VE7IYOA is a Special Event ham radio station that has been active since 1 June 2009 as an IYA activity. 

The Station held its first on-the-air event on June 1st from Sir James Douglas School. The Victoria Centre RASC presented telescope displays, children's' activities and multimedia presentations indoors, and a star party outdoors at the Fairfield Community Centre. The event was in cooperation with members of the Westcoast Amateur Radio Association. The Victoria Emergency Management Agency Communications Vehicle provided radio equipment for the VE7IYOA Station. A communications Net was conducted using the Special Event Station VE7IYOA call sign using HF and VHF frequencies. Contacts were made from as far away as Texas and the East Coast of Canada, including with VE3MSC Colin Haig, President of Hamilton Centre. There were 21 check-ins on 80 meters and 31 through IRLP node 9005 that day.

VE7IYOA will be active during the ARRL International Field Day contest on June 27-28. I hope it will be an exciting time for all Radio Amateurs and the continuing events in June will certainly provide exposure for the International Year of Astronomy using ham radio as a medium to get the word out about IYA.

Further information can be found at http://www.hamiya2009.info

Malcolm Scrimger, VE7DAO

Dr. Jayanne English, an astronomer at the University of Manitoba, is participating in a fascinating international art event that celebrates IYA.

Beam Me Up (http://www.beam-me.net/tourdetail.php?lang=e&tourid=9) is a global project by Xcult.org, based in Basel, lasting until 2010. They invite art and essays that interpret concepts of space and cyberspace using pictures, texts, artistic and philosophical models and scientific experience.

Dr. English has submitted a new animation showing the cold hydrogen gas in our Milky Way Galaxy. A full essay on the interface of space-time and the human imagination as seen through a monitor will follow at the end of the summer. (http://www.beam-me.net/beitragdetail.php?lang=e&artid=43) 

GM Counter watchers were thrilled on May 30, when the total number of Galileo Moments jumped by 101,245 individual Moments. The cause? The exhibit “Extraterrestres…et si c’était vrai?” at the Musée de la civilisation in Quebec City.

The attendance posted on May 30 represents the number of visitors that have seen the show so far – it runs from February 26 to September 4, so there is still time to check out this popular event!

As the GM counter gets close to 400,000 GMs, we want to acknowledge our IYA volunteers and supporters, both large and small. The Sidewalk viewing and backyard Star Parties that reach 5 or 30 people are the backbone of IYA, and all of those GMs are extremely important. The big shows at museums and science centres are promoting IYA to huge audiences. Thank you everyone for doing such great events - and remember to post your attendance and watch that counter go up and up! 

Take a look at our new footer at the bottom of our website pages. We are celebrating our wonderful supporters, who have made it possible for us to bring IYA to you! 

The Trottier Foundation joined us early and provided funds to hire our Program Manager, Lumec Inc, supported the first printing of our wonderful children’s book, “Mary Lou’s New Telescope”; the University of Calgary supported the initial printing of our hugely popular Astro Cards; the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council’s PromoScience grant allows us to hire a part time Education and Public Outreach Coordinator; and SkyNews is Canada’s own source for up-to-date astronomical information. The National Research Council Canada and Canadian Space Agency supported the “Galileo Live!” program at Science Centres across Canada and are contributing newly developed educational materials, and CSA will be launching participants’ names into space in 2010. Both have been partners in planning and delivering IYA since its earliest stages. 

We are grateful to these wonderful partners for their support. It’s not too late to get involved – our Legacy projects will continue past 2011, and we are always looking for new supporters to join our team!