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Tag: Galileo Moment
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Here in Canada one of the goals of our IYA program across the country is to provide as many people as possible opportunities to experience what we’ve called “Galileo Moments” — their own personal moments of discovery. These might happen at the eyepiece of a telescope, or they might happen at a concert, a lecture, or an art display. It can be any event that provides an “engaging” astronomical experience. I think it’s a great idea. And so far it is working very well.
To aid the goal, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada printed up and distributed across Canada tens of thousands of trading cards – small picture cards of astronomical objects with a few choice facts on the back. We hand out the cards to everyone who looks through our telescopes or attends a special IYA event. I’ll be handing out a couple of thousand cards next weekend at our Calgary symphony’s performance of The Planets by Holst, where we plan to have a replica of Galileo’s telescope on display in the concert hall lobby for all to look through. Our local supply of cards has been dwindling quickly – the kids love them! (We find very few on the ground afterwards!) To collect the complete set of 7 cards people have to come back and attend other events. But the real kicker is when they learn what they can do with the cards.
By going to our national node website (http://www.astronomy2009.ca/) and entering a keycode number on the card, they can register their name and have it launched into space next year on NEOSSat, a space telescope satellite being built in Canada to be launched next year to search for near-Earth asteroids from space, ones orbiting close to the Sun and out of reach of ground-based surveys. So far, when I mention the name-in-space perk, the reaction is the same from adults and kids alike: “That’s just so neat!” The delight just adds to the amazement — their “Galileo Moment” — sparked by their astronomical encounter. Giveaways can also prompt people to come back for other events or visit websites, to follow up on their initial interest. So — if you are a 100 HA event organizer, here’s my advice: if there are any giveaway items you can hand out, do so. Even a simple picture postcard can be a treasured souvenir. — Alan Dyer
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