For whom: high school and university students, teachers, and astronomy enthusiasts.
If you are interested, please send your CV to heenatigala (AT) strw.leidenuniv.nl
Deadline to apply: 20 November 2017
Thursday
Call for volunteers: Translate Astronomy articles from English to Sinhalese
We are looking for volunteer translator to work on an international astronomy project to translate latest astronomy articles from English to Sinhalese. The articles are latest press releases from various institutions around the world. Volunteer term period is 3, 6, or 12 months.
For whom: high school and university students, teachers, and astronomy enthusiasts.
If you are interested, please send your CV to heenatigala (AT) strw.leidenuniv.nl
Deadline to apply: 20 November 2017
For whom: high school and university students, teachers, and astronomy enthusiasts.
If you are interested, please send your CV to heenatigala (AT) strw.leidenuniv.nl
Deadline to apply: 20 November 2017
Friday
‘Universe in the Classroom’ Launched in Sri Lanka
For six-weeks, a group of interns brought the Universe in to the classroom. Working together, they reached hundreds of young students. From stars, solar system to constellations, many hands-on topics were explored.
Association internationale des étudiants en sciences économiques et commerciales (AIESEC) is the world’s largest student-led organisation, a non-profit, non-political platform for youth to enhance their skills. Universe Awareness (UNAWE) Sri Lanka is a programme dedicated to bring the joy and knowledge of the universe to children. Together with AIESEC Sri Lanka, Jayawardenepura Local Committee and UNAWE Sri Lanka launched the project ‘Universe in the Classroom’ where interns and volunteers will use the ‘Universe in a Box’ resources to reach out to young students to learn and enjoy basic astronomy with a hands-on approach.
The first phase of the project, named ‘Astrovaganza’ gathered 12 international and local students. It was coordinated by Thishan Pavithra, a student of University of Jayawardenepura and supervised by Thilina Heenatigala, coordinator of UNAWE Sri Lanka programme. UNAWE Sri Lanka hopes to continue ‘Universe in the Classroom’ in more rural areas with collaboration of AIESEC.
Association internationale des étudiants en sciences économiques et commerciales (AIESEC) is the world’s largest student-led organisation, a non-profit, non-political platform for youth to enhance their skills. Universe Awareness (UNAWE) Sri Lanka is a programme dedicated to bring the joy and knowledge of the universe to children. Together with AIESEC Sri Lanka, Jayawardenepura Local Committee and UNAWE Sri Lanka launched the project ‘Universe in the Classroom’ where interns and volunteers will use the ‘Universe in a Box’ resources to reach out to young students to learn and enjoy basic astronomy with a hands-on approach.
The first phase of the project, named ‘Astrovaganza’ gathered 12 international and local students. It was coordinated by Thishan Pavithra, a student of University of Jayawardenepura and supervised by Thilina Heenatigala, coordinator of UNAWE Sri Lanka programme. UNAWE Sri Lanka hopes to continue ‘Universe in the Classroom’ in more rural areas with collaboration of AIESEC.
Thursday
UNAWE 2012 Impact Figures
To mark the end of a very busy and successful year inspiring young children with the delights of the Universe, UNAWE have gathered information from all corners of the extensive UNAWE international network to find out exactly what impact the project has had throughout 2012.
Read more at: http://www.unawe.org/updates/unawe-update-1304/
Wednesday
Supernova Hunters!
Check out this new space photo of a galaxy. It is the most detailed photo ever taken of this galaxy! In the picture it looks like a peaceful place, but astronomers have spotted the violent explosions of two stars in this galaxy over the past 30 years.
Read the full article in Sinhalese here.
Credits:
Text - ESO/UNAWE
Image - ESO
Translation: UNAWE-Sri Lanka (Rangitha Kuruppu)
Thursday
The ‘O’ So Big Gobstoppers of the Universe!
The Universe is like a pick n’ mix store when it comes to the variety of stars that it contains. Read the full article in Sinhalese here.
