Over the past several years, amateur and professional astronomers around the world have been tearing down the borders in the area of people with disabilities.  Many planetariums, astronomy organizations and individuals have focused on solutions for making star parties, hands-on activities and presentations accessible to people who have visual, hearing, mobility or cognitive disabilities.

Astronomers Without Borders has contacted many of these visionary people for the purpose of helping educate others as to the various disabilities and the best ways to relate astronomy concepts to them.  With the help of authors and successful organizations, AWB has compiled resources for educators and anyone who communicates astronomy to the public.

April 12, 2012

Human Spaceflight became a reality 51 years ago with the launch of a bell-shaped capsule called “Vostok 1.” The capsule was carrying Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who took his place in history as the first human to leave the bounds of Earth and enter outer space.

Exactly 20 years later, the United States embarked on a new era in spaceflight with the inaugural launch of a new type of spaceship — the Space Shuttle. Designed to carry a larger crew and large volumes of cargo to orbit, the Space Shuttles became synonymous with human spaceflight for an entirely new generation of young people.

UPDATE: Two participating schools, in China and Nicaragua, have discovered new asteroids.

The International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC=”Isaac”) is an online educational outreach program for high schools and colleges, in which students make original astronomical discoveries. Each day students receive telescopic images, only hours old and taken along the ecliptic. Using the software Astrometrica, they accurately measure the time and position of asteroids moving in the background. The measurements are recorded in a report sent to the Minor Planet Center (Harvard).

Each year 5000 students from 500 schools in more than 40 countries participate in IASC asteroid searches. There is no cost to the students or schools. Since starting in October 2006, 350 asteroids have been discovered, of which 15 have been numbered by the International Astronomical Union (Paris). Numbered asteroids are recorded in the world’s official minor planet catalog and can be named by their student discoverers.

April 21-22, 2012

Perhaps you've seen "shooting stars" before, but during GAM you can witness a meteor shower!

The Lyrids meteor shower happens each year from about April 16 to 26 but the most are seen on April 22. Don't expect continuous meteors covering the sky but you'll still see a good display. A shower occurs when Earth goes through a swarm of material in space and the meteors appear to come from one point in the sky known as the radiant, in this case in the constellation of Lyra (giving the annual event its name). You'll see the most Lyrid meteors near the shower's peak on April 22 as Earth moves through the debris left behind by Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, a regular visitor to the inner solar system referred to as a periodic comet. The recorded history of the Lyrids is longer than any other, with records of observations going back 2600 years.

April 1 to 7, 2012

The Moon—Earth’s traveling companion in space—is an integral part of life on Earth. Still, few people notice it or recognize its importance to us.  Through out Global Astronomy Month, the Moon will be celebrated via MoonDays . A week-long special series of programs, from April 1 through 7, will be dedicated to the Moon to help people rediscover our closest companion in space.

Featured Lunar Week Member Blogs:
Timaru, New Zealand

Lunar Week takes place while the Moon is well-placed for observation in the evening sky.  As the Moon's phases and positions change during its orbit around the Earth, there will be Moon-themed star parties to observe the Moon by telescope and naked eye, educational programs, online observing events, competitions and a celebration of the Moon in different cultures.  We will be distributing Moon-related information in various forms, including answers to such common questions as: Why is it important to explore the Moon?  How does the Moon affect our daily life?  Why is the Moon visible during the day or night?  Why do its phases change?  All Moon missions and educational programs are invited to participate.

1 April 2012

SunDay, on Sunday April 1, is a day dedicated to our star, the Sun. The Sun is the main source of energy for Earth. As each part of the globe rotates daily into the Sun’s warm and cheering glow, darkness is removed and our world is energized.

Featured SunDay Member Blogs:
Linz, Austria
Gaia, Portugal
Catarina, Nicaragua

SunDay is a project intended to raise people’s awareness of our star. What is it? How does it affect us? The different layers of the Sun, solar activity (sunspots, flares, prominences, coronal mass ejections and the solar wind), space weather, energy production, helioseismology—these are all different aspects of the Sun waiting to be discovered and understood.

SunDay activities you can organize and take part in range from simple to complex, giving participants a wide choice that allows even those who can’t afford an expensive telescope to learn and teach something new about our star. In planning your own Sun Day activities, start with the suggestions below and then use your creative imagination!