Session 10 – ORALS

“Columba-Hypatia: Astronomy for Peace” is a project by GalileoMobile and the AHDR which takes place on the divided island of Cyprus. The project aims to inspire young people to be curious about science and the cosmos, while also using astronomy as a tool for promoting meaningful communication and a Culture of Peace and Non-violence, “under the same sky”, inspiring a sense of global citizenship. We will share experiences and lessons learnt from the project as well as plans for the future and for building global collaborations to use «Astronomy for Peace» in other post-conflict regions.

Citizen science, collaborative research between professional researchers and general public, is becoming more and more popular. Along with environmental science, history and biology, astronomy is one of the most popular fields of citizen science. The development of astronomy has been developed by the cooperation of amateur astronomers and researchers, even before the current Internet-based systems became popular. Sunspot observation is a good example of citizen science in early days.
Kwasan Observatory, one of Astronomical Observatories, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, was opened in 1929. Kwasan Observatory is said “sacred place for amateur astronomers in Japan.” Staffs of Kwasan Observatory, reserchers of astronomy, has been actively involved in science communication activities from the early stages of its opening, for example, by holding observing sessions for the public.
In Kwasan observatory, not only public outreach activity but also research collaboration between professional researchers and amateur astronomers has occurred.
Issei YAMAMOTO (1889-1959), the first director of Kwasan Observatory, organized “Oriental Astronomical Association (OAA) (in Japanese Toa-tenmon-gakkai),” organization for amateur astronomer in Japan. In the bulletin of OAA, Yamamoto stressed the importance of sunspot observation to amateur astronomers in Japan. At that time, the researchers of solar physics reported sunspot observations around the world and obtained information, but it took time to obtain the information, there Yamamoto thought that researchers in Japan could get the latest information by their own observation in Japan. As a result, records of his observations were sent to Yamamoto from all over Japan. Yamamoto’s materials (now in Kwasan observatory) include solar observation data sent from many observers in Japan. Some of observers continued during World War II despite the scarcity of supplies, and we can see the enthusiasm of the people at that time.
From the viewpoint of today’s Citizen Science, collaborative observation of sunspot between researchers of solar physics and amateur astronomers in Japan has clearly a context of social mission rather than mere academic interest. From the viewpoint of science communication, we can see that Yamamoto’s call includes a social mission to promote astronomy in Japan, and that amateurs responded to Yamamoto’s call by participating in the observation network. It can be said that this collaboration have not only “cultural” (Shen 1975) aspect but also “civic” or “practical” aspect. Unraveling the history of pro-amateur collaboration in astronomy is a perfect example of how to think about the future of science communication and citizen science.

This presentation will examine the HOWs and WHYs of presenting big data to the public in the planetarium. It will summarize five years of efforts of the International Society’s Data to Dome initiative, whose goal is to ‘is to streamline the process of going from data to dome, increasing the potential for scientific communication and storytelling in the planetarium’. We will examine both the technical visualization challenges involved in presenting big data, as well as the scientific communication challenges. We argue that an understanding of how astronomers collect, explore, and draw meaning from large datasets is key to modern science literacy. We also argue that the immersive environment of the planetarium is especially powerful for presenting big data.

Eclipses have been an integral part of India’s cultural and political history and occasions for Hindus to engage in ablution and charity with hope for a better after-life. There are only few references to eclipses in old Indian literature and the chronicles and hardly a word on the phenomenology or the date. In contrast, there are numerous records of eclipses in stone inscriptions and on copper plates, since the middle of the first millennium. The eclipses help fix timelines arrived at by other means. My quest is for earliest records in inscriptions and literature that specifically mention the eclipse as total or annular, and exploring the impact of eclipses coinciding with wars. Solar cult temples can be found all over India. In few prominent ones, I find the assigned dates coinciding with or close to the dates of solar eclipses of large magnitude in the area.
Presently, the earliest record of a solar eclipse belongs to the Nagardhan copper plates of Svamiraja, found in 1948. The plates mention land donation made on the Chaitra solar eclipse day in the Kalachuri year 322, equivalently 19 March 573 CE. The eclipse was total but mentioned nowhere so. Nagardhan in central India narrowly missed the totality. The first direct reference as total is made in an inscription on a monolithic pillar in a Pattadakal temple. It was identified as the eclipse of 25 June 754 CE. It turns out that Pattadakal fell half-way between the central line and the northern fringe of the path of totality. In some cases, the inscriptions describing eclipses as total or ring-like do not seem right as the eclipses at those places have turned out to be partial only.
The Sikh histories mention several Sikh Gurus having visited Kurukshetra in 16th -17th Century on the occasion of solar eclipses with a view to propagate their mission. Their dates are most often wrong. I have identified the best-fit eclipses and believe that the revised dates will make those events in the Sikh history more exact.
Eclipses during wars influence the rulers, the warriors and lives of people. In India, historians have seldom associated eclipses with wars. A total solar eclipse of 17 October 1762 has been thought by some historians to have cast a decisive impact on the course of history in Punjab when Ahmed Shāh Abdāli came over to Amritsar with a strong army to decimate the Sikhs. One such situation emerged during India’s First War of Independence against the British dominion beginning 10th May 1857. Delhi was taken by the British with the capture of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar on 21 September 1857. Just before that, there occurred a solar eclipse on 18 September 1857. Over Delhi the obscuration touched 90% just when the war had reached a very critical stage. The eclipse made heavy impact on the psyche of the Indian soldiers fighting a pitched battle in Delhi that fell to the British two days later.

Estrelleros is an initiative of the Institute of Astronomy of the UNAM to bring astronomy to hospitalized children. We use astronomy as a tool to increase curiosity and scientific culture in these children. We take workshops, telescopes, a mobile planetarium, and conferences to public hospitals in Mexico City. This experience also serves children and their families as distraction and fun amid very complicated situations. We will develop a «basic kit» that allows astronomers from other cities to implement visits. Also teachers will be able to use our material in their classrooms (especially in isolated school with little access to this kind of activities). The kit will contain documents and video capsules with explanations on how to develop the workshops and also with scientific content. This is a project funded and supported by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología and the Instituto de Astronomía of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.