The essence of Astronomers Without Borders is sharing through connection, interaction and collaboration. Programs focus on bringing members of the Astronomers Without Borders worldwide community together to share resources, ideas and inspiration, allowing local visions to become global realities.

Remote Observing is a new project that aims to bring the fun and excitement of observing to AWB groups around the world. The idea is to have AWB groups control remote telescopes online, share their sessions with other groups, and to collaborate on observing projects.

The Remote Observing project kicked off with an event on Sept 25, in collaboration with with Dr. Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Observatory. Read the report and see the images from this first event.

Big Dipper to Southern Cross took place in January 2010, on the 8th in the northern hemisphere and on the 10th in the southern hemisphere. A total of 7500 people from more than 80 countries took part in the two-part event. The sky of each hemisphere was highlighted for the benefit of residents of the other hemisphere. Find links to reports and images from the event on the project page.

The World At Night (TWAN) is a global project to create a collection of photographs and time-lapse videos of the world’s most beautiful and historic sites against a nightime backdrop of stars, planets and celestial events. These images show now the eternally peaceful sky looks the same above all the symbols of different nations and regions,.attesting to the truly unified nature of Earth as a planet rather than an amalgam of human-designated territories. Those involved in global programs learn to see humanity as a family living together on a single planet amidst the vast ocean of our Universe. This global perspective motivates us to work for a better, more peaceful planet for all the world’s inhabitants. Astronomers Without Borders was created to work toward this goal. TWAN is an innovative new approach to expanding this global perspective.

TWAN photographs are being taken by the best night sky photographers around the world. The resulting collection will be presented in an international traveling exhibition and in a virtual exhibition on the TWAN web site. A book and a DVD of the images will also be published. Time-lapse digital photographs of the night sky that are being created at particular locations will be used in a high-quality documentary film of celestial motion over the planet's most important sites. TWAN is bringing together photographers, astronomers and organizations worldwide to create a new international team. That team will fulfill TWAN's primary goal of bringing to the public a new way of seeing the wonders of our planet by portraying Earth’s people as one family and our world as a living planet we must care for.

Wars are fought over boundaries that have been created in the name of politics, religion, race or beliefs. But the view from space reveals the true nature of our cosmic home – a border-less planet divided only into land and sea. While few will experience that view first-hand, the same is also true in reverse; the night sky above us – a view that is accessible to everyone on the planet – also has no visible borders. This common view is a bridge that connects us, creating understanding and friendship. When borders vanish, political and cultural differences become irrelevant. The beauty of brilliant Venus might be seen in Texas just hours after it is seen by sky gazers in Tehran. The famous stars of the Big Dipper might be viewed over the Vatican while Buddhists in China share the same celestial view over their temples. The magnificent Milky Way might be viewed over the Grand Canyon while people in Nepal are awed by the same celestial view over the Himalaya. We all live under the same eternally peaceful sky. And the Earth we inhabit under it belongs to us all.

Material released by TWAN will include photographs, descriptions of the subject sites, the site’s historical, cultural or environmental significance, how TWAN was conducted, how TWAN affected participating photographers and any further relevant issues of global importance such as peace, ecology and light pollution.

Visit The World at Night website.

There are three components to STAR:

• Gathering telescopes and other materials that are no longer needed in wealthier countries and passing them on to others in the developing world. Some effort continues on a case-by-case basis but sponsorship is being sought for international shipping to further expand this program. This program has begun a pilot program.

• Sponsored STAR projects are being created that allow an organization to raise funds through their own members and other supporters to purchase telescopes and ship them to recipients in the countries of their choice. Astronomers Without Borders makes the connections and handles all the logistics for the sponsoring organization and recipients.

• A self-sustaining foundation that will purchase telescopes in large quanitites and send them to new astronomy clubs in the developing world to make astronomy more accessible. This is a long-term goal that will carry on the goals of Astronomers Without Borders for many years.

Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.

NEWS: Deadline extended to January 31!

Tour of the Universe by Children of the World is a beautiful and inspirational multimedia video project made from children's contributions to the International Year of Astronomy 2009.  Meant to ignite the imaginations of children and adults alike with the wonder of the cosmos -- the one thing that is truly Universal -- Tour of the Universe will be available as a free download.

Did you host or participate in an event involving children during IYA2009? Tour of the Universe by Children of the World is seeking contributions!

In April 2009, the 100 Hours of Astronomy (100HA) Cornerstone Project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) showed what the astronomy community can do working together. As the first truly global outreach event, amateur astronomers, clubs, science centers and others held events by the thousands around the world, attracting the largest public audience ever. The excitement was contagious as this unified global event, encouraging everyone to look skyward, swept the world.

Everyone wanted the excitement to continue, and now it will. Not just repeating 100HA, but something even bigger, built on 2009's global success.

Global Astronomy Month (GAM 2010) is Astronomers Without Border’s response. New ideas, new opportunities and more participation. Connecting people around the world in these events will create an even greater sense of sharing, just as in AWB’s motto and the slogan for GAM – One People, One Sky.

The global outreach community's enthusiasm and innovation was critical in making 100 Hours of Astronomy successful, and GAM will continue to bring together all that tens of thousands of enthusiasts worldwide have to offer.

	BoonMee, an elephant near Bangkok, Thailand is Audrey Fischer's favorite elephant artist. Here BoonMee does his part for GAM2010 with an original painting. This is the GAM Picture of the Day for April 8. Submit your photos for GAMPOD to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
	Deirdre Kelleghan, AWB National Coordinator for Ireland, is ready for GAM 2010. Are you?
The Global Astronomy Month logo is based on an original concept by Azhy Hasan (Iraq) and was created by Jessi Kingan (USA/Thailand) with significant input from many AWB leaders from around the world. Film strip image of GAM trailer by Johannes Stübler GAM 2010 painting by BoonMee.  Photo by Audrey Fischer. Photo of Deirdre Kelleghan and telescope by Bernard Kelleghan.