As we already did for the first sunrise of the astronomical year, and the partial eclipse, this webpage is portal to share links and information about the eclipse.

We have also created a way so that anyone could participate and upload their pictures of the eclipse, as it hoovers along Asia. Making it possible for the whole world to enjoy this magnificent event.

Tell your friends to send their pictures, take a look to the webpage and, above all, make it happen

In May 1919, the famous astronomer, Sir Arthur Eddington, the Royal Astronomical Society and the Geographical Society of Lisbon launched an historic expedition to observe a total solar eclipse. Historians now recognise this as a major achievement of 20th Century science. To commemorate the 90th anniversary, IYA2009 has given Special Project status to the Celebrating the 1919 Eclipse at Príncipe initiative and endorsed a ceremony that took place on the island.

The 1919 eclipse was visible from equatorial regions on both sides of the Atlantic; Eddington sent one team to Sobral in Brazil, and went himself went to the African island of Príncipe. Stars in the Hyades cluster were behind the Sun during the eclipse, and appeared to shift from their true positions by 1.75 arcseconds. This gravitational deflection of light by the Sun’s mass provided the first experimental verification of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Neither Einstein nor Eddington initially foresaw practical applications for the effect known as gravitational lensing, although 90 years later it has emerged as the most promising probe of our Universe.

To mark the 90th anniversary, on 29 May 2009 a team visited Roça Sundy, the former colonial plantation where Eddington took measurements. A series of public lectures were given in Santo António, the capital of Príncipe. A new set of postage stamps for São Tomé and Príncipe were released, commemorating Sir Arthur Eddington and the 1919 eclipse. On the big day, a convoy with almost 100 delegates (particularly impressive given the island has fewer than 5000 inhabitants) was greeted with dancers and banners. A commemorative plaque was then unveiled which explains the experiment and its significance in Portuguese and English.

The event proved to be a real success, and IYA2009 is proud to be associated with honouring the 90th anniversary of this historic experiment. A personal account of the recent expedition and ceremony, including photographs, is available on the project’s blog page.

PD> This website has been quite silent on the last weeks. We will make our best to recover some rhythm and get you some updates for the upcoming Total Solar Eclipse.

It’s NASA’s 2009 Mission Madness Tournament. And the ESA/NASA solar observatory SOHO is in the finals.

So if you think SOHO is your favorite all time NASA mission, then vote for SOHO!

To vote for SOHO:

1. Visit: http://mission-madness.nasa.gov/mm/bracket.html

2. Find SOHO (under the large, red SUBMIT VOTE button)

3. Click on “SOHO” to highlight the name, then click on blue arrow.

4. Click the large, red, “Submit vote” button. You’ll be asked to enter some characters in a pop-up box to verify you’re not a robot, and your vote will be counted;

5. Go to (1), above by clicking on the “bracket” link in the middle of the page, and repeat as often as you like.

Join us with any of the many events from 100 hours of astronomy today, or the ones commented on our Sun Day page, or follow the instructions to create your own event. You decide, but please, remember these safety instructions.

You can also check the APOD today, dedicated to this Sun Day.

IYA2009: The Universe, yours to discover.

Sun Day: The Sun, yours to discover.

Only few days left for 100 Hours of Astronomy to start ( 2-5 April ). Take a look to the myriad of events organized everywhere, everyday and of every kind. As the motto says, make it happen.

Among these events there are many sun related ones. Take a look to the solar filtered list. you should also take a look on your national webpage. Some events are recorded on their national webpages instead of the global project page. This is specially true for non-English speaking countries.

Everyday of 100 Hours there s featured activity. And the last day, as you know is the Sun Day. We encourage you, again, to find events near you or even make your own using our guides.

Remember, make it happen, … and send us the pictures!

[News update from NASA Sun-Earth]

Sun Earth Day 2009- Our Sun Yours to Discover is just 2 weeks away! We have again been working hard to bring a webcast that is suitable for all ages and all audiences. This is a brief outline of what the webcast will contain:

For each mission and discovery there will be great visualizations to keep things exciting!

During the webcast, scientists Eric Christian, Nicky Fox, Terry Kucera and Sten Odenwald will share discoveries about the sun, while students monitor the sun and prepare their own space weather forecast.

· We begin with safe use of the telescope

· Welcome and introduction of students who will be monitoring the Sun during the webcast. Questions will be asked about their progress during the webcast.

