1. How can I participate in the International Year of Astronomy?

One of the International Year of Astronomy goals is to enable as many people as possible to experience the excitement of personal discovery that Galileo felt when he spied lunar craters and mountains, the moons of Jupiter, and other cosmic wonders. Also, it is meant to encourage citizens to think about how new observations force us to reconsider our understanding of the natural world.

If you are a newbie or an astronomy enthusiast…
If you are a beginner and would like to get some advice, the best you can do is to contact a local astronomy club, planetarium or science museum. A list of organizations worldwide can be found on http://skytonight.com/community/organizations or on http://www.astronomyclubs.com/

If you are an amateur astronomer…
For every professional astronomer, there are at least 20 amateur astronomers. The IAU is encouraging amateur astronomers to pay a major role in the organization of astronomy outreach activities. As an amateur astronomer, you can join a local astronomy club and plan some cool astronomy outreach activities. Lots of ideas can be “stolen” from the IYA activities pages, don’t be afraid of replicating and adapting them according to your own country’s history and culture. Get in touch with science teachers in the local schools, and propose some practical activities for the students involving the observation of the sky.

If you are a professional astronomer…
You can do all the above, and contact your country’s Single Point of Contact for getting advice and new ideas on what can be done in order to promote astronomy in your region. You can coordinate activities together with amateur astronomers, help them to publish your results and contribute to science.

2. I have an idea for an activity and it is not listed in the activities pages. How can I submit it?

If you have a new idea and you are sure it is not listed in the national, regional and global activities, pages, you should contact the Single Point of Contact from your own country and propose your ideas to him or her. To contact the Single Point of Contact, please check this link, where you will find a list of countries and their national pages.