A Call to Action During COVID-19 from the International Astronomical Union Offices

This is an urgent call to action during this unprecedented global pandemic, as the world struggles to contain the spread of COVID-19. We need to do whatever we can to help tackle this pandemic as well as its collateral effects on society.

We believe the astro and broader science community has a wide range of expertise and resources which could help the current situation. Thus, we would like to enable people to actively contribute their skills (data skills, communications expertise, coding, visualization etc). To help everyone cope with the prolonged times being spent indoors, we are also gathering digital astronomy resources and fun activities you can do at home to keep you and any children at home occupied and entertained. 

 

This is just the start and our hope is for the document to grow over time. If you have relevant resources to share with us, please complete this google form and we will add it to the list as soon as possible. 

Best wishes from,

IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO)

IAU Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD)

IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE)
IAU Office for Young Astronomers (OYA)

 

Thank you to the Royal Astronomical Society for their large contributions to this resource list.

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Table of Contents

RESOURCES

CONTRIBUTE

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RESOURCES for keeping busy at home
Think of this list as a starter kit rather than an exhaustive list

Inclusive resources that consider differently-abled individuals are denoted by a (*)

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I’m 3-5 Years Old

Online Events

Royal Astronomical Society Pre-school Session

Videos

Astronomy Day tour and storytime at McDonald Observatory

“The Sun Song” from Travelling Telescope

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I’m 5-10 Years Old

Online Events

Discover the Universe / À la découverte de l'univers

Emily Calandrelli, The Space Gal

 

Printables

ALMA Observatory Paper antenna and transporter toy

Square Kilometer Array (SKA) telescope activities

M.I Saladino space activities

Molecular Cloud Game from University of Massachusetts

 

Online Activities

Space Scoop

NASA Space Place

ESA Kids

Serol's Cosmic Explorers 

ALMA comic book

The Virtual Telescope Project

Telescope live cameras and observe on telescopes with Slooh

MIT Full STEAM resources for the K-12 community of parents, teachers, and students 

“We Share the Same Moon”

Learn about the engineering for the SKA

The Astro Space Challenge phone app and printables(*)

 

Videos

Animated series about ALMA

Virtual field trip to the NASA Johnson Space Center in the US

Astronomy Day tour and storytime at McDonald Observatory

General Astronomy with Auriga Astronomy

General Astronomy with TaralayaBangalore

 

What is the coronavirus?

Dr Michelle Dickinson and Dr Juliet Gerrard talk about the coronavirus with the Prime Minister of New Zealand -- https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=615164082657847 

 

Astronaut Chris Hadfield tells us what he learned about self-isolation when he was in space --

https://youtu.be/4uL5sqe5Uk8 

 

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I’m 11-14 Years Old

Online Events

Discover the Universe / À la découverte de l'univers

 

Emily Calandrelli, The Space Gal

 

Making Space for All with the Ohio State University(*)

 

McDonald Observatory Space Tours

Weekly Astronomy Lecture with ICRAR

 

Printables

Las Cumbres Observatory activities

ALMA Observatory Paper antenna and transporter toy

SKA activities (augmented reality, paper cutout, comic book etc…)

 

Online Activities

Space Scoop

“Mission: Space Explorer” booklet

Technovation 

She Speaks Science

Satellite Builder

Serol's Cosmic Explorers 

Boeing Future U 

Science at Home

ALMA comic book

The Virtual Telescope Project

Telescope live cameras and observe on telescopes with Slooh

MIT Full STEAM resources for the K-12 community of parents, teachers, and students 

“We Share the Same Moon”

“Shared Sky” Exhibit from SKA, connecting astronomy, art and culture

Videos on general astronomy with Auriga Astronomy

Hands-on Activities

Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Junior Astronauts campaign 

NASA Space Place

“Reach Across the Stars” virtually meet female astronomers in AR (*)

Make a solar system model

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I’m 15-18 Years Old

Live Online Events

Global Astronomy Month

 

The Cosmic Shambles Network Stay at Home Festival

 

Space Foundation Discovery Center events

Making Space for All with Ohio State University(*)

 

McDonald Observatory Space Tours

 

Weekly Astronomy Lecture with ICRAR

 

