Embed Doc
Copy Link
Readcast
Collections

CommentGo Back

Download

issue 1|2007

Astronomy in

Second Life

Get with it! Welcome to the future!

Dark Matter

Explained in 60 seconds!

Credibility o PressReleases

An exploratory study

issue 1|2007

The International Year oAstronomy 2009

Background information to get startedwww.capjournal.org

CAP

journal

Communicating Astronomy with the Public

EditorialExplained in 60 SecondsAn Exploratory Study o Credibility Issues inAstronomy Press ReleasesThe Top Ten Astronomical “Breakthroughs” o the20

CenturyThe International Year o Astronomy 2009The International Year o Astronomy 2009and the Re-enlightenment

Astronomy Cast

: Evaluation o a PodcastAudience’s Content Needs and Listening HabitsI Tune, You Tube, We RuleAstronomy in

Second Life

: A User’s PrespectivePress Releases and the Framing o ScienceJournalism

ColophonContents

03040511182324303235

Editor-in-Chie

Pedro Russo

Executive Editor

Lars Lindberg Christensen

Editor

Terry Mahoney

Assistant Editor

Will Gater

Proo-reading

Anne Rhodes

Layout and Production

Amit KapadiaFrancesca GranatoMartin Kornmesser

Contributors

Marusa BradacLars Holm NielsenNanna Torpe JørgensenKim JantzenLars Lindberg ChristensenDavid W. HughesRichard de GrijsPedro RussoCarla GonçalvesJohn TimmerPamela L. GayRebecca Bemrose-FetterGeorgia BraceyFraser CainRaquel Yumi ShidaWill Gater Adrienne J. Gauthier

Web Design and Development

Raquel Shida

IAU DIVISION XII, Commission55 Communicating Astronomywith the Public

Ian E. RobsonDennis CrabtreeLars Lindberg ChristensenRichard Fienberg Anne Green Ajit K. KembhaviBirgitta Nordström Augusto Damineli NetoOscar Alvarez-PomaresKazuhiro SekiguchiPatricia A. WhitelockJin Zhu

IAU DIVISION XII, Commission55 Communicating Astronomywith the Public Journal Work-ing Group

Lars Lindberg ChristensenRick Fienberg Andrew FraknoiRichard de Grijs André HeckTerry MahoneySteve MillerPaul MurdinPedro RussoSidney Wolff

Reerees

Bob FosburyRobert HurtDeclan Fahy

Thanks to

Enikö Patkós (ESO), Sonja Jap-enga (Springer), organizers andparticipants in the Colloquiumon the Future ProfessionalCommunication in Astronomy(Brussels, 2007)

Published by

IAU DIVISION XII Commission 55Communicating Astronomy withthe Public

Sponsored by

ESA/ST-ECF

Submit articles for oneof the following journalsections:

AnnouncementsReviewsNewsResourcesInnovationsResearch & ApplicationsLetters to the EditorOpinionBest Practices

www.capjournal.org

CAPjournal Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal

ESO/ESA/ST-ECFKarl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2D-85748 Garching bei MünchenGermanyE-mail: editor@capjournal.orgPhone: +49 89 320 06 195Fax: +49 89 320 2362On-line issuesFree subscriptionsArticles submission

Editorial

THE PUBLIC COMMUNICATION OF ASTRONOMY

provides an important link be-tween the scientic astronomical community and society, giving visibility to scienticsuccess stories and supporting both ormal and inormal science education. While theprincipal task o an astronomer is to urther our knowledge o the Universe, disseminat-ing this new inormation to a wider audience than the scientic community is becomingincreasingly important. This is the main task o public astronomy communication — tobring astronomy to society.The next ew years will be extremely important or astronomy communication and edu-cation. The International Year o Astronomy 2009 will serve as a unique platorm to in-orm the public about the latest discoveries in astronomy as well as to emphasize theessential role o astronomy in science education.However, as the astronomy outreach community expands globally, it becomes increas-ingly important to establish a community o science communication experts. The threeCommunicating Astronomy with the Public conerences held so ar have had somesuccess in raising the prole o astronomy, but a orum where proessional expertiseand know-how can be presented and preserved or posterity is needed. We think apeer-reviewed scientic journal can help to achieve that.The IAU DIVISION XII Commission 55 Communicating Astronomy with the Public Jour-nal Working Group prepared a study assessing the easibility o the Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal (CAPjournal). The conclusions were inescapable.The present situation o public astronomy communication shows a clear need or apublication addressing the specic needs o the public astronomy communication com-munity.The journal is divided in nine main sections dedicated to: “News”, “Announcements”,“Letters to the Editor”, “Reviews”, “Research & Applications”, “Resources”, “Innova-tions”, “Best practices” and “Opinion”. The “Research & Applications” section will con-tain peer-reviewed science communication ‘research’ articles. “News” and “Announce-ments” will present inormation and updates, such as conerence reports rom theastronomy outreach community. “Resources” and “Innovation” will provide a repositoryo outreach ideas and cutting-edge astronomy communication methods respectively.“Best Practices” aims to be a guide, containing case studies, to the techniques thatwork best in communicating astronomy. “Opinion” provides space or subjective dis-cussions o topics related to astronomy communication.Public communication o astronomy is a burgeoning eld o science communication.We would like to see the astronomy outreach community deeply involved in this jour-nal’s evolution and production. Please eel ree to send us your articles and reviews oncommunicating astronomy, as well as suitable books/websites/products or review inthe pages o CAPjournal. Submission guidelines are available on the back page. Rel-evant advertisements are also more than welcome.We are eager to get your eedback, so please eel ree to e-mail us at editor@capjour-nal.org.We would like to extend a special thank-you to Andrew Fraknoi and Sidney Wol rom Astronomy Education Review — which in some sense can be seen as the sister journalto CAPjournal on the educational side. We look orward to a warm collaboration andmuch cross-ertilization.Happy reading!

Editor-in-Chie