GeminiFocus 2019 Year in Review | Page 71

April 2019 Manuel Paredes and Alyssa Grace Gemini Outreach Programs Sparkle in Both Hemispheres Gemini’s two leading public outreach endeavors — AstroDay Chile and Journey Through the Universe continue to uphold one of Gemini’s primary missions: to share the wonders of the Universe with the public. Astroday Chile 2019: Preparing our host communities for the July 2nd Total Solar Eclipse With excitement mounting over the upcoming July 2nd total solar eclipse over La Serena, Chile, AstroDay Chile on March 23rd was primed to educate its ~3,000 visitors about this special event. Held at the Seminario Conciliar School of La Serena, the program provided educational material and talks about the eclipse, and taught participants how to view the partial phases safely (Figure 1). Numerous other activities and exhibitions were also fea- tured. To help make AstroDay Chile 2019 a success, 23 organizations joined in on the excite- ment of bringing astronomy to the people. Coordinated by Gemini South’s Public Information Office, the event offered to students, families, and the public, a wide variety of activities, such as science workshops, lectures, 3D cinema, water-rocket launches, solar viewing, and portable planetarium presentations. Two key partners helped organize this year’s event: the Association of Universities for Re- search in Astronomy (AURA), and the Municipality of La Serena. All of the major obser- vatories in Chile — including the European Southern Observatory (ESO), ALMA, and Las Campanas — and most of the astro-tourist facilities in the surrounding Coquimbo Region also united to participate in this year’s program. The images shown on page 70 illustrate some of the the activities of the day. Manuel Paredes is the Communications Coordinator at Gemini South. He can be reached at: [email protected] January 2020 / 2019 Year in Review GeminiFocus 69