RECORD YOUR OUTREACH ACTIVITY!
Part of the NameExoWorlds submission package must include a report (a maximum of 300 words) on your outreach activity which includes video and/or pictures that depict your initiative. The report should also include the names of the team members who participated, a description of the activity, where it took place and any other groups involved.
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One of the IAU's main objectives in hosting this contest is to have individuals work together in their teams to organize and share their interest and excitement in the discovery and exploration of exoplanets (and astronomy in general) with other members of their communities. In order to realize this goal, each team is being asked to carry out some sort of public outreach activity to engage with their community.
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The type of public outreach activity is left up to the team to decide based on the time and resources that are available to them. It might be a staged event, such as a public talk by a scientist/expert on exoplanets discoveries/astronomy topic, or a public stargazing night (hosted perhaps with the help of either amateur or professional astronomers or a science museum). It could also include any other events that communicates astronomy to the public, such as producing a video about your team's chosen exoplanet (and star), what is known about it, where it located, and what your team is proposing for its name and why. Any videos produced for this contest can be sent to the Canadian NameExoWorlds contest Youtube page to be made available to the public. (see examples below) Your team might organize some sort of astronomy display at a public place, such as a library, shopping centre, or city park. You might also consider planning some sort of astronomy-related activity with a school. There are endless possibilities!
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Resource people in your community can be a big help in planning outreach activities. We're talking specifically about amateur astronomers and/or local astronomy clubs AND professional astronomers at local universities/colleges/ institutes AND astronomy outreach educators at local museums/ planetariums. Why not try to contact them? They might be able to provide not only ideas, but also have contacts to organize knowledgeable community members who can help promote and carry out your outreach event. They may be able to provide access to telescopes for the event as well!
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Contest Videos From Previous Years
Below are a couple of examples of outreach videos posted by proposal teams in a previous version of the IAU exoplanet naming contest. If they are posted to a YouTube channel, they are considered an outreach activity! Send your video to us as an attachment to an email to nameexoworldscanada@gmail.com and we'll post it for you on our NameExoWorldsCanada Contest YouTube Channel!
Click on the links below to watch these examples of contest YouTube videos from previous years...
Click on the links below to watch these examples of contest YouTube videos from previous years...