CAA CHOSEN BY NASA TO DO PUBLIC OUTREACH

The Cedar Amateur Astronomers, Inc., located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been selected by NASA to be a member of the Night Sky Network, a nationwide coalition of amateur astronomy societies committed to sharing their time, their telescopes, and their enthusiasm for astronomy with their local communities. Membership in the Night Sky Network includes educational resources for club members, special opportunities for working with NASA scientists and educators, access to a dedicated website for communicating with other Night Sky Network participants, and public recognition by NASA for their outreach activities.

For more information go to http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov.

NASA is very excited to be working closely with the amateur astronomy community, said Michael Greene, head of public engagement for NASA's Navigator Program based at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Amateur astronomers want more people to look at the sky and understand astronomy, and so do we. We have a strong commitment to inspiring the next generation of explorers. Lending support to the energy that the amateur astronomy community brings to students and the public will allow NASA to reach many more people.

BACKGROUND

The Night Sky Network is sponsored and supported by JPL's PlanetQuest public engagement program, NASA's Origins Forum and Structure and Evolution of the Universe Form, and the SETI Institute under NASA Grant NAG 2-6066 for the Kepler Mission. PlanetQuest is a part of JPL's Navigator Program, which encompasses several of NASA's extra-solar planet-finding missions, including the Keck Interferometer, the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM), the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF), the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI), and the Michelson Science Center (MSC).

The Cedar Amateur Astronomers was founded in 1979 and incorporated as a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization in 1980. The CAA is a member society of the Astronomical League and a participant in NASA/JPL Space Place outreach program.