Monthly Lectures and Classes from Orange County Astronomers

 

 

Printables

Las Cumbres Observatory activities

SKA activities

 

Online Activities

Las Cumbres Observatory online activities

Astronomy Picture of the Day

ESA Sky 

Boeing Future U 

Science at Home

The Virtual Telescope Project

Telescope live cameras and observe on telescopes with Slooh

Sentinel Hub data exploration

Space Junk Podcast

Open Source Cubesat Workshop

MIT STEAM resources for the K-12 community of parents, teachers, and students 

Viewable Sky -- Resources to astronomy for blind and disabled people (*)

“Shared Sky” Exhibit from SKA, connecting astronomy, art and culture

PICTOR telescopes, free-to-use, open-source radio telescopes

AAS Nova, news of recent discoveries in astronomy (*)

SKA Amazing Facts

 

Hands-on Projects

DIY Mini Interferometer from the California Institute of Technology

“Reach Across the Stars” virtually meet female astronomers in AR (*)

 

Competition

Galileo Masters -- closes 30 June 2020

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I’m an Adult

Live Events

Space Archeology 101 with Alice Gorman @drspacejunk on Twitter

 

Global Astronomy Month

 

The Cosmic Shambles Network Stay at Home Festival

 

Virtual Science Bar with the Astro Agency (@theastroagency)

 

Stargazers Club WA Live Observing

 

Making Space for All with Ohio State University(*)

Royal Astronomical Society Public Lectures

Weekly Astronomy Lecture with ICRAR

McDonald Observatory Space Tours

 

Textbooks

“Astronomy”

Cambridge University Press

Ngā Whetū Resources

“Women in Astronomy: An Introductory Resource Guide” by Andrew Fraknoi

“Science Fiction Stories with Good Astronomy & Physics: A Topical Index” by Andrew Fraknoi

AAS Nova, news of recent discoveries in astronomy (*)

 

Online Classes

List of astronomy MOOC classes

IAU Office of Astronomy for Development resource list for learning astronomy

Space Archeology 101 with Alice Gorman @drspacejunk

Astronomy - The New Space Age - An Introduction, Online (supported by RAS)

EUMETSAT Training courses for satellite data users

Moons of our Solar System with The Open University

Open Source Cubesat Workshop

 

Online Activities

Space.com Round-up of NASA activities for adults

Sentinel Hub data exploration

Poster competition for the Space Generation Advisory Council Near-Earth Objects

Viewable Sky -- Resources to astronomy for blind and disabled people (*)

“Shared Sky” Exhibit from SKA, connecting astronomy, art and culture

PICTOR telescopes, free-to-use, open source radio telescopes

“Reach Across the Stars” virtually meet female astronomers in AR

Curated list of online resources from Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre

 

Hands-on Projects

DIY Mini Interferometer from the California Institute of Technology

Basic stargazing guide

Build a ground station with crowd-sourced SatNOGS project

Qatar-OSCAR 100 Web Receiver Project

Data mining variable stars with the American Association of Variable Stars Observers

 

Recorded Videos/Webinars

 

Information on COVID-19

Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honors Society

Full Fact, fact-checking website

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I’m Teaching or a Teacher...

Ages 5-9

Lesson/Activity Repositories

 

Programmes

 

Professional Development

 

Ages 10-13

Lesson/Activity Repositories

 

Programmes

 

Resources for Teaching Online

 

Professional Development

 

Ages 14-18

Lesson/Activity Repositories

 

Programmes

 

Resources for Teaching Online

 

Professional Development

 

University Students

Pre-recorded Videos

AAS live-streamed presentations and events

 

Resources for Teaching Online

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I’m a Professor/Researcher

Grants/Fellowships

Patricia Tomkins Undergraduate Prize

 

Online Activities

Publish your research notes with “Research Notes of the AAS”

Qatar-OSCAR 100 Web Receiver Project

Build a ground station with crowd-sourced SatNOGS project

CosMonic, a project to sonify data (*)

  • Link: http://rgb.iaa.es/cosmonic/
  • Inclusive of people who are blind/visually impaired
    • Note: Please first read the Youtube description of the video and then listen to it. As for the webpage, it has been tested in OSX. In OSX, using VoiceOver and clicking the keys (by default) [op + ctrl] + U, it opens the Web item rotor (in Safari) that allows a smooth navigation for visually impaired people. I believe Windows with Jaws should provide a similar experience, but I have not got any feedback on this case.

