“100 HOURS OF ASTRONOMY”
IN POETRY
-a SARM (Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy) dedication
to the international team that created the most impressive global project
of the International Year of Astronomy-
*
MOTTO
(100HA IN THE TOWN OF IASI):
-haiku and photo by Iulian Olaru-
Like in old times
people and stars
together in a ring dance
*
Between April 2 and April 5th,
Astronomers Without Borders and the European Southern Observatory
organized the largest astronomical project of all times
and a Cornerstone project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009
(with participations from 100 countries),
100 Hours of Astronomy,
for which the general coordinator was Jennie McCormick (New Zealand)
and Co-Chairs were Mike Simmons (U.S.A.) and Douglas Pierce-Price (Germany).
It included the opening festivity at the Franklin Institute and a videoconference in U.S.A.,
three main global programs
(Around the World in 80 Telescopes, 24-Hour Global Star Party, and Sun Day),
plus two other ones, more specialized
(100 Hours of Remote Astronomy and 100HA Junior).
*
“Dear Valentin Grigore:
This is really an incredible program.”
-Mike Simmons (U.S.A.,
Founder and President of “Astronomers Without Borders”
and Co-Chair of “100 Hours of Astronomy”-
Valentin Grigore and the Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy (SARM)
were coordinators for Romania, a country in which the sky lovers
(from SARM , astronomical associations, clubs, observatories,
planetariums, schools, etc.)
organized for this project
46 events in its territory and 1 event in the Republic of Moldavia
(so a total of 47 events, that means, in an unofficial classification,
the 5th place in Europe and the 13th place in the world).
But two of the events organized by SARM
(one in the Republic of Moldavia and one in Romania)
were truly special,
as follows…
*
“I am glad I could contribute to the honour of my country.”
-Maxim Matvei (Republic of Moldavia)-
The first of them was coordinated in the main high school
of the Capital of the Republic of Moldavia
(a country that did not organized any other similar event), Chisinau,
by a SARM member, Maxim Matvei -
who was also a student in the Capital of Romania, Bucharest -
in a moment when the relations between the two sister states
(which in the past represented the same country)
were politically tensioned.
Thus, through this case, astronomy defeated politics.
“100HA” IN CHISINAU
-photos and words by Maxim Matvei (Republic of Moldavia)-
April 3rd, 2009,
Capital of the Moldavian Republic
(before the republican election),
a cabinet of the Republican High School,
around 40 students more or less republican,
but all passionate for astronomy…
Information about the International Year of Astronomy
and Galileo’s original lunette,
various themes
(100 Hours of Astronomy, the Birth of the Universe, Sun,
Solar System, Comet Halley, Radioastronomy, Stars,
and even humorous aspects of astronomy…),
clever students speaking more…
Next days we wanted to make astronomical observations
for the large public
in the centre of the town,
but on streets the revolutionary protests around the contested election
just began,
so where could I go
with my telescope…?
*
“It is fantastic what astronomy and communication
can make together.”
-Valentin Grigore (President of SARM)-
The second special event was an original and complex festival of astronomy,
organized by Valentin Grigore and his SARM team
in the town of Targoviste
(the former Romanian Capital and the headquarters of SARM).
It included: a press conference, an astronomical symposium,
live transmissions from all over the world, astronomical lessons, telescope viewings,
exhibitions of astrophotography and artworks, model rocketry,
programs for disadvantaged people, scientific experiments,
astronomical stands, artistic programs, a TV broadcast,
background of electronic music by Petre Toma and astrofolk music by Dan Mitrut, etc.
Afterwards a SARM astropoetic “Hymn to 100 Hours of Astronomy” was published
in the forum of this global project,
two SARM images were included in Best of 100HA Photo-Gallery,
and on July 15th, 2009,
the SARM Targoviste festival of astronomy was appreciated,
in the 100 Hours of Astronomy Sidewalk Astronomy and Star Party competition,
on the second place in the world
(after Jiangsu Astronomical Society from China,
and together with RAMIP from France),
as “Highly Commended”
for the “Largest Single Registered 100HA Event” Award.
“100HA” FESTIVAL IN TARGOVISTE
-by Valentin Grigore-
The sky is
a magnificent resource,
a universal good
with a special role
in the culture of humanity.
100 Hours of Astronomy has proposed to realize
that connection between man and universe,
that direct contact to the sky
with an important role in education,
which gives birth to invisible relations
between people in local communities
and between cultures on the globe.
And this contours
the extraordinary role of astronomy
from the social point of view.
Sky…
as a connection
between people.
Man…
as a connection between
Earth and Sky.
*
HYMN TO “100HA”
(composed of 4 astrotipuritura
-the shortest Romanian poetic form-
and first published in the international forum of 100HA)
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
1. FROM GALILEO TO “100 HOURS OF ASTRONOMY”
Life in the Cosmos has scopes
Better seen through telescopes!
2. “AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 TELESCOPES”
80 telescopes, sky meanings…
And incalculable feelings!
3. “24-HOUR GLOBAL STAR PARTY”
So much shine! How happy we are!
Today the Earth is quite a star!
4. “SUN DAY”
To the glory of Sun Day,
Sunspots are quiet. O.K.!!!
*
“100HA JUNIOR” IN TARGOVISTE
Give me a telescope
and I overturn the Universe.
-Boris Marian (Mehr)-
Children and a telescope,
Closer dreams and much more hope…
-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
In fact,
the telescope scrutinizes our interior…
-Victor Chifelea-
*
LEARNING ASTRONOMY
-by Zigmund Tauberg-
In clear nights
I admire the multitude of stars
which watch over
my longing
and my thoughts,
inciting me,
and I want so much to know astronomy
in order to comprehend infinity.
