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SGAC Turkey
Turkey entered the 21st century increasing efforts towards rapid economic and technological development, social change and infrastructure renewal. Naturally, this process places a heavy load on the current system, but the key is to find an area for development that can positively affect as much as the population as possible. One of these new areas is space, which has become an important tool for protecting and improving the country and is a strategic expression of Turkey’s future.
Young Space Activities Overview in Turkey While there is no space agency, there are many basic space activities oriented towards younger people. Three leading astronomy societies in Turkey (İÜFFAAK, Asart and Aster) are introducing space-related organisations to the public and have a primarily astronomy focus. During the International Year of Astronomy 2009, there were numerous outreach activities garnering the interest of the public. One of the most significant of these events in 2009 was the launch of first CubeSat of Turkey, İTÜpSAT1, which was designed by a team from the İstanbul Technical University.
Yuri’s Night 2010
During this week, many events that combined entertainment and space music took place throughout the country. Concerts were organised with the participation of various Turkish bands. Students of the Department of Astronomy and Space Science presented amateur astronomy and other astronomy-related topics to the public. Exhibits on astronomy, the space flight of Yuri Gagarin, and related issues were presented to participants at nine different locations. Young children were treated to an inflatable portable planetarium, which introduced the skies to them. Games suitable for all ages were designed and prepared by members of the IAT to entertain while educating the participants on astronomy.
Yuri’s Night was a great success in Turkey at inspiring people of all ages about the beauty and value of space. IAT looks forward to another successful evening next year!
Country-Specific Events in 2011 • TÜBİTAK NATIONAL OBSERVATORY (13-19 February 2011), Saklıkent - ANTALYA : Graduate students Echelle Spectrum Reduction Workshop - II International Events held in Turkey in 2011 • International Advanced Research School in Physics (17-29 July 2011), Turunc - MUGLA : Physics of Stars, Institute for Theorethical and Applied Physics (ITAP), MUGLA (http://web.iku.edu.tr/~eisik/PhyStars/Introduction.html) Interesting Web Links for the Young Generation in Turkey Links to groups, NGOs, universities, observatories and institutes can be found here: ISU Turkish Alumni: http://www.isutr.org/ TUBİTAK Space: http://www.bilten.metu.edu.tr/
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The Istanbul Astronomy Community (IAT), which is composed of astronomy clubs of six universities in Istanbul, sponsored this year's Yuri’s Night in Turkey which was well attended by many SGAC members. İAT undertook with this event one of the most important missions in astronomy: to increase interest and promote educational activities. Yuri’ Night tried to fulfil this mission during a week-long educational event carried out in the Istanbul University and Istanbul Culture University, which are open to public participation.
More specifically, Kayseri Erciyes University astronomy club (ASTER), organised a space event at the Marianne Molu amphitheatre on the university campus. The event offered participants with a joyful environment combining music and star gazing. In Ankara, Yuri’s Night featured a famous Turkish music band. Over course of the evening, the Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) astronomy community prepared many surprises such as simulative and visual to complement the musical guest. Finally, at the TUBITAK National Observatory, in Antalya, the event was focused around star observations. The institute rented the telescope at a southern hemisphere observatory to provide participants with a spectacular view of the southern hemisphere’s sky, which had never been seen before by many of the attendees. In Adana and Izmir, the astronomy communities prepared day-long observations and also promoted a musical event on the Yuri’s Night.