Internship opportunity at IAU Office of Astronomy for Development

I've come across this internsting internship offered by IAU Office of Astronomy for Development and here is information regarding that in case you're interested. You can aslo find the same in PDF at ftp://ftp.saao.ac.za/outgoing/kg/astro4dev/OAD-InternshipOpportunity-13-03-2012.pdf

IAU Office of Astronomy for Development: Internship Opportunity

The International Astronomical Union (IAU), in partnership with the South African National Research Foundation (NRF), has established the global Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Cape Town, South Africa. The OAD began its work on 1st March 2011 and ambitiously sets out to use astronomy as a tool for global development. This office is to be the centre of development activities worldwide in the areas of (i) astronomy for children and schools; (ii) astronomy for universities and research; and (iii) astronomy for the public. The OAD is the first step in the implementation of the IAU decadal strategy entitled “Astronomy for the developing world” (www.iau.org). It will coordinate three task forces in the areas mentioned above and several regional nodes across the world.

As the OAD gains momentum it seeks assistance in many different forms. The internship position
should be filled by an energetic person with strong computing and excellent communication skills. Not only will this be an opportunity for the person to contribute meaningfully to this global development project but it will also provide them with unique international experience in using astronomy for development. The position could be part time or full time depending on the applicant’s current study commitments. It will be based at the OAD in Cape Town and the intern will report directly to the Director of the OAD. He/she will be responsible for all or some of the specific tasks listed below.

• Communicate regularly with international stakeholders and manage email lists
• Coordinate translation/interpretation services as required
• Oversee maintenance of website, databases, new media (twitter, facebook, etc)
• Source information as needed for OAD operations (this may entail literature searches, research into regional strengths and weaknesses, surveys, etc.)
• Assist with administration of small grants
• Provide assistance to Director wherever needed (e.g. in preparing international funding proposals, coordination of volunteers across the world, collecting resources, etc.)

Requirements:

• University degree in astronomy or related field
• Demonstrated experience relevant to the tasks above
• Good communication skills (both written and verbal)
• Good computer skills and knowledge of social networking
• Highly organised and a quick learner
• Project management and financial experience will be advantageous

Interested candidates should send a cover letter containing a motivation, and full CV, including 2
letters of reference, to the SAAO Human Resources Manager, Linda Tobin (Address: P O Box 9,
Observatory, 7935, phone: 021-4470025; fax: 021-4473639; email: linda@saao.ac.za, web:
www.astronomyfordevelopment.org, www.saao.ac.za. For further information please refer to the
Director of the OAD, Kevin Govender (kg@astro4dev.org)

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Total Solar Eclipse 13/14 November 2012

Briefing

The next total solar eclipse is not that far away, We're about 2 weeks away from it. On 13th and 14th of November 2012 (UT) those who are located in Cairns, Australia and southern Pacific Ocean will have the chance of observing this. This time the greatest totality will last around 4 minutes of time with a magnitude of 1.05 Generally a solar eclipse will take place when the Moon passes in between Sun and the Earth, shading the solar view partially or fully relative to an observer based on Earth. The solar eclipse is said to be a total solar eclipse when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than that of Sun, completely obscuring the view of Sun and the corresponding areas of Earth will experience darkness during such an event. Thus the totality will be visible to observers located in a narrow traverse across the Earth's surface whilst a partial solar eclipse will be experienced in a broader region.

Where to be

If you could happen to be in Cairns, in northeastern Australia which is where most of the eclipse-chasers are going to rendezvous, you would be likely to observe a totality of 2 minutes at 20:38 UT (06:38 AEST on 14th of November) on 13th November. Thus it would be just after the daybreak with sun at an altitude of 14° in local time on 14th. Further islanders of Norfolk Island, east of Australia will encounter a partial solar eclipse with 98% of Sun covered at 09:37 NFT. Additionally, Auckland & Christchurch in New Zealand, and Los Ríos & Los Lagos regions of Chile will be other land masses that will undergo a partial solar eclipse. However if you don't want to miss the maximum totality, you have to be located somewhere in south Pacific Ocean, on east of the International Date Line on November 13, approximately 2000 km east of New Zealand, and 9600 km west of Chile. That is 4 minutes and 2 seconds to be exact.

How to view SAFE

It is really important to be savvy how to SAFELY observe a solar eclipse, for what you're playing with is sun and hence there shan't be any mistakes at all, for they would lead to irreversible damage to your eye. You should never directly look at the sun with the naked eye or with some optical devices such as telescopes binoculars. During a total solar eclipse, there are 3 phases which are the phase of totality and the ones before and after totality. However it is safe to view the solar eclipse without any filters, ONLY when there is the short phase of totality. It is imperative that safely precautions must be adhered to during the other 2 phases. One common solution is using the welder's goggles/ glasses with the rating 14 or higher, as they screen out the harmfulness.One of the safest methods on the other hand is the indirect projection. The image of the sun is projected onto a white piece of paper using binoculars (with one side covered), a telescope or another piece of cardboard which has been made into a pinhole camera (by making a small 1mm hole in it).

Live streaming of total solar eclipse 2012

It is true that most of us can't travel to Cairns or to be in a cruise in South Pacific Ocean during the time of the eclipse. Therefore there will be live webcast/ streaming via internet as the total eclipse will take place. A Google search will take you where you want. However nothing beats the exciting adventure of traveling to the eclipse site and observing it physically and only reminds me the eclipse chase tour to Jaffna, Sri Lanka in January 2010 for the annular solar eclipse.

