Astronomical Institute

Bucharest Science Festival opened the gates of the Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy (AIRA) for the general public, on the 27^th of September 2019. The number of visitors exceeded any estimations being around 500 adults and children.

The Planetarium Hall was permanently full of people eager to learn who participated to several presentations with PowerPoint, video or specialized software support. The academic staff and astronomy teachers were: dr. Diana Beşliu-Ionescu (AIRA), Daniel Berteşteanu (Bucharest Astroclub), Florin Zăinescu (University of Bucharest).

A special moment of the evening was the live connection with France, as dr. Mirel Bîrlan (AIRA) interacted with the public through Skype directly from Paris Astronomical Observatory.

A meteorite fragment studied by a visitor at the optical microscope

The activities included guided tours in the museum halls of the Institute - the Meridian Hall and the Equatorial Dome. There, some of the most important and spectacular astronomical instruments of Romania are preserved for future generations and they are used today for educational purposes.The tour guides - Sorin Marin (AIRA), Octavian Blagoi (AIRA) and Marian Naiman (Bucharest Astroclub) received many questions during the whole event, especially coming from the younger friends of astronomy and they answered to all of them.

Spectroscopy presentation by Daniel Berteşteanu
Florin Zăinescu's geomorphology presentation

The members of Bucharest Astroclub took part in organizing the BSF 2019 event. They displayed with great openness their instruments - several telescopes and their accessories and kindly instructed the public on how to watch the planets and the stars through them.

The Bucharest Science Festival 2019 benefited of good atmospheric conditions and the public had the chance to see the planets Saturn and its satellite Titan as well as other celestial bodies.

We saw many interested and happy people during the BSF 2019 event, the eyes wide open of many children, we received questions, rounds of applauses, we gave answers, all being the ingredients of what we hope to be a memorable evening: Bucharest Science Festival, the 2019 edition.

Initial press release

On the 27^th of September 2019, the Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy will host Bucharest Science Festival, an important event for the promotion of science and technology among the general public, starting with the very young friends of science to the senior ones. The event is organized in partnership with the French Institute in Romania and with Bucharest Astroclub. Being held in the scientific park of the Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy, the main component of this event will be astronomy and its important role in shaping our understanding of the Universe and as a major source of scientific information and technology for some of today's most common modern life appliances.

The event will be open to the general public in the evening (18.00 - 22.00) and will include visits of the Meridian Hall, a former astronomical research facility now an astronomy museum and of the Equatorial Dome with its impressive 6 meters long refractory telescope, the largest of its kind in Romania. The guided tours will take the visitors through over a century of Romanian scientific research and achievements, the history, the instruments and the people, who were some of the most important scholars of our country. The historical component will cover even more than the astronomical and scientific endeavor as one of the places which will be presented to the public during the guided tours, the Bosianu House, played a historical role in the creation of modern Romania. The public will then get the chance to walk on the footsteps of prince Alexander John Cuza and of Constantin Bosianu, his close advisor, and remember the glorious moment of the 1859 Unification between Walachia and Moldova and the formation of Romania.

During the second part of the program, the participants to Bucharest Science Festival will be invited inside the Planetarium Hall where several scientific presentations will take place, including a live transmission with Paris Observatory.

In the lobby of the Planetarium Hall, an photo exhibition about some of the most intriguing parts of the Universe, the black holes, will be presented to our visitors. In the same area, the astronomers of Bucharest Astroclub will organize demonstrations on how they use their astronomical instruments such as the telescopes, they will present their parts and the essential adjustments and settings necessary to be done in order to use them, the filters, mounts and other accessories as well as astronomy software available for anyone wishing to learn and discover more. The perspective of observing objects of the Universe will be associated during the Bucharest Science Festival with an activity focused on studying the details of some of such objects, as the public will have the possibility to watch through an optical microscope some interesting meteorite fragments including the Chelyabinsk one (Russia) and few others gathered in Africa. We will discuss the impact of our closest star, the Sun, upon our daily lives and we will have a glimpse into an extraordinary branch of astronomy, which is spectroscopy, and the methods it provides for us to learn more about the Universe.

The evening of Bucharest Science Festival at the Astronomical Institute of Romanian Academy will end with one of the most waited moments that is the night sky observations, if the weather will allow this interesting activity. We will observe the Moon, Solar System planets, stars and, if possible, other celestial attractions.

The entrance is free, but it would be useful for us if our visitors will register before attending this event on the following email address:geosciencevent@gmail.com

The organizing team of Bucharest Science Festival 2019

Parteners:

L'Institute Francais
Astroclubul București

Organized and hosted by the Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy

Presentation of dr. Diana Beşliu-Ionescu (AIRA) about the closest star to us, the Sun

Dr. Mirel Bîrlan's interaction with the public live from Paris Observatory via Skype. Mr. Marian Naiman, the president of Bucharest Astroclub introduced Dr. Bîrlan to the audience.

The Great Meridian Circle Gautier-Prin (1926) was presented to the public by Sorin Marin (AIRA)

Simon Anghel (AIRA) teached the young friends of astronomy how to use a telescope

.:Bucharest Science Festival 2019. Discover the Earth and the Universe!:.

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