· A look at history-Galileo

· Hinode satellite discoveries, followed by a Q and A session live from Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Adler Planetarium

· SoHO and STEREO discoveries

· Q and A- Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Adler Planetarium

· THEMIS discoveries

· TIMED/POLAR imagery, Magnetosphere, Van Allen radiation belts

· Q and A- Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Adler Planetarium

· Voyager and IBEX discoveries

· Q and A- Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Adler Planetarium

· SDO to be discovered

· Q and A- Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Adler Planetarium

· Space Weather Report by students at the Space Weather Action Center

We will begin the webcast at 1:00 EDT -1 hour

You can connect to the webcast from several different links and the NASA Education channel at 1:00 live, (re-run 3:30 and 6:00 EDT)

This is featured on the Sun Earth Day website; http://sunearthday.nasa.gov

With web links to the following or go directly to:

NASA Education channel is also streamed:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html?param=education

And it is easy enough to click to, from NASA Home portal page, click NASA TV (live), next window select Education Channel. And http://dln.nasa.gov/dln/content/webcast/index.jsp

The following are the digital coordinates for NASA TV Education Channel:

Digital NASA Television via Satellite

Specifically, here’s the info for the Education Channel 102:

Program = 102 (HQ2),

Video PID = 0121 decimal = 0×0079

Audio PID = 0124 decimal 0×007C

AC-3 PID = 0125 decimal 0×007D

Uplink provider = Americom
Satellite = AMC 6
Transponder = 17C
72 Degrees West
Downlink Frequency: 4040 Mhz
Polarity: Vertical
FEC = 3/4
Data Rate r= 36.860 MHz
Symbol = 26.665 Ms
Transmission = DVB

If you have problems receiving NASA TV Channels please call
Master Control at 202-358-0024 between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday
through Friday.

All the info is available at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/digital.html.

Once every fall and spring since 2000, Solar Week provides a week of series of web-based educational classroom activities and games geared for upper-elementary, middle and high school students, with a focus on the Sun-Earth connection. Initiated as a means of encouraging girls in the sciences, one of Solar Week’s special strengths is a role model approach, expressed through on-line interaction between (all) students and leading women solar scientists (via interactive message board).

WEEKLONG CURRICULUM AND ACTIVITIES:
Students learn about solar eclipses, sunspots, and solar storms through a series of activities, games, and lessons.

· Monday – The Sun As A Star

· Tuesday – Solar Closeups, including solar flares and coronal mass ejections.

· Wednesday – The Active Sun

· Thursday – Let’s Observe the Sun Safely

· Friday – Solar Careers, including Women in Science, Research Jobs and Salaries, and Scientist Blogs.

Solar Week is ideal for students studying the solar system, the stars, and astronomy in general. It’s also for kids wondering what it’s like being a scientist, and possible career choices. Participation makes for a fun computer lab activity as well.

WEEK-LONG INTERACTIVE MESSAGE BOARD:

http://www.solarweek.org/CS

Solar Week has an interactive message board, where classrooms can pose questions of leading solar scientists. Want to know what they know about the Sun? (please read the FAQs before posting).

From the Solar TG we encourage you you take a look and participate in this initiative… and send us your comments and pictures!!

StarPeace project is a global project aimed at connecting people living on two sides of the land or sea borders of different countries by conducting joint star parties to show that the sky, being the same everywhere, could act as a bridge to join the people of the world regardless of the race, culture or nation they belong to. StarPeace is made possible by volunteer participation of active amateur astronomical groups around the world.

 StarPeace started its official activities at the Dawn of 2009 by conducting star parties on two sides of the Persian Gulf in Qeshm Island, Iran and Dubai, UAE. StarPeace project is now officially a Special Project of the IYA2009.

Want to listen to one of those? Yesterday Thomas  Ashcraft, in New Mexico recorder and processed one particular radio burst from the Sun. You can listen to the burst here:

On visible ranges we can even see this disruption. Here thanks to STEREO SECCHI instrument. On the movie that loads, look for the sudden change.:

These disruption are one of the many aspects of space weather. See for example, the effect of a strong Solar Radio Burst 2 years ago. Look on the Resources page for more information about space weather.

Coming back to radio frequencies, here is another example of one of these Radio Bursts, again converted into audible frecuencies:

Link to first audio sent by Manoj Pai, thanks!