Source: ESO Science Release eso1508

The rich galaxy cluster Abell 1689. A1689-zD1, is located in the box — although it is still so faint that it is barely seen in this picture. Image credits: NASA; ESA; L. Bradley (Johns Hopkins University); R. Bouwens (University of California, Santa Cruz); H. Ford (Johns Hopkins University); and G. Illingworth (University of California, Santa Cruz)

One of the most distant galaxies ever observed has provided astronomers with the first detection of dust in such a remote star-forming system and tantalising evidence for the rapid evolution of galaxies after the Big Bang. The new observations have used ALMA to pick up the faint glow from cold dust in the galaxy A1689-zD1 and used ESO’s Very Large Telescope to measure its distance. (learn more)

Source: NASA Science News

Two views of Ceres acquired by Dawn  on Feb. 12, 2015, from a distance of about 83,000 kilometers as the dwarf planet rotated.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

Researchers are puzzled by a number of bright spots on Ceres, which are coming into focus as NASA's Dawn spacecraft approaches the dwarf planet. (read more)

Source: Dawn Mission Education and Communications

Note the timeline at upper right.

Dawn will enter Ceres' orbit on the first days of May 2015. This animation gives a three-dimensional view of Dawn’s complex approach to Ceres. The spacecraft deftly maneuvers into orbit with its ion propulsion system, flying to RC3 orbit, which is achieved when the thrust is turned off. (The size of Ceres is exaggerated compared to the size of the orbit here.) At the end, the viewpoint shifts to provide another perspective on the unique trajectory.

Source: NASA /Chandra

Abell 2597. Image credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Michigan State Univ/G.Voit et al; Optical: NASA/STScI & DSS; H-alpha: Carnegie Obs./Magellan/W.Baade Telescope/U.Maryland/M.McDonald.

This galaxy cluster comes from a sample of over 200 that were studied to determine how giant black holes at their centers affect the growth and evolution of their host galaxy, as reported in our latest press release. This study revealed that an unusual form of cosmic precipitation enables a feedback loop of cooling and heating, stifling star formation in the middle of these galaxy clusters.

Abell 2597, shown here, is a galaxy cluster located about one thousand million light years from Earth. This image contains X-rays from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue), optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Digitized Sky Survey (yellow) and emission from hydrogen atoms (red) from the Walter Baade Telescope in Chile.

EAAE Summer Schools for Teachers

London, England, 20th July to 24th July 2015.

The European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE) is collaborating with the Royal Astronomical Society to organize the 20th EAAE Summer School for Teachers under the theme — Universe in the Classroom. The Summer School will take place from Monday 20th July 2015 to Friday 24th July, Burlington House, that is the home of the Royal Astronomical Society. Burlington House is located in the center of London near the Ritz Hotel, Fortnum & Masons and Eros in Piccadilly and shares the courtyard with the Royal Academy of Arts and their gallery.

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. Since 2015 is the International of Light and Light-based Technologies there will also be a specific workshop concerning the major physical phenomena and properties of light and their application in astronomy.

Highlights include an expedition to Greenwich and guest lectures by Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow, Astronomer Royal (The next 20 years in Astronomy) and Prof. Martin Barstow, President of the Royal Astronomical Society (European Space Astronomy).

Astronomical observations are also programmed (if the weather conditions allow them). Astronomical lectures will be presented by lecturers from Universities and research centers. The registration fee is 100 (72.5 GBP) euros before the 1st of June 2015.

Between the 1st of June and the 1st of July registration fee will be 150 euros (108.5 GBP).

After this date registration fee will be 200 euros (145 GBP).

The fee covers all astronomical activities and materials. The meals, transport and accommodation are on the participant’s responsibility and not included in the fee. If participants want a sandwich lunch the price for the 4 days (except Greenwich day) is 27£.

The Summer School can have a maximum 60 participants.

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 1st of June - 100 euros (72.5 GBP).
• Fee from 1st of June to the 1st of July registration- 150 euros (108.5 GBP).
• Fee after the 1st of July - 200 euros (145 GBP).

•  Sandwich lunch for the 4 days  at the Royal Astronomical Society (except Greenwich day) is 27£.

