The StarPeace Project was a global special project first organised in conjunction with the

International Year of Astronomy The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) was a year-long celebration of astronomy that took place in 2009 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the pu ...

in 2009. StarPeace project participants held public

star parties A star party is a gathering of amateur astronomers for the purpose of observing objects and events in the sky. Local star parties may be one-night affairs, but larger events can last a week or longer and attract hundreds or even thousands of p ...

near a

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

of their country with a neighboring country. The intention was to show that there are no borders in the real Earth, borders are man-made and science has no borders.

Vision

In accordance with the goals of the

2009, the Starpeace project has these aims: *To encourage astronomy groups in one country to cooperate with those in neighboring countries, creating a network of active astronomy groups in that region. *To give particular encouragement to the growth and survival of astronomy groups in developing countries. *To use these star parties as a means of increasing scientific awareness and to improve the knowledge of astronomy through talks and photographs. *To make a contribution towards regional peace and harmony. *To provide an opportunity for people to use astronomical equipment that they might not otherwise have encountered or experienced at first hand.

Organizers

StarPeace project is organized by Astronomical Society of Iran and the Sky Peace Organization, a non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation. StarPeace core team composed from Mohammad J. Torabi, Irene Shivaei, Kazem Kookaram, Hooman Najafi and Siavash Saffarian Pour who coordinate and guide StarPeace project with collaborate of their colleagues in more than 30 countries in the globe. The Astronomical Society of Iran is a non-beneficiary institute, established for the purpose of increasing and improving astronomical activities in Iran, both in research and in education. It seeks to facilitate cooperation and coordination between the scientific and technical centers of the country.

Anousheh Ansari Anousheh Ansari (; ; born September 12, 1966) is an Iranian-American engineer, space tourist, and entrepreneur. She is the co-founder and chairwoman of Prodea Systems, and her previous business accomplishments include serving as co-founder and ch ...

is an advisor to the StarPeace project. She was the first woman from the Middle East to go into space, and the first Iranian. Ansari was the fourth self-funded space tourist and the first self-funded woman to fly to the International Space Station. StarPeace has affiliated with

Yuri's Night Yuri's Night is an international celebration held every April 12 to commemorate milestones in space exploration. It is named for the first human to launch into space, Yuri Gagarin, who flew the Vostok 1 spaceship on April 12, 1961. In 2011, th ...

, named after the first human to go into space,

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful Human spaceflight, crewed sp ...

Events

The StarPeace opening event of 2009 took place between

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. On the first two nights of that year, Iranian astronomers held public star parties on

Qeshm Qeshm (Persian language: قشم) is an arrow-shaped Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz of the Persian Gulf (), measuring roughly 1,500 square kilometres (576 square miles) in surface area. Separated from the Iranian mainland by the Claren ...

Island, south of Iran, and around 500 people enjoyed the beauty of the sky on those nights. A similar stargazing party attracted more than 150 people in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. A StarPeace event took place between India and Pakistan on February 9, during a penumbral lunar eclipse. An Indian astronomy group in

Bhuj Bhuj () is a city and the headquarters of Kutch district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Etymology According to legend, Kutch (Kachchh) was ruled by the Nāga chieftains in the past. Sagai, a queen of Sheshapattana, who was married to King B ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and a Pakistani astronomy group in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

held observing nights and astronomy speeches in

SOS Children's Villages SOS Children's Villages is an independent, non-governmental, nonprofit international development organization headquartered in Innsbruck, Austria. The organization provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to families facing difficultie ...

for young children. In 2010, events were ongoing.''StarPeace Project Official website''
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References

External links

* of the StarPeace Project * of

IYA2009 The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) was a year-long celebration of astronomy that took place in 2009 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the pu ...

Astronomical Society of Iran
{{Portal bar, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Science 2009 in science Astronomy events Amateur astronomy

Vision

Organizers

Events

See also

References

External links