SpS2-The International Year of Astronomy 2009

International Year of Astronomy. A brief history of the telescope.

International Year of Astronomy Invited Review on Exoplanets

Just fourteen years ago the Solar System represented the only known planetary system in the Galaxy, and conceptions of planet formation were shaped by this sample of one. Since then, 320 planets have been discovered orbiting 276 individual stars. This large and growing ensemble of exoplanets has informed theories of planet formation, placed the Solar System in a broader context, and revealed ma...

γ - ray astronomy in the summer of 2009

This paper presents a snapshot of the field of γ-ray astrophysics in the early summer of 2009, as it was discussed in about 200 presentations at the International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC) held in Łódź, Poland. This is the written wrap up of a Rapporteur, one-hour talk and as such it is thus an atypical review, a still picture in a moment of great advancement in an observationally driven fie...

The Arctic Human Health Initiative: a legacy of the International Polar Year 2007–2009

BACKGROUND The International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 represented a unique opportunity to further stimulate cooperation and coordination on Arctic health research and increase the awareness and visibility of Arctic regions. The Arctic Human Health Initiative (AHHI) was a US-led Arctic Council IPY coordinating project that aimed to build and expand on existing International Union for Circumpol...

The International Polar Year.

C hange is ubiquitous in Earth's history, and evidence is clear that Earth's climate is changing rapidly now. The harbingers of change can be seen vividly in the polar regions. The Arctic ice cover is melting, ice shelves in Antarctica are crumbling, glaciers in temperate regions are disappearing, some ecosystems are changing, and permafrost thawing is causing the collapse of roads, buildings, ...