Professional Development

"Converting Workshops to Online Training” webinar by spaceEU project and Scientix

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I Do Astronomy Outreach…

Online Resources

Mountain of Stars

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Do Things Online with Astronomy Organisations

Daily Astro Challenge with ESERO Ireland

 

Weekly #AstroAtHomeChallenge by IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach 

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Astronomy Citizen Science Projects

Gravity Spy  https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/zooniverse/gravity-spy 

LIGO E-lab  https://www.i2u2.org/elab/ligo/home/project.jsp 

Einstein@Home  https://einsteinathome.org/ 

Space Warps  https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/aprajita/space-warps-hsc 

Planet Hunters   https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/nora-dot-eisner/planet-hunters-tess/about/research 

SETI@Home  https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/index.php 

Rad@Home   https://www.radathomeindia.org/ 

RadioJOVE  http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 

TheSkyNet  http://www.theskynet.org/  

Planet Four: Terrains http://terrains.planetfour.org/ 

MoonZoo http://www.moonzoo.org/ 

Scope http://scope.pari.edu/   

The Great World-Wide Star Count http://www.windows2universe.org/starcount/  

Agent Exoplanet  http://portal.lcogt.net/agentexoplanet/ 

NASA Citizen Science projects  https://science.nasa.gov/citizenscience

Galaxy Cruise https://galaxycruise.mtk.nao.ac.jp/en/index.html

Globe at Night (14-23 April)  https://www.globeatnight.org/ 

Radio Galaxy Zoo: LOFAR https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/chrismrp/radio-galaxy-zoo-lofar 

GALAXY CRUISE https://galaxycruise.mtk.nao.ac.jp/en/index.html 

Radio Galaxy Zoo: LOFAR https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/chrismrp/radio-galaxy-zoo-lofar

Data mining for variable stars https://www.aavso.org/vsx-data-mining

Globe at Night https://www.globeatnight.org/

AstroQuest https://astroquest.net.au/

SuperWASP Variable Stars https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/ajnorton/superwasp-variable-stars

 

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Social Media

Hashtags

#AstroatHome #ScienceAtHome #ScienceFromHome #MuseumFromHome 

 

Facebook

IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach: IAUoutreach

Royal Astronomical Society: RoyalAstroSoc

 

Twitter

IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach: @IAU_outreach

IAU Office of Astronomy for Education: @astro4edu

Royal Astronomical Society: @RoyalAstroSoc

 

Instagram

Royal Astronomical Society: RoyalAstroSoc

 

Newsletter

IAU Outreach Newsletter -- https://www.iau.org/public/publications/newsletter/

 

Events

Daily Astro Challenge with ESERO Ireland

 

Weekly #AstroAtHomeChallenge by IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach 

 

#starentine with Megan Eaves @megoizzy

 

 #STFCScienceAtHome with the STFC (UK) @STFC_Matters

 

#FamilyStargazeWithMark with Mark Thompson @peoplesastro

 

#SpaceHour with Ryan Laird @rjmlaird

 

Royal Observatory Greenwich answers your astronomy questions

 

US National Air and Space Museum

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Non-English Resources

ARABIC (اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ)

Live Online Events

Tunisian Association of Young Astronomers

 

CHINESE (漢語/汉语)

Informational Website

Innovative Methods for Promoting Astronomy 

Link: https://sitexodus.wixsite.com/astronomy/astronomy-stargazing

 

DUTCH

Teaching Resources

ASTRON

 

FRENCH (français)

Online Events

Discover the Universe / À la découverte de l'univers

Tunisian Association of Young Astronomers

Teaching Resource Repository

Comité de Liaison Enseignants et Astronomes

 

ITALIAN (italiano)

Activity Collections

EDU INAF -- https://edu.inaf.it/ 

 

Webinars

Unione Astrofili Italiani (UAI) 

