Members Reports

Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (401) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 8 hours ago
Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (401) In the Children's Small Town By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (astro-photo-poem) and Florin Alexandru Stancu (design) On March 25, 2022 the Morning Moon suggested I pay her a visit, so I went to the Children's Small Town, where I had the best chance of finding a spaceship. A dangerous fireball transformed into a kind dragon let me enter that locality and, it's true, I saw more spaceships and space capsules, but none of them went to the Moon. Instead, an enchanted little train took me to a crazy dance among the stars... ...

Mars occultation is a great celestial bon voyage

By Derek Wallentinsen posted 2 days ago
Wow! On December 8, the ACEAP 2020 cohort makes its much, much, much-anticipated journey down south. As you can see, my bags are packed and I'm good to go. And that's not all, folks. Coming up on Wednesday night, December 7 is a solar system spectacular with the two brightest objects in the winter evening sky. The moon is full at 908pm Mountain Standard Time. Mars reaches opposition to the sun at 1036pm MST. And the moon will eclipse – occult is the general term for this type of event – the planet across most of North America. Where I live in Albuquerque, Mars disappears behind the lunar limb around 740pm and reappears just about one hour later at ...

LAAS Public Star Party at Griffith Observatory - Los Angeles, Ca. US

By Andee Sherwood posted 5 days ago
- After two long years, the members Los Angeles Astronomical Society (LAAS) returned to the lawn of the historic Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, Ca., for the first Public Star Party of 2022. Rain was in the forecast but that didn't stop the club members from gathering for this outreach event. .We had solar scopes available for the public during the day, treating visitors to some great views of the Sun. More of our members arrived later in the day with telescopes and provided astronomy outreach throughout the rest of the evening. The Moon was a main attraction during the day and after the sunset. Spencer SooHoo, our club secretary provided all of the ...

Cosmopoetry Superlatives 2022 (6) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 6 days ago
Cosmopoetry Superlatives 2022 (6): Astro-Humour By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe Recently, among the joyous stars, I heard a special rumour: Adrian Bruno Sonka has a Strong sense of astro-humour! -Andrei Dorian Gheorghe- The world is so small! Another absolute superlative chosen by SARM in 2022 was a faculty colleague (Physics, University of Bucharest) with the laureate of the Great National Astropoetry Award (Adrian Sima). It is about the coordinator of the Bucharest Municipal Observatory (and a former general secretary in SARM), Adrian Sonka (or, in full, Adrian Bruno Sonka), an astronomy enthusiast in many directions (from sky observations to popularization ...

Cosmopoetry Superlatives 2022 (5) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 6 days ago
Cosmopoetry Superlatives 2022 (5): The Great National Astropoetry Award By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe “I wish you to grow like the mysterious flowers of gravity with roots not in the earth, but in the sky, to fill with joy the eyes of those who want to fly.” -Adrian Sima- Moving on to the absolute superlatives of the Cosmopoetry Festival (founded in 1996 and held not in a single event, but in different real and online forms) chosen by SARM in 2022, we have here the most important distinction, granted again after almost a decade (and previously granted to Dan Mitrut, Dominic Diamant, Zigmund Tauberg and Tit Tihon). This time, the hero is a former national ...

Cosmopoetry Superlatives 2022 (4) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 7 days ago
Cosmopoetry Superlatives 2022 (4): Astropoetry - Middle School Students By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe My first participation in the Spring Star camp of SARM, dedicated every year in April to the Global Astronomy Month, brought an amazing explosion of astropoetry (about which I should tell more in the future) in a complex astronomical program imagined by Valentin Grigore, which made the young Mara Maldin (15 years old) from Pitesti confess: “During Spring Stars 2022 I found new passions, so I consider that I rediscovered myself.” From the rich production of astropoetry written by the youngest participants, SARM chose two superlatives created by a boy ...

Mexico is celebrating "Noche de las Estrellas 2022" on Dec 03rd. - country-wide event.

By Jose Segovia posted 8 days ago
Hello AWB friends! Mexico is celebrating a country-wide, observing party event called "Noche de las estrellas" 2022 edition. Science, sustainer for development. Goal : To raise awareness and convince people about the importance of the Basic Sciences, which give us the possibility of better understanding nature and society, that allow us to make decision-making and actions more efficient to achieve a future as humanity. One of the location for this event, here in Aguascalientes Mexico is the Planetary and Observatory complex "Hypatia of Alexandria", that is currently under development. https://my.astronomerswithoutborders.org/blogs/jose-alberto-flores-segovia/2022/08/09/observatory-and-planetarium-complex-in-tepezala-ag ...

Cosmopoetry Superlatives 2022 (3) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 9 days ago
Cosmopoetry Superlatives 2022 (3): AstroArts - High School Students By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe 25 years ago, SARM organized in Targoviste the first International Showroom of Astronomical Arts, Photographs and Publications at the annual Perseid event. 20 years ago, Calin Niculae published the first album of astro-photo-art-poetry, Echoes of Light: .Echoes Of Light He was followed by Dan Mitrut (former vice-president of SARM) with The Dragon Astrotrilogy: The Dragon Astrotrilogy and Cristina Tinta Vass (aka Tina Visarian, former secretary general of SARM) with Death of Meteors: Death Of Meteors Now SARM has chosen the best Romanian astro-artists ...