Credits:
Text - ESO/UNAWE
Image - ESO
Translation: UNAWE-Sri Lanka (Rangitha Kuruppu)
Commemoration Ceremony of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev
In collaboration with Royal College Astronomical Society and The Russian Centre in Colombo, UNAWE-Sri Lanka celebrated on 18 January 2012, the birth and death anniversary of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev; lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer in the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the 1950s and 1960s.
The event was participated by H.E. The Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Prof. Tissa Vitharana; Minister of Scientific Affairs, Prof. Kavan Ratanatunga; astrophysicist, Thilina Heenatigala; Sri Lanka Astronomical Association and school students from several schools in Colombo.
The event started with screening a rare footage of Russian Space program and S.P. Korolev’s involvement. This was followed up by a hands-on activity session on rocketry for school students.
Images from the event:
S.P. Korolev memorial
H.E. The Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Prof. Tissa Vitharana;
Minister of Scientific Affairs at the S.P. Korolev exhibition.
Participants; school students, teachers and military personals.
Students engaged in the activity session.
Students engaged in the activity session.
The event was participated by H.E. The Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Prof. Tissa Vitharana; Minister of Scientific Affairs, Prof. Kavan Ratanatunga; astrophysicist, Thilina Heenatigala; Sri Lanka Astronomical Association and school students from several schools in Colombo.
The event started with screening a rare footage of Russian Space program and S.P. Korolev’s involvement. This was followed up by a hands-on activity session on rocketry for school students.
Images from the event:
S.P. Korolev memorial
H.E. The Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Prof. Tissa Vitharana;Minister of Scientific Affairs at the S.P. Korolev exhibition.
Participants; school students, teachers and military personals.
Students engaged in the activity session.
Students engaged in the activity session.Sunday
Cub Scouts of Sri Lanka Enjoys a Tour around the Universe
UNAWE Sri Lanka organized an astronomy session for cub scouts of Athurugiriya Maha Vidyalaya (Athurugiriya School) as a part of their first camp on 24 September 2011. The event gathered about 100+ cub scouts aged 8 – 10 with 20 teachers.
The evening started with an introduction to Night Sky which was followed up with observing sessions. It was the first time for all the children and teachers to learn about the wonders of the night sky. They enjoyed identifying the constellations and the first glimpse of the deep sky objects through binoculars.
The next session was an introduction to the Solar System. Before the session, UNAWE Sri Lanka coordinator asked couple of questions to determine the knowledge level of the children. Majority was not aware of the number of planets in the Solar System or in proper order. Interestingly many thought Venus is a Star due to local word phrasing for the planet which gives the meaning as a Star.
After the tour around the Solar System, children enjoyed doing some activities such as astronomy words finding, colouring an astronaut and moon, and building a paper rocket. As the last session of the event, the cubs got to learn about rockets and space shuttles with some videos to explain them better.
At the end of the event, plans were made to do some follow up workshop series for students from grades 2 – 9 and also a teacher training program for teachers from several schools in the area.
The evening started with an introduction to Night Sky which was followed up with observing sessions. It was the first time for all the children and teachers to learn about the wonders of the night sky. They enjoyed identifying the constellations and the first glimpse of the deep sky objects through binoculars.
The next session was an introduction to the Solar System. Before the session, UNAWE Sri Lanka coordinator asked couple of questions to determine the knowledge level of the children. Majority was not aware of the number of planets in the Solar System or in proper order. Interestingly many thought Venus is a Star due to local word phrasing for the planet which gives the meaning as a Star.
After the tour around the Solar System, children enjoyed doing some activities such as astronomy words finding, colouring an astronaut and moon, and building a paper rocket. As the last session of the event, the cubs got to learn about rockets and space shuttles with some videos to explain them better.
At the end of the event, plans were made to do some follow up workshop series for students from grades 2 – 9 and also a teacher training program for teachers from several schools in the area.
Saturday
Astronomy Event for Scouts of Athurugiriya School, Sri Lanka
UNAWE Sri Lanka will be running an astronomy event for scouts of Athurugiriya School. The event will cover introduction to Night Sky, Solar System, and Rockets which will follow up with observing session (weather permitting) and other hands-on activities.