Teaching Resource Repository

EDU INAF video lessons and hands-on activities

Online Activities

INAF Astrokids activities

“From Zero to Infinity” online exhibit from INAF

Astronomy and chant online lesson from UAI (*)

Brief astronomy lessons in Italian Sign Language with UAI (*)

Hands-on Activities

Distance and Scale of the Planets from UAI

 

GREEK (Ελληνικά)

Online activities

Online astronomy courses for elementary school-kids based in Greece  

Link: www.magikopanepistimio.org 

 

HAITIAN CREOLE/FRENCH (kreyòl)

Live Events

Astronomi Lakay Vodcasting with the Haitian Astronomical Society

 

JAPANESE (日本語)

Citizen Science

GALAXY CRUISE

 

KANNADA (ಕನ್ನಡ)

Videos

General Astronomy with TaralayaBangalore

MALAY (Bahasa Melayu, بهاس ملايو‎)

Repository of Teaching Resources 

Apadilangit@Home

 

NORWEGIAN (norsk)

Repository of Teaching Resources 

NAROM and Nordic ESERO

 

PERSIAN/FARSI (فارسی)

Videos

Public lectures on introductory astronomy in Persian

 

POLISH (język polski)

Reading

"Urania" popular science magazine

 

Videos

“Astronarium” TV show produced by the Polish Astronomical Society and Polish Television with support from the Ministry of Science.

 

PORTUGUESE (português)

Online Activity

Recent astronomy news podcast from the Porto Planetarium (*)

 

Hands-on Activity

Scale Model of the Solar System with the Porto Planetarium

Make a Sundial with the Porto Planetarium (*)

 

Citizen Science

CoAstro (*)

 

RUSSIAN (русский)

Online Activity

Poznavayka journal

 

SPANISH (español)

Printables

Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) paper model 

M.I. Saladino activities for primary school-aged kids.

AstroEDU Planisfero Celeste for latitude ~15º-20º S 

Nube Molecular juego from University of Massachusetts

Astronomy with All Senses Handbook on the Solar System

 

Online Event

Maratón Cosmica: a 24-hour online program (in Spanish) with astronomy researchers from various countries covering a variety of topics

 

Navegando por el Cosmos

 

"Astronomía para Quedarse en Casa" by Carlos Charlee Roman

 

Pre-recorded Video

Curso de Astronomía Online

Aprende física con astronomía

Downloadables

“Solo Imagenes” Powerpoint from the Astronomical Observatory of Valencia (*)

“Vida de las Estrellas” powerpoint from the Astronomical Observatory of Valencia (*)

 

TURKISH (Türkçe)

Live Events

Live astronomy lectures from Turkish Astronomical Society

Live Show with Mahmut Tekes

Live Show with Sinan Kocak

 

UKRANIAN (українська мова)

Poznavayka journal

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CONTRIBUTE 

Everyone is strongly recommended to work with local organizations and coordinate efforts with those of many others who might be doing similar work. We must remember that we can assist wherever possible but we are not medical or health experts.

 

Volunteer

Remotely contribute your skills to OAD volunteering list

Hackathons & Tech Communities for helping COVID-19 research

#BuildforCOVID19 Global Online Hackathon

Volunteer or get help in the fight against COVID19

 

Volunteering in Specific Countries

South Africa

Register for the national design, development and local manufacturing and procurement of ventilators, managed by government mandate by the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO).

 

Citizen science

Help researchers solve COVID-19 by folding protein on Foldit

 

Data

Various Infographics -- dashboards, visualisations, graphs, charts, maps, etc…

Dashboards for visualising COVID-19

Statistics and research from Our World in Data 

COVID-19 Open Research Dataset Challenge (CORD-19) | Kaggle

 

Communication 

Use your communication skills to create more awareness and dispel fake news and wrong information. All of us have seen the speed at which inaccurate information is spread online, especially on messaging channels such as Whatsapp. As outreach professionals and educators, many of us have communication skills that can make a difference in these situations. We encourage you to work with your local public health organizations and assist with communication campaigns. You can also think about running communication campaigns in support of science and the scientific method. 


If you have worked on or are part of a successful comms campaign, please share those resources on the google form so others may benefit.

 

Networks 

Use the #astro networks to disseminate accurate information. 

 

 

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