Cosmopoetry Superlatives 2022 (2) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 10 days ago
Cosmopoetry Superlatives 2022 (2): Astro-photo-poetry - High School Students By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe On 25 October, 2022, the participants in SARM's ASTRO event observed a partial solar eclipse at Runcu Stone. On this occasion, a 15-year-old girl from Targoviste created an astro-haiga that was chosen by SARM as the best astro-photo-poem made by a high school student in 2022. Here's what it was about (the original in Romanian and the translation of the haiku in English): Partial Solar Eclipse (2022-10-25) Astro-photo-poem by Ana Scurtu Guess what's here Indication: it's not cheese It is the sun with a mask #poetry

Cosmopoetry Superlatives 2022 (1) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 10 days ago
Cosmopoetry Superlatives 2022 (1): Astropoetry - High School Students By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe Valentin Grigore (president) and the Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy (SARM) organized 3 major astronomical camps in Runcu Stone (Dambovita County) during 2022: Spring Stars (for Global Astronomy Month 2022) in April, Perseids in July-August and ASTRO in October with the participation of many young people from all the provinces of Romania. During these camps I coordinated several cosmopoetry shows, from which SARM chose the best astropoem written by a high school student (an 18-year-old girl from Targoviste) in 2022, which I reproduce below (ambitious, ...

Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (400) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 13 days ago
Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (400) The Best Position By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (astro-photo-poem) and Florin Alexandru Stancu (design) In September 2022 I looked for the best position for the Sun: among the clouds, among the leaves, among the crosses... and I found it… right next to a flower! #poetry

Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (399) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 13 days ago
Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (399) October 2020 - the Sunniest Church By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (astro-photo-poem) and Florin Alexandru Stancu (design) Saint Spiridon’s New Church was created in the 1850s and is famous for its exterior solar decorations. That's why I saw it greeted by Venus (lower left)… Saturn and Jupiter (above)… the Moon and Mars (right)… the Moon alone (even crowned!)… the Sun with a tangent arc… And even from outside the solar system, the great star Sirius wanted to give a special greeting to this wonderful sunny church! #poetry

Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (398) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 13 days ago
Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (398) Christmas Day 2021 By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (astro-photo-poem-essay) and Florin Alexandru Stancu (design) “I didn't set fire to Assan’s Mill!” - the Morning Moon told me. George Assan was an Aromanian man who in the 1850s created the first steam mill in Bucharest, an impressive edifice which (people say) was sabotaged in the 1990s by "real estate sharks”, who also set it on fire in the 2010s. But today, even if it is only a ruin, the silhouette of the mill continues to remain lofty. “I didn't set fire to Assan’s Mill!” - the Noon Sun told me. ...

Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (397) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 14 days ago
Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (397) About a Defunct Astronomical Observatory By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (astro-photo-poem-essay) and Florin Alexandru Stancu (design) On November 11, 2022 I visited an exceptional exhibition made by Zeppelin Design, the Romanian Order of Architects and the National Library of Romania (host), dedicated to Batthyaneum, a cultural complex containing a library (still active) and an astronomical observatory (active between the 1790s and the 1860s), created by the Magyar bishop Ignac Batthyany in Alba Iulia (the capital city of the Principality of Transylvania during Hungarian rule and now the historical capital ...

Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (396) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 14 days ago
Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (396) At the National Library By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (astro-photo-poem) and Florin Alexandru Stancu (design) After admiring a beautiful apparent approach between Mars and the Moon (November 10, 2022), I decided to visit the National Library of Romania (November 11, 2022). Inside it I saw some famous writers showing me an elevator to the high sky of the great culture of mankind. #poetry

Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (395) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 15 days ago
Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (395) At Manuc's Inn By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (astro-photo-poem) and Florin Alexandru Stancu (design) On November 12, 2022 I had lunch with a friend, Ady Kahn, at Manuc's Inn, a building full of history, created in the 18th century by an Armenian merchant… and we talked about human details in the solar world. #poetry

Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (394) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 15 days ago
Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (394) A Star Market By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (astro-photo-poem) and Florin Alexandru Stancu (design) At the end of October 2022, after a walk through the park… I was delighted to find a star market… where I bought an urban view about the autumn return of the star Capella. #poetry

Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (393) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 16 days ago
Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (393) November 10, 2022 By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (astro-photo-poem) and Florin Alexandru Stancu (design) Two Israeli doctors (Ady Khan and Ariel, both born in Romania) came to Bucharest again for an elite medical operation and invited me to have lunch at the Sun House (made in the 1900s). For my part, I invited them for a walk through the city center, to the church of Matei Basarab (a cultural and religious ruler from the 17th century) and the monastery of Mihai Viteazul “the Brave” (the first unifier of the Romanian countries around 1600). Respect for ...

Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (392) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 16 days ago
Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (392) November 5-6, 2022 By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (astro-photo-poem) and Florin Alexandru Stancu (design) A cloudy evening, the shy Moon and a meeting with friends from the neighborhood of my youth (Marian 16, Engineer Sache and Chitu junior) under the light pollution of the city. Then a cloudy day, the shy Sun and a meeting with my former colleagues from the sports high school (Cicy, Dandu, Doina and Karly, all former swimming champions). Later I understood that the Moon and the Sun were shy in order to leave room for friendship between people to ...

Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (391) By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 17 days ago
Cosmic Multicultural Bucharest in the Pandemic (391) November 5, 2022 - In the Herastrau Park By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (astro-photo-poem) and Florin Alexandru Stancu (design) One day Urania invited me to the biggest park in my city to admire the beauties of autumn… (an all inclusive option with the Sky Tower, the Sun and the Moon). #poetry