From 25th to 29th October,2021 (CST), the 31st ADASS meeting was held both in Cape Town, South Africa and Online. Dr. Chenzhou Cui was invited to give a talk entitled ‘Teaching Resource of Virtual Observatory’ on the meeting. He introduced the experience and results of astronomical science education in various countries by using astronomical data and technology.
At the end of the talk, he announced the launch of the First International WorldWide Telescope Tour Contest (IWTC). This contest is co-sponsored by International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA), IAU Office of Astronomy for Development, American Astronomical Society (AAS) and Chinese Astronomical Society (CAS).
The contest is divided into two parts: the local contest and the international contest. The participants should join in the local contest first. Tours that stand out in local contests may have the opportunity to join in the international contest. Local contests are hosted by their own sponsors. The countries or regions that have applied for hosting can be checked on the official website of the contest. If your country or region did not apply for hosting the local contest, you can choose to participate in the nearest one.
Anyone who interested in the contest can take part in it. All tours need to be completed on WWT platform, participants are recommended to use the American Astronomical Society (AAS) or the Chinese Virtual Observatory (China-VO). Participants can download the software from the links below.
Download Link:
- AAS Version: https://worldwidetelescope.org/download/
- China-VO Version: https://nadc.china-vo.org/wwt/home.htm
If you are interested in the contest and want to learn more about it, please check out the official website.
Official Website: https://contest.worldwidetelescope.org/
Significant Time Points：
- OCT, 2021 Officially announce International WorldWide Telescope Contest (IWTC)
- BEFORE 30th APR, 2022 (Suggested) Deadline for submission of local contest
- 15th JUN, 2022 Deadline for submission tours to IWTC
- JUL, 2022 IWTC final contest review
- AUG, 2022 Awards ceremony
Local contest in China (The fifth WorldWide Telescope Guided Tour Contest) has already launched on 25th Oct, 2021. It is co-sponsored by the National Astronomical Observatories and the Chinese Astronomical Society, and undertaken by National Astronomical Data Center, Informatization Working Committee of Chinese Astronomical Society and Shanghai Astronomy Museum.
The theme of this contest is ‘ journey ‘, which the participants would produce tours around with. The award ceremony of the Chinese local contest is planned to be held at Shanghai Astronomical Museum on July 17, 2022.