The IAU Focus Meeting 1 on 'Harnessing ground-based optical telescopes: an opportunity for emerging astronomy in Africa' will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, on August 6-7, 2024, as part of the historical XXXII IAU General Assembly. If you can't attend in person, you can join us virtually! Register now at https://buff.ly/49PtkAO https://buff.ly/3xquswN #IAUFM1 #IAUGA2024
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Articles are invited for a special issue @Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences (a Q2 Journal having impact factor 3.0) https://lnkd.in/g3sR-6KZ
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🔭 Co-Founder at Blue Mountains Stargazing 🌌 Cultural Astronomer at Western Sydney University 🦉 Co-Founder at Blue Mountains Dark Sky Initiative 🧠 Co-Founder at Unhooked 🎤 Public Speaker
Will we still see the Milky Way from Earth in 2040? Next week is the General Assembly of the IAU, the International Astronomical Union. Yes this the meeting where astronomers decided that Pluto was no longer a planet in 2006 - the public's biggest astronomical heartbreak. Dealing with all aspects that the astronomy community has to agree on from naming things to latest research advances, best practice in the industry and inclusivity, I am so proud to be joining the IAU GA for the first time, in particular the sessions relating to Cultural Astronomy, Astronomy Outreach and Dark Sky protection. Anything that is "human" related and that orbits around core astronomy, that I like to call "Human Astronomy". The sky is brightening at an alarming rate and with the space industry ready to win its big-contract-inflicted race at any cost ($, carbon, risk) to break the new frontier, discussions and measures of preservation must be put in place that anticipate the new far west that the conquest (colonisation?) of space is going to be in the next 10 years and after that. I am genuinely concerned. Rocket boosters falling and exploding near villages. ISS astronauts stuck for 50+ days because of hasty capsule launches. Dark Sky Preservation will be at the very bottom of the list of the aeronautics industry. I am concerned being a stargazing operator and cultural astronomer. Also an astrophysicist and an inhabitant of the Earth. Whether we can still see the Milky Way in the Sky or not in 10 years, I will have done what I could so that our relationship and our experience to the sky remains the source of awe that it is today.
If you're attending the IAU General Assembly 2024 in Cape Town next week, don't miss our session on protecting dark and quiet skies! Join us on 7-8 August to hear the latest developments in technical satellite mitigations for satellite interference,, the development of effective dark and quiet sky policies and the dialogue being had with commercial space operators. Find out more: https://loom.ly/UBw_RUc Don't forget to drop by the The International Astronomical Union stand in the exhibition centre to hear about our work and that of our fellow IAU offices, the IAU Office of Astronomy for Development, IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach and IAU Office of Astronomy for Education. #DarkAndQuietSkies #IAUGA2024
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We are proud to co-sponsor the pivotal conference room paper, 'Protection of Astronomy and Science on the Moon,' now available on the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) website. This critical document, presented at the 67th United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), outlines the need for dedicated processes to preserve the Moon's unique scientific potential in astronomy. Developed in collaboration with the The International Astronomical Union , For All Moonkind, Inc., and the International Academy of Astronautics , this paper emphasizes the importance of safeguarding lunar sites from contamination and interference to ensure the sustainability of future scientific missions. Explore the full paper here: https://buff.ly/45ICXjz.
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The 72nd CRAF meeting hosted in the INAF - Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica offices in Bologna has just concluded. Several topics were covered, such as the importance of VGOS facilities and protection from satellite constellations. Highlights included tours of the radio telescopes Northern Cross and the 32m parabola in Medicina, as well as productive discussions with local spectrum monitoring authorities on protecting radio astronomy. #radioastronomy #INAF #CRAF #geodesy
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📖 #Euclid Reference Publications: the #Euclid Mission Overview Part One of our blog series on the latest reference publications from the #EuclidConsortium ▶️▶️▶️ https://lnkd.in/eHJNRCXk #Euclid is a complex mission, consisting of a spacecraft and scientific instruments, a massive cosmological simulation, and large and complex data processing segment to turn instrumental data into scientific meaning. Now, one year after launch, the #EuclidConsortium has published a set of five reference papers, providing both the scientific background and an up to date description of the instruments and simulations. Paper 1 (Euclid. I. Overview of the Euclid mission, Euclid Collaboration: Mellier et al. 2024) is giving a full overview of the #Euclid mission after launch, ranging from the overall background, the satellite and instruments, the surveys, and finally introduces both the cosmology diagnostics as well as astronomy projects envisioned with #Euclid.