*
OTHER SEQUENCES FROM “100HA” IN TARGOVISTE
*
PLANETARY DANCE
-by Mihai Rusie-
One way or another,
every planet is beautiful.
Just as in each field,
beauty is subjective.
It is true that Saturn incites the most numerous minds
and remains the favourite of all those who watch it through a telescope.
It is true that Jupiter provokes the curiosity of the watchers,
who are amazed by its belts or by its great red spot.
But we can learn to appreciate the beauty of each planet
that shares with us the space around the Sun.
And we must be aware that our planet,
although so small and insignificant
in comparison with the gaseous giants,
has a big advantage:
it hosts life…
that means the greatest beauty.
*
DANCE FOR “100HA” IN TARGOVISTE
What is the form of the Universe?
Or, folklorically, how is the face of the sky?
From the pellet of earth on the backs of giant elephants
to the tortoises that connect each other as a bond towards the infinite,
there is an imaginary full of terrestrial elements,
which tries to give a face to the sky from above us.
The sky from above us…
Here is an interesting formula of the language,
which betrays exclusion:
we already place the sky out of our world,
giving it a new dimension.
Metaphors, analogies, poetic images,
mythologies from all over the world,
all of these connect each other
in order to create this face of the sky.
In the mirror,
the exact thinking,
full of determinist coercions,
also gives a shape to the Universe,
which can be the same successful or the same unsuccessful
as in the case of the poetic thinking.
-Pompiliu Alexandru-
I don’t know why,
but in the front of the concept of the infinite,
I feel discouraged.
The explanation is simple:
through my terrestrial nature,
I need fixed forms,
and I like images with shapes
because I can name them easier.
The infinite belongs too much to the core of the spirit
from over this Universe,
and is too far from that divine spark,
which I feel and hunt in the earthen sack.
The infinite is too infinite,
and embarrasses my thinking,
practiced in the world from after Adam…
-Pompiliu Alexandru-
*
100HA
-by Ion(ut) Moraru-
The Earth
(a contorted body)
opened to the stars,
and on our street
Saturn smiled to us.
*
ART FOR “100HA” IN TARGOVISTE
*
REFLECTION ABOUT SOME OF “100HA”
ON THE RETINE OF THE TELESCOPIC MIND
OF AN OBSERVER OF THE UNIVERSE
-by Mihai Iordanescu-
The simple wish of watching the sky opens the gate of the escape
from the consciousness of the world dominated by the material coercions
of the gravitational trap of the Earth,
and a door to auto-knowledge.
In its greatness, the studied Universe,
seen through the eye of a telescope,
shows the sublime architecture of the human mind too.
Watching the stars -
which lighten and comfort our nights,
are silent confidents,
and carry us into a tale world -
is an exercise leaving our imagination to gambol
on the forgotten fields of the true human ego,
and reminisces about the divine origins.
The initiative of a “global worship”
through our gazes caressing the perfect forms of the Universe
can show, once again,
that the people are the same with the Cosmos,
and our destinies are connected each other
like the destinies of the stars.
*
THE EARTH’S MOTION AROUND THE SUN AT A HUMAN LEVEL
(Giorgica Lupchian’s invention -
10 years after it received the Silver Medal at the Geneva Fair 1999;
it was also presented at the International Meteor Conference - Pucioasa, 2000,
and at the European Convention of Science Fiction - Capidava, 2001)
*
INTER-HEMISPHERIC FRIENDSHIP
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
North-South, East-West… geography
Liberated by astronomy.
*
NORTH-SOUTH LUNAR PHOTO-DIALOGUE
-photos made
near Bucharest (Romania) by Maximilian Teodorescu,
in Auckland (New Zealand) by the Orion Team
(led by Danut Ionescu, born in Romania),
and in Brasov (Romania) by Lucian Curelaru
The Moon stood still
on a rib of the sky…
-Dan Mitrut-
*
CONCLUSIONS FROM THE SOUTH HEMISPHERE
“Thanks to all your efforts.
The registration process for this exciting global event was a great success.
We had a final total of 2379 registered events in 99 countries.
That is amazing.”
-Jennie McCormick (New Zealand,
International Coordinator of “100HA”)
(ADG Note:
This message was sent in April 2009;
in the meantime, the final results have been a little adjusted)
“I think this means the true passion for astronomy:
to want to do something over any problems…”
-Danut Ionescu (New Zealand,
leader of the Auckland Orion Team for 100HA;
born in Romania)-
Danut Ionescu and Jennie McCormick (in the centre)
and the Orion Team
*
“100 HOURS OF REMOTE ASTRONOMY”
-astrotipuritura by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
Telescopes, computers, and skies.
Here and there, us, superior eyes.
*
ASTRONOMY BETWEEN BELIEF AND SCIENCE
(around an East-West co-operation)
-astro-photo-poem by Valentin Grigore (President of SARM)-
Belief
is above all
and gives freedom.
Science
refers to the materialist perception of the Universe,
so meets barriers.
They
should work
together.
Unfortunately,
belief
is not for all people…
(Note:
Valentin Grigore photographed M3, M13 and M101 from Targoviste, Romania
by using from the distance the telescope of
the Mayhill Observatory, New Mexico, U.S.A.,
during 100HA)
*
A FINAL SPECIAL MESSAGE
“I wanted to add my congratulations to each of you
for outstanding events that you held during the 100 Hours
and to thank each of you for helping to make 100HA such a great success.
I saw all of the award submissions and was so impressed
by the energy and innovation of you and your organizations.
I look forward to working with you on future projects.”
-Donna Smith (U.S.A.,
Sidewalk Astronomy Coordinator)-
*
*
POST-SCRIPTUM
100 Hours of Astronomy
have passed so quickly…
When will
a similar world astro-will
become a reality?
-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-
*
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