Date: 24/09/2011
Venue: Auditorium and main grounds of Athurugiriya School.
Date: 24/09/2011
Venue: Auditorium and main grounds of Athurugiriya School.
Friday
Astronomers Make a Splash with a New Discovery
Did you know that everything on Earth is made of stuff from stars? If you could look at the world around you with a super-powerful microscope, you would see that everything is made up of tiny things called atoms. Today we know about more than 110 different types of atoms, with hydrogen being the most common atom in the Universe.
Full article in Sinhalese:
Click here for English version.
Credits:
Text - ESO/UNAWE
Image - ESO
Translation: UNAWE-Sri Lanka (Rangitha Kuruppu)
Tuesday
A Flash from the Past
Astronomers can look back in time to when the Universe was younger. But they don’t have to hop into a time travel machine to do this, like in a sci-fi movie. Instead, all they need are powerful telescopes to look at objects that are far away in the Universe, because when we look at space we are looking at the past!
Full article in Sinhalese:
Click here for English version.
Credits:
Text - ESO/UNAWE
Image - ESO
Translation: UNAWE-Sri Lanka (Rangitha Kuruppu)
Wednesday
A Big Fiery Giant!
Using the VISIR instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have imaged a complex and bright nebula around the supergiant star Betelgeuse in greater detail than ever before. This structure, which resembles flames emanating from the star, is formed as the behemoth sheds its material into space.
Full article in Sinhalese:
Click here for English version.
Credits:
Text - ESO/UNAWE
Image - ESO
Translation: UNAWE-Sri Lanka (Rangitha Kuruppu)
Thursday
Our Universe is big, beautiful… and mostly invisible!
A team of scientists has studied the galaxy cluster Abell 2744, nicknamed Pandora’s Cluster. They have pieced together the cluster’s complex and violent history using telescopes in space and on the ground, including ESO’s Very Large Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope. Abell 2744 seems to be the result of a simultaneous pile-up of at least four separate galaxy clusters and this complex collision has produced strange effects that have never been seen together before.
Full article in Sinhalese:
Click here for English version.
Credits:
Text - ESO/UNAWE
Image - ESO
Translation: UNAWE-Sri Lanka (Rangitha Kuruppu)
Tuesday
Astronomy in the Desert!
Professional astronomers have powerful telescopes that can take amazing pictures of the Universe. But to get the most out of the telescopes, they have to think carefully about where they put them on Earth.Full article in Sinhalese:
Click here for English version.
Credits:
Text - ESO/UNAWE
Image - ESO
Translation: UNAWE-Sri Lanka (Rangitha Kuruppu)
Space Scoop launched in Sri Lanka
Universe Awareness has started a collaboration with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory to produce the astronomy news service - Space Scoop - that are written specifically for children aged between 7 and 11 years old. Space Scoop is meant to feed children's curiosity about the Universe.
UNAWE - Sri Lanka launched Space Scoop in Sinhalese making it possible for all the Sinhalese reading children to learn latest in astronomy. The effort was launched during the June 2011 meeting of Sri Lanka Astronomical Association.
UNAWE Sri Lanka hope to translate Space Scoop in to Tamil in near future and to publish the articles in local papers.
Who can use this service?
Children — In a world where children are sometimes more technically savvy than grown-ups, Space Scoop is meant to feed their curiosity about the Universe, by allowing them to access ESO releases in their own language.
Parents — They can read about the latest discoveries in astronomy and explain them to children who are younger than seven years old or who do not use computers on their own.
Teachers — They can use Space Scoop as a resource in the classroom to discuss the latest discoveries.
UNAWE - Sri Lanka Coordinator introducing Space Scoop.Call for volunteers: Translating science articles from English to Sinhalese and Tamil
We are looking for volunteers who could help us to translate science article from English to both Sinhalese and Tamil. The articles are focused on kids. The articles will be published in our website and we are working on getting them published in the print media too.
If you are interested, please write to me directly at: thilina.heenatigala (AT) yahoo.com
Cheers!
