THE COSMOPOETRY
OF THE INTERNATIONAL METEOR CONFERENCE 2011

Text by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

*

“The IMC 2011 was so great!
I am so glad I went.
I really loved every part of it.”
-Rhiannon Blaauw (USA,
NASA Meteoroid Environment Office)-

*

“The 30th edition of the International Meteor Conference
is an important jubilee
which must be respected
through a necklace of original initiatives.”
said Valentin Grigore, the chief organizer.
And many of his words and ideas
became deeds.

WAITING FOR THE IMC 2011
(Moonrise seen from the terrace of ASTRA Library,
Sibiu, September 14, 2011)
-photo: Valentin Grigore-



So… what do you say about:

-Two preliminary workshops
(Radio Meteor Workshop and Meteor Orbit Workshop)
at Sibiu’s Teacher House (Lara Hotel)-

Photos by Valentin Grigore:











-A group walk from Continental Forum Hotel (four stars)
to Sibiu City Hall
and a welcoming reception
including IMC history in a poster and a movie,
and speakers from
IMO, NASA, ESA, ROSA and SARM-

Photos by SARM, Dragos Dumitru (Romania),
Bernd Brinkmann (Germany) and Andrei Matache (Romania):





















-A free podium evening at Continental Forum Hotel
with an electronic music concerto
and astrophotography projections-

Photos by Valentin Grigore:







-A press conference
with IMO leading members-

Photos by SARM:







-A lunch at the altitude of the terrace
of ASTRA Library-

Photos by Valentin Grigore, Casper ter Kuile (Holland),
Pompiliu Alexandru (Romania), Bernd Brinkmann:





















-A Romanian national astrophotography exhibition
open for the public at large
at the entrance floor of ASTRA Library-

Photos by Andrei Matache:









-A cultural-educative visit of a local group of juniors
to the IMC-

Photos by Andrei Matache:



















-A group walk through Sibiu fortress
and a dinner in the historical centre,
at Sergiana Restaurant-

Photos by Valentin Grigore, Bernd Brinkmann,
Casper ter Kuile, Pompiliu Alexandru:











































































-Observational nights
for the IMC participants and the public at large
with the telescopes in the city centre-

Photos by Valentin Grigore, Andrei Matache,
Anna Kartashova (Russia):









































-An excursion on one of the most spectacular roads in the world,
the Transfagarasan
and a lunch in a chalet on the Balea glacial lake-

Photos by Casper ter Kuile, Valentin Grigore,
Bernd Brinkmann, Anna Kartashova:











































-A closing festivity with a flag, diplomas
and the volunteers’ choreography-

Photos by Pompiliu Alexandru, Bernd Brinkmann,
Casper ter Kuile:





























Even the sky seemed to be quite friendly
over the IMC 2011!

SOLAR SHOWERS OVER SIBIU
-photos by Bernd Brinkmann (Germany)-





FAGARAS SKY
-photos by Bernd Brinkmann (Germany)-







MOON OVER SIBIU
-photos by Bernd Brinkmann (Germany)





BENCH FOR MOON AND JUPITER
-photo by Casper ter Kuile (Holland)-



And all these things were just ornaments
to stimulate the beloved queen,
Meteor Astronomy,
to give a magnificent scientific show
(spoiled by online live transmissions)
at Astra Library conference hall and Continental Forum Hotel!

Thus,
through posters and lectures,
SHE told through her knights
about observational (visual, radio and video) results,
about cometary parent bodies,
about meteoroid streams,
about the evolution of meteor showers,
about fireball networks,
about meteorites….

A cosmic circuit with so many variations
and so hurried moments of brightness!

And of course, the “superstar” of this IMC
was the coming Draconid meteor shower 2011,
served especially by two legendary heroes in meteor science,
Jeremie Vaubaillon and David Asher …

Yes, on October this year
the celestial Dragon will be so furious
that he will spit more fire than usually,
so it’s our duty to catch him
with the open arms of astronomy!

Photos by Valentin Grigore, Bernd Brinkmann,
Casper ter Kuile, Pompiliu Alexandru:







































































































And all that remains is how
such a show of astronomy
can be completed by
the live spectacle of astropoetry

just like the passing of a comet
through the space hall
is completed in the atmosphere
by some merry fireball…

ROMANIAN ASTROPOETS ARE IN SHAPE
FOR THE INTERNATIONAL ASTROPOETRY SPECTACLE
-photographic poem by Victor Chifelea-














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