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The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS) — the UN’s top body for space-related matters — agreed to add an agenda item to its workload over the next five years to discuss emerging issues related to large #SatelliteConstellations, including on dark and quiet skies and astronomy. “This is a significant moment for astronomy and a culmination of several years of our hard work and engagement,” said Andrew Williams , ESO’s External Relations Officer and representative at COPUOS. “The agenda item will encourage the governments of many countries to act and increase the focus on finding solutions to protect dark and quiet skies.” The proposal was championed by ESO’s partner and host state Chile and ESO’s member state Spain — both countries hosting significant international astronomy infrastructure — and saw the involvement of Permanent observers on the committee, including ESO. Discover more:https://lnkd.in/enVwXqw8 For a quick introduction to the challenges that satellite constellations pose to astronomers, check out the latest episode of our series Chasing Starlight. https://lnkd.in/e6FWE7Fx
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A very relevant source of recommendations and thoughts for the discussions on the draft EU Space Law coming out soon and for ongoing review and reform processes of national space law. Gratulations to IAU CPS for the immense works and lobbying activities over the past months. #spacelaw #spaceindustry #newspace #bholegal #iisl #escl #euspace
#NEWS: We have issued our first recommendations paper urging action to address the impact of satellite constellations on astronomy 🛰️. 🔗 Read it here: https://loom.ly/n-5Iw6Y The 30-page paper is the result of 18 months’ work by experts including astronomers, industry representatives and policy advisors. It proposes measures and mitigation strategies for different stakeholders, including calling for satellite operators to adopt voluntary mitigations, and outlines the regulations needed at both the national and international level. NSF's NOIRLab, SKA Observatory, The International Astronomical Union
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Space Systems Engineer/Space Scientist | HE Lecturer | FHEA | MInstP | FRAS | Forces Veteran | Programme Manager/Director | Strategic Leader
This is a fantastic overview from the IAU CPS on the impacts of increasing Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation deployments on ground based optical and radio astronomy, and the need to protect them along with access to the natural night sky for all of humanity. The precautionary principle puts the onus on us as space engineers to understand the wider impacts of our activities and mitigate them where necessary. That way we can ensure we achieve the amazing benefits possible from our technology without destroying other vital areas of activity and the wider space environment. To help in this there are some really valuable recommendations that I encourage any spacecraft or network development team to consider as a core element in their design process. As part my own research The University of Manchester into the development of direct to handset space based extensions to the terrestrial mobile communications network I am now looking at how access to lower orbits will enable smaller, lower power spacecraft. These can then be dimmer and quieter across a range of frequencies and more rapidly traverse the field of view, minimising or removing these terrestrial impacts whilst still enabling ubiquitous, high speed, low latency connectivity. #DarkandQuietSkies #SpaceTechnology #Astronomy #SpaceEngineering #SpaceSustainability
#NEWS: We have issued our first recommendations paper urging action to address the impact of satellite constellations on astronomy 🛰️. 🔗 Read it here: https://loom.ly/n-5Iw6Y The 30-page paper is the result of 18 months’ work by experts including astronomers, industry representatives and policy advisors. It proposes measures and mitigation strategies for different stakeholders, including calling for satellite operators to adopt voluntary mitigations, and outlines the regulations needed at both the national and international level. NSF's NOIRLab, SKA Observatory, The International Astronomical Union
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The secondary mirror has been installed on the Simonyi Survey Telescope at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory! This massive project is under construction in Chile. Once compete, it will conduct a 10-year optical survey of the visible sky that will study the structure and evolution of the universe and the objects in it. Moog is helping make it all happen! A Moog #hexapod supports and aligns the secondary mirror for the observatory, which is a critical part of mission success. Read more here: https://loom.ly/n3DBaH8 Explore more about Moog hexapods: https://loom.ly/3NAemrk #spaceexploration #VeraRubinObservatory #telescope
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This National Science Week, AAL celebrates an NCRIS collaboration between astronomy and marine research, with Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) and Astronomy Data and Computing Services (ADACS) working together to uncover mysteries of the big blue! See our website for the full story: https://lnkd.in/gXQJtVmU ADACS is funded under NCRIS via AAL. IMOS is enabled by NCRIS and operated by a consortium with University of Tasmania as a lead agent. #NCRISimpact #ScienceWeek #astronomy #marinescience #adacs #data #visualisation #ocean #currents Image below: IMOS has teamed up with ADACS to create an interactive, animated visualisation of the surface currents in the ocean. Credit: ADACS. Image acknowledgement: Data was sourced from Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) – IMOS is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure strategy (NCRIS). The gridded sea level anomaly and surface currents product was created by CSIRO.
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