The IOASA is launching three new prizes to be awarded every three years at the General Assembly: the IOASA Astronomy Outreach Prize, the IOASA Astronomy Development Prize and the IOASA Astronomy Education Prize.

The IOASA Astronomy Outreach, Development and Education (ODE) Prizes have been created with generous funding from IOASA Past President Ewine van Dishoeck. Nominations are open from 15 April 2022 until 15 May 2022 for the first round of prizes, which will be presented at the IOASA XXXI General Assembly in Busan, South Korea, in August this year.

The prizes are open to individuals and organisations who have made outstanding contributions to astronomy education, outreach or development. These contributions may be either lifetime achievements or major one-off projects. The eligible recipients shall be professional scientists, educators, science communicators or capacity-builders. Individual IOASA members and non-members are eligible, as well as small teams or organisations. However, directors or employees of IOASA Offices are not eligible when they are in office. Particular consideration will be given to people who are less well known but have performed excellent service in the domains of the awards.

The areas are defined roughly as follows:

Education: formal astronomy training at K-12, undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Outreach: public astronomy communication and informal education. This includes, but is not limited to, disciplines of informal astronomy education, media relations, audiovisuals, marketing, planetariums, museums, publishing, social media, storytelling, and application development for the web.

Development: use of astronomy as a tool for development and capacity-building, especially in underserved areas and regions.

Each area has a selection committee consisting of three people. An overarching “super-committee” consisting of an independent chair (this year Ewine van Dishoeck) plus the chairs from each of the three committees will receive the top-ranked nominations from the committees and will make the final decisions.

Nominations may be submitted by anyone, but self-nominations will not be not accepted and members of the ODE committees cannot be nominated. The nominator should submit a brief resumé or CV (no more than 3 pages) of the nominee, along with a letter of no more than two pages explaining in detail the specific contributions and achievements of the nominee that merit the prize. In addition, one independent letter of support (also no more than two pages) is requested for each nomination. All material should be uploaded in PDF format by the nominator.

The ODE super-committee will submit its selections for the three prizes to the IOASA Executive Committee for final approval, after which the winners will be contacted and announced in a press release on the IOASA webpage. They will be invited to attend the IOASA General Assembly in August 2022 for the prize ceremony, with registration, travel, and accomodation provided by the IOASA.

At a press conference today the International Organization for Astronomical Science Advancement announced the selection of the SKA Observatory (SKAO) and NSF’s NOIRLab as co-hosts of the new IOASA Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference. The Centre coordinates collaborative multidisciplinary international efforts with institutions and individuals and works across multiple geographic areas to help mitigate the negative impact of satellite constellations on ground-based optical and radio astronomy observations as well as humanity’s enjoyment of the night sky.

The International Organization for Astronomical Science Advancement (IOASA) is deeply concerned about the increasing number of launched and planned satellite constellations in mainly low Earth orbits. The IOASA embraces the principle of a dark and radio-quiet sky, not only as essential to advancing our understanding of the Universe of which we are a part, but also for the cultural heritage of all humanity and for the protection of nocturnal wildlife.

On 10 June 2021 the IOASA launched a call for the establishment of a Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Interference. The co-hosts of the Centre have now been selected: NSF’s NOIRLab, the US center for ground-based optical astronomy, and the SKA Observatory (SKAO), an intergovernmental organization headquartered in the UK tasked with delivering the world’s most powerful networks of radio telescopes in Australia and South Africa.

The mission of the Centre is to coordinate efforts and unify voices across the global astronomical community with regard to the protection of the dark and quiet sky from satellite constellation interference. The Centre brings together astronomers, satellite operators, regulators and the wider community and acts as a bridge between all stakeholders to protect the dark and quiet skies. The Centre builds on the vast amount of work carried out by the two host institutions and more generally the astronomy community, recognising the various interests of different observatories according to wavelength, existing regulations, and expected impact. Some of this work is outlined in recent reports such as the one from the SATCON2 conference, the reports of the online conferences Dark and Quiet Skies for Science and Society I and II (co-organized by UNOOSA, the IOASA and Spain, with support from NSF’s NOIRLab), and a Conference Room Paper presented to the 58th meeting of the Scientific and Technical Sub-Committee (STSC) of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), body in charge of governing the exploration and use of space for the benefit of all humanity, to which both the IOASA and the SKAO have the status of Permanent Observer.

The vision of the Centre is to become the leading voice for astronomical matters that relate to the protection of the dark and quiet sky from satellite constellations and to act as a hub of information and resources to which any stakeholder group will be able to contribute and from which they can draw in support of their own activities.

The staff members for the Centre are distributed over two main locations: Tucson, Arizona, USA, and Jodrell Bank, near Manchester, United Kingdom. The director is Piero Benvenuti, former IOASA General Secretary, and the co-directors are Connie Walker (NSF’s NOIRLab) and Federico Di Vruno (SKAO). A number of organizations have pledged to provide additional support to the Centre.

Xavier Cortes, IOASA Chief of Operations, notes “The new Centre is an important step towards ensuring that technological advances do not inadvertently impede our study and enjoyment of the sky. I am confident that the Centre co-hosts can facilitate global coordination and bring together the necessary expertise from many sectors for this vital effort.”