Note for Erasmus+ applicants

To apply for Erasmus+, participants should apply on the Key Action 1 (KA1) — Learning mobility of individuals, and present the European Association for Astronomy Education - EAAE as the course provider with the PIC 942480713. If required EAAE will provide a provisional registration to applicants.

Provisional Timetable

Lectures

1. The Next 20 years in Astronomy, Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal.
2. European Space Astronomy, Martin Barstow, President, RAS.
3. Odysseus, Alexandre da Costa, President, EAAE.

Topics of Workshops

1. International year of light, Alexandre da Costa.
2. Chemical Travel trough planetary atmospheres. Episode I, Josep Coromines.
3. Chemical travel trough planetary atmospheres. Episode II, Josep Coromines.
4. Parallel Earth, Rosa M. Ros.
5. Sun and stars in our sky – a demonstrator, Sakari Ekko.
6. Solar demonstrators, Rosa M. Ros.
7. Brightness of variable and binary stars, Ederlinda Viñuales Gavín.
8. What causes the seasons on Earth? Seasons on other planets in the Solar System, Ederlinda Viñuales Gavín.
9. Astronomical imaging in the classroom, Alexandre da Costa.
10. Astrophysics The Basics, Alan Pickwick.

Address of Venue.

The Royal Astronomical Society
Burlington House
Piccadilly
London
W1J 0BQ

Google Longitude and latitude:  51.508645, -0.139134

Source: ESA/Hubble

Galaxy cluster MACS j1149.5+223 and a supernova four times over.
Image credits:NASA, ESA, S. Rodney (John Hopkins University, USA) and the FrontierSN team; T. Treu (University of California Los Angeles, USA), P. Kelly (University of California Berkeley, USA) and the GLASS team; J. Lotz (STScI) and the Frontier Fields team; M. Postman (STScI) and the CLASH team; and Z. Levay (STScI)

.

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have, for the first time, spotted four images of a distant exploding star. The images are arranged in a cross-shaped pattern by the powerful gravity of a foreground galaxy embedded in a massive cluster of galaxies. The supernova discovery paper will appear on 6 March 2015 in a special issue of Science celebrating the centenary of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity.(learn more)

Credit: NASA Science News

The key to unraveling the mysterious cause of Alzheimer’s disease may not lie in the recesses of the human brain, but rather in the weightless expanse of space.

Source: ESA/Hubble

On 23 April 2015, the European Space Agency together with NASA celebrate 25 years since the Hubble Space Telescope has been in orbit! We would like to invite you to join the celebrations by promoting an excellent opportunity to engage your students.

The ESA/Hubble Ode to Hubble competition lets anyone inspired by Hubble express their feelings or share their ideas in a creative and innovative way by creating an original short video. Invite your students to get creative and they could win a piece of Hubble!

As long as it can be uploaded as a YouTube, Vine and Instagram video less than three minutes long participants can submit anything. Pan over a drawing, scroll over a poem or text, film your own Hubblecast, film yourself performing or talking about a Hubble topic, create an animation or compose a piece of music and upload it as a video piece. It just has to be innovative, creative and, most of all, inspired by Hubble, or one of its great discoveries or images.

Categories

There are two categories for the competition.

• One for those who are 25 and under — born in Hubble’s lifetime. Entry form for those who are 25 and under
• One for over 25s. Entry form for over 25s

with each having five runners up and one winner. If you don’t create a piece of your own, you can still get involved by crowd-judging the entries to whittle the selection down to a shortlist.

Prizes

The two winners will receive the once-in-a-lifetime prize of a section of Hubble’s solar array mounted in perspex. These little pieces of Hubble are part of the huge solar arrays that spent 3 years orbiting the Earth, giving Hubble its power, until they were replaced in 1993. The winners will also receive a metal-backed copy of the 25th anniversary image signed by astronomers and astronauts who have worked on Hubble. The two winning videos will be featured in our special “Ode to Hubble” Hubblecast. The producers of the five shortlisted videos for each category will receive the wonderful book The Universe through the Eyes of Hubble and their videos will be hosted on the spacetelescope.org website.

Important dates

• Submit your video by 12 March 2015! (11:59pm CEST)
• Starting 13 March 2015 crowd-vote the entries until 1 April 2015!