (includes breakfast)

• Single room - 40.00€/night
• Double room - 52.50€/night
• Triple room - 62.50€/night

School students around the world are invited to take part in the 2016 Catch a Star astronomy writing contest.

To participate, students should submit a written report on an astronomical topic of their choice — for example, an astronomical object, phenomenon, observation, scientific problem or theory. Reports must be written in English and be no more than 5000 words in length. They may be undertaken by groups of up to three students, plus a group leader who is not a student.

Each submission must be emailed as a PDF file to astro.edu@gmail.com. The deadline for all entries is 30 November 2016.

The five winners will each receive a mounted image of a fascinating astronomical object, courtesy of ESO. In addition, each winner will also have the chance to carry out remote observations at the National Astronomical Observatory "Rozhen", Bulgaria, or to hold a video conference with a professional astronomer.

Catch a Star is organised jointly by the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE) and ESO. Its aim is to encourage creativity and independent work amongst students, and to strengthen and expand their astronomical knowledge and skills.

Find out more about the competition on the Catch a Star website.

Links

• Catch a Star 2016
• How to participate
• Catch a Star 2015 winners

Science education contest gets underway – youth throughout Europe invited to compete for prizes, internships and travel opportunities

Brussels, Belgium – XX August 2015 – Odysseus II, a fun-based educational contest focusing on space science, is up and running. As of September 1^st, young people all over Europe can register to take part in an exciting competition that combines scientific learning with hands-on experience. Aimed at learners between the ages of 7 and 22, the contest is designed to engage talented young people with a spirit of discovery and an interest in science.

Odysseus II challenges European youth to push the boundaries of their knowledge by discovering answers to fundamental questions on topics ranging from satellites and space probes to astrobiology and interplanetary travel. The ultimate aim to of the contest is to inspire young Europeans to get involved in space science.

Organized in multiple rounds, the competition will be conducted in two cycles covering the academic years 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. Teachers are encouraged to participate by coaching teams and will be offered access to professional mentoring upon request. Entries can be submitted in any of the EU’s 24 official languages.

Three academic levels are targeted, with separate competitions for:

• Skywalkers (primary school pupils)
• Pioneers (secondary school students)
• Explorers (university undergraduates)

Participants will first compete at national level on the merits of their submissions addressing one of the contest’s broadly defined topics. Experienced judges will evaluate submissions on the basis of scientific knowledge, practical implementation and creativity. Winners will be selected at national, regional and international levels. Prizes include iPads, telescopes, travel opportunities, paid internships at the European Space Agency and trips to the Guiana Space Centre in South America.

The deadline for entries from students at secondary schools and universities is January 15, 2016. Entries from primary school pupils are expected by March 31, 2016.

Complete information – including detailed instructions on how to register and submit an entry online – is available at www.odysseus-contest.eu. High-resolution logos and a 30-second promotional video is available for download by the media.

Background

The contest is being organized by the consortium partners of Odysseus II, a three-year project funded through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement 640218). Odyseus II is an expanded version of a pilot project that ran from 2011 to 2013. The current consortium consists of 14 partners and 4 supporting organizations from 11 European countries.

As in 2014, the EAAE has associated to the Physics Department José Juan Gambiagi, of Buenos Aires, IAU, the Asociación Física Argentina and the Projeto Eratostenes Brasil to perform a worldwide Eratostenes Experiment using data from schools all around the world.

To allow the simultaneous participation of schools from northern and southern hemispheres that have different school calendars, the experiment shall be reproduced on the autumn equinox that will occur on September 23rd , 2015.

On a window of dates between September 14th and September 25th, 2015 the schools must measure the shadow of the Sun as it passes the local meridian, as explained on the links on the left side of the webpage.

EAAE has performed this Experiment in the past with students all around Europe in 1997 and in 2010, and this year's event marks the beginning of the annual basis of the project in EAAE's strategy. The Physics Department José Juan Gambiagi, of Buenos Aires, that has been performing this experiment in South America in the last years (learn more at http://df.uba.ar/eratostenes) and will be responsible for the database of all measurements.

To make your registration plese visit http://www.eaae-astronomy.org/eratosthenes/ and use the links on the left side for registration in English, Spanish or Portuguese. Registrations will be available until September 1st 2015.