For the past 20 years Sky & Telescope has sponsored the annual Astronomy Day Award given to the organization or organizations that best exemplify the concept of Astronomy Day. Now with additional sponsorship from the American Astronomical Society and the Astronomical League, the Award is being modified with even more cash prizes in recognition of the International Year of Astronomy.

Now there will be up to 3 Award winners per year each in a different size category. In an effort to recognize groups of varying sizes, the Astronomical League will award a $150 cash prize to groups in the Large, Medium and Small population based categories. In addition, there will be $50 prizes for each of the winners in “The Best New Idea” and “Quality Events Year After Year” category. Non-monetary “Honorable Mention” awards will be given to those organizations that were in the final judging for the primary awards.

Prizes will be presented at the Astronomical League’s Annual Convention (ALCON) August 7-8, 2009 hosted by Hofstra University in Hempsted, NY.

Entry forms are available from www.astroleague.org/al/astroday/award or by sending a SASE to

Rickey Ainsworth
Assistant Astronomy Day Coordinator
Public Museum of Grand Rapids
272 Pearl NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49504
rainswor@grmuseum.org
(616) 456-3594

Entries must be received by June 13, 2009

CALL FOR ENTRIES:

The Smithsonian Photography Initiative (SPI) invites you to contribute images and stories to “click! photography changes everything” (click.si.edu), an online exhibit that explores how photography influences every aspect of our lives. This month’s focus: “Seeing Other Worlds”: ~Submit your photo and story (www.click.si.edu/Connect.aspx) about how photography influences our ability to see people, places, and things ‘unseen’ or ‘unfamiliar’. You can also share your thoughts about photos of the universe from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. ~Selected entries will be added to the “click!” website, which features photos and stories from innovators, writers, and public figures across multiple disciplines. ~Entries selected for the “click!” website will be eligible to receive a copy of the book, At First Sight: Photography and the Smithsonian, an intriguing glimpse into the Smithsonian’s more than seven hundred photographic collections.

The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, CO has announced that the Solar Cycle 24 Prediction Panel has officially changed the prediction of solar minimum in March 2008 to be August 2008 at the earliest. The two predictions of a maximum sunspot number of either 90 or 140 remain intact.

 A gamma ray burst designated GRB090423 was detected by the NASA Swift satellite last Thursday, April 23, may have occurred when the universe was only 630 million years old. This may be one of the earliest explosions of a massive star. For more info see http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2009/pr200911.html

Credit: NASA/Swift/Stefan Immler

Credit: Edo Berger (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA)