365 Days of Astronomy

If you aren’t listening to 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts, you’re missing some really terrific bits of science storytelling. This project is a collaboration of many, many people (at least 365 and actually many more) who love astronomy and want to share it with the world. It’s also an official project of the International Year of Astronomy, which has a major boatload of stellar activities going on throughout 2009.  There are also IYA 2009 presences in Second Life, there’s the Space Carnival (I hosted Carnival of Space 88 last week), Zoo’niverse, and many other activities that you can partake of online or in meat space.  As it turns out, today’s podcast on 365 Days of Astronomy is the second one that we (Mark and I) have produced for the project. It’s called We are All Star Stuff. Go have a listen. And then, listen to as many of the other podcasts as you can — they are an absolute treasury of good astronomy stories.  In fact, make it a point to listen every day and you’ll be glad you did! 

As long as I’m talking about IYA 2009, another event for 2009 is the Globe at Night. It’s a project to count how many stars you can see from your home location, and people around the world have been doing it for several years. This year it takes on added significance with IYA 2009. It’s easy to do — in fact, there’s a web page with activities and instructions for families, classes, teachers — anybody who wants to help preserve our dwindling night skies. Check it out and get with the IYA 2009 program!