Overview of the