Thilina Heenatigala
General Secretary - Sri Lanka Astronomical Association
UNAWE - Sri Lanka efforts featured on UNAWE International website
UNAWE - Sri Lanka was launched in 2009 and held couple of successful events. Many thanks for Carolina Odman for featuring UNAWE - Sri Lanka efforts on UNAWE International website.
Outreach session at Girls' Home
UNAWE - Sri Lanka coordinator; Thilina Heenatigala celebrated his birthday with an UNAWE program for Girls' Home.
Read the full report with photos at Universe Cafe blog.
Read the full report with photos at Universe Cafe blog.
Galle Astronomy Workshop
An astronomy workshop was held in Galle (South) Sri Lanka on the 26 – 27 of March 2010 for students and teachers of Sacred Heart Convent. The workshop was conducted by Sri Lanka Astronomical Association as a part of UNAWE – Sri Lanka, Saturn Observation Campaign, Dark-Sky Astro-Tourism project and pre-Global Astronomy Month (GAM) program.
The workshop is one of the long running annual programs in Southern Sri Lanka and this is the 7th consecutive time it’s been held. About 150 students and 20 teachers participated in the workshop.
Read full report with images.
The workshop is one of the long running annual programs in Southern Sri Lanka and this is the 7th consecutive time it’s been held. About 150 students and 20 teachers participated in the workshop.
Read full report with images.
Monday
UNAWE supports Naming X contest
2010 celebrates the 80th anniversary of the discovery of Pluto and marks the 1st year anniversary of Venetia Burney Phair’s death, on 30th April 2009, aged 90.
Venetia was a young schoolgirl, living in Oxford, England in 1930, when she came up with the name ‘Pluto’ for the newly discovered Planet X. Venetia was interested in classical mythology as well as astronomy and considered the name, that of the Roman god of the Underworld, appropriate for such a presumably dark and cold world. To celebrate her insight, and the global endeavour that is astronomy, a new competition has been launched: ‘Naming X’, to find the next influential student or school group with the creative and scientific talent to suggest a suitable name (and reasons for it) should the same opportunity of naming a planetary or celestial body arise, like it did for Venetia.
More info and winners: http://venetiaburneyphair.blogspot.com/p/competition.html
Venetia was a young schoolgirl, living in Oxford, England in 1930, when she came up with the name ‘Pluto’ for the newly discovered Planet X. Venetia was interested in classical mythology as well as astronomy and considered the name, that of the Roman god of the Underworld, appropriate for such a presumably dark and cold world. To celebrate her insight, and the global endeavour that is astronomy, a new competition has been launched: ‘Naming X’, to find the next influential student or school group with the creative and scientific talent to suggest a suitable name (and reasons for it) should the same opportunity of naming a planetary or celestial body arise, like it did for Venetia.
More info and winners: http://venetiaburneyphair.blogspot.com/p/competition.html
UNAWE - Sri Lanka launched with Girl Guides
The first UNAWE - Sri Lanka program was held on 8 August 2009 for Girl Guides at Holly Family Convent, Dehiwala. About 50+ girls in grades 6 - 9 and teachers joined for an evening of celestial experience.
The program started with an introduction to the night sky conducted by Thilina Heenatigala. It was followed by an introduction on how to use star maps by Dimuth Waliwitiya. The girls were divided into two groups and the conductors took them for a ride through the night sky, introducing constellations, planets. The students were given a chance to find constellations using star maps on their own as well. The evening concluded with a dinner together with the guides.
You can download a full report of the experience here.
UPDATE: Report of the event featured on UNAWE website.
The program started with an introduction to the night sky conducted by Thilina Heenatigala. It was followed by an introduction on how to use star maps by Dimuth Waliwitiya. The girls were divided into two groups and the conductors took them for a ride through the night sky, introducing constellations, planets. The students were given a chance to find constellations using star maps on their own as well. The evening concluded with a dinner together with the guides.
You can download a full report of the experience here.
UPDATE: Report of the event featured on UNAWE website.
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