Here are some useful websites especially dedicated to bringing you updates and news from Cairns.

www.eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov
http://eclipse2012.org.au/
http://www.eclipse2012.com/

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Revival of Astronomy & Space Study Center - ASSC | Subodhi

We're not far from achieving a much anticipated goal, the revival of Astronomy & Space Study Center or ASSC or even more colloquially known Subodhi. During last couple of months and especially the last few weeks the preparatory activities of the ASSC had kept us busy and despite the sacrifices we've all made, I'm sure this would be a rendezvous for many astronomy enthusiasts, students and many more like-minded people. Equally it would be reunion of many of us, who'd found ourselves scattered apart, after the long pause we've been having since 2006. Thus I really feel excited to be a apart of this revival effort as we get closer to the very date, that is the 03rd of November, 2012.

Astronomy & Space Study Center, affiliated to Subodhi Institute of Integral Education based in Wewala, Piliyandala has been a center of astronomy knowledge and resources for students and astronomy enthusiasts in Sri Lanka for about 24 years. Astronomy & Space Study Center has thus far rendered a great many astronomy professionals working at both national and international arena. Having been once, the most active astronomy society in Sri Lanka, the center has been instrumental in organizing astronomy lectures, activities and observational camps during its regular Saturday programs. Since the society has been inactive for about last 6 years, now a revival attempt has been made to get things back on track.

 I could still recall the last day program we had on 31st of December 2006, almost 6 years ago and gathering from what was following never did I think that it would cost 6 whole years of absence for ASSC to be activated again. The pause was presumed to be for about 6 months or at most one year, but things happened in such a way that it got dragged up to 6 years. The Saturday program that we had each weekend was missing big time and one of the resources that was active providing astronomy knowledge to the country had gone missing. However what has happened has happened, and only those inspired can change the happening.

Letters of invitation

Dileepa at work !

Fr. Mervyn Fernando will patronize the ASSC as usual with the revival of ASSC due next Saturday and the regular Saturday program will be effective each Saturday with an interesting blend of astronomy content and activities. We've already sent out invitations for about 60 schools throughout the island to take part in the event of revival, commencing at 1.30 pm at the Subodhi premises. I sincerely think this would be a great chance to meet old friends, and make new friendships and of course to learn about astronomy. Feel free to comment here if you have some thought to share or anything to clarify or even if you're interested in being a part of this endeavor. Looking forward to meeting many astro-enthusiasts !

Invitations, off they go !!

Facebook event : https://www.facebook.com/events/360137447413015/

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An unknown static blinking red dot close to zenith tonight

I'm publishing this post to know if there are more people who have seen the same as I did, just a while ago. I was going to my rooftop just to catch some fresh air and suddenly something brighter in sky took my attention. It was located about 20 degrees northeast wards from my zenith (I was located in Piliyandal, Sri Lanka), Local time read 20:00h. (09th Spetember 2012). Please note that Sri Lanka is GMT+5:30h

My co-ordinates in Piliyandala

Latitude: +6.801778
Longitude: +79.940354

There was a bright red dot noticeably visible to where I was and I was observing it for almost an hour before it disappeared. However I noticed that the background stars were moving relative to this strange red dot and the dot was frequently varying its color. During this course I assume the dot remained static in its celestial location/ co-ordinates. Thus I noticed a fast variation of its brightness. Unforgettably I didn't have advanced equipment for recording this, but I informed some of my friends located in the same vicinity and few of them could observe the strange red dot.

Just few minutes before it was gone, I noticed the dot becoming even redder and I had no clue what it was, I ruled out that it was a satellite as it was a static object as per my observations.

Finally what I could figure out was that this might be some explosion very far far away from our solar system. Could it be something in the range of what Tycho Brahe observed to be a supernova explosion for months, located from Europe during the 16th century, whereas the duration of this as 1 hour more or less ?

Looking forward to your comments and maybe similar reports..

Clear skies !!

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We're back on Mars - Curiosity Touchdown Story

Yes, we've just made it to the Mars once again, a few minutes ago Curiosity Rover safe-landed on Mars and started to send back the signals. I was just glued to my chair during the last 2 hours of flight of the Curiosity capsule, listening to various media news and NASA TV and finally as it was successful, I was sunken in a lot of feelings. What an effort made by the crew to have this sophisticated robot landed on our neighboring planet, the dedication and sacrifices they've put forward in bringing this up to a reality. So hats off to all those who are behind this great project, well done guys !!!

Plus what kind of discoveries can be made with this rover's expertise. By far Curiosity is the largest rover to have landed on Mars as we know and what we all just have to do is let the science begin, Already there are torrents of photos and data being sent to Earth and you all can see the pictures in NASA website. Quite interestingly it was seen that the NASA web-servers crashed at the high traffic naturally triggered for the Curiosity's news of safe landing. Anyway stay tuned in for NASA for latest news about the Curiosity.

Practice of the tradition of munching peanuts before the entry of the rover

Just before the first entry point, it was seen the usual tradition of munching of peanuts was practiced and now we all know that Curiosity has made it to Mars safely. The crews at JPL were exhilarating as they made the achievement when the pictures of the Martian surface appeared on the screen. It was truly a moment of joy and celebration, as their untiring efforts paid off.

JPL Crew reactions at the touchdown of Curiosity Rover

If you have time just try to find and have a look at the animation depicting the entry and landing, the technique of parachute and rocket boosters is novel and interesting. They have built the largest ever parachute for this endeavor, I heard.  Looking forward to more updates from Curiosity !

Pictures courtesy : NASA TV
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

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