Telescope Reviews: IYA August 1st Lunar Star Parties

IYA August 1st Lunar Star Parties

As part of the International Year of Astronomy, the IYA Summer Star
Party on August 1 will focus on observing the Moon. This is an
especially exciting opportunity to share the wonders of the lunar
surface with the public. Excitement is building around the 40th
anniversary of the Apollo XI mission as well as around NASA's
current Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar CRater
Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) missions. Amateur
astronomy organizations are strongly encouraged to join in
this outstanding outreach event.

NASA's LCROSS lunar impactor mission and the NASA Lunar Science
Institute will be partners in the August 1st IYA Summer Star Party.
They will make presentations, video files, and mission fact sheets
available online (www.lcross.arc.nasa.gov/resources) for
participating astronomy clubs to help inform the public about our
current missions of lunar exploration. They will also be streaming
LRO and LCROSS mission updates online that can be a part of events
that night.

For information on how to plan an IYA star party, the "Host an IYA
Event" webpage: http://astronomy2009.us/howtohost/ has templates
to create your own press release and advertising flyer.

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific's Discovery Guides
(http://www.astrosociety.org/iya/guides.html) have educational
activities that tie in very well with these events:
Craters on the Moon in the February guide
Rocks and Ice in the Solar System in the August guide

Galileoscopes (high-quality, low-cost telescope kits developed
especially for IYA) can be a nice addition to star parties.
See: www.galileoscope.org

You may post your event on this U.S. IYA calendar:
www.astronomy2009.us/calendar/#calform
In addition, the LCROSS mission will publicize August 1st
IYA Lunar Star Parties on the mission website. Participating
organizations should send the name of their organization, as
well as the time and location of their event to Jake Burkart
(jason.burkart@nasa.gov) for inclusion on the mission website.

To find out more about NASA's LRO mission, see:
www.nasa.gov/LRO/

To participate in LCROSS impact observing, see:
lcross.arc.nasa.gov/education.htm
groups.google.com/group/lcross_observation

To learn more about IYA2009 programs, see:
astronomy2009.us (U.S. programs)
astronomy2009.org (international site)