IYA2009 will be kicking off with a bang, with many events planned. Besides the many local events (use the Search for Events tool) there are some major events planned.  For  example,

Ontario Science Centre - January 10 - a full day of presentations and demonstrations

Canadian Science and Technology Museum - January 8 - kick off event, including release of Mi'kmaq presentation of traditional stories about the Big Bear

CBC Radio 1 - December 28 - Singer and Physics Professor Diane Nalini will be on "The Sunday Edition", CBC Radio One, to speak with Michael Enright about the upcoming International Year of Astronomy.

CBC Radio 2 - January 1 - Tempo - features music related to Astronomy

Gladstone Hotel, Toronto - January 10 - see poster

We have so many events planned for IY2009, we had to create a database to hold them all.  Now you can search for events in your area by clicking in the Events Menu box to the left of the screen.  If you'd like to post your events, you will need to create an account by clicking at the bottom left of the home page. More instructions are here.

The Toronto IYA Proclamation is now up; you can find it at: http://www.toronto.ca/proclamations/2009/yearofastronomy2009.htm

You might want to try this in your community.

John Percy

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada is sponsoring a competitive writing contest, Canada and the Stars. This is an IYA (International Year of Astronomy)2009 project with generous funding from the Ruth Northcott fund, which will allow prizes of up to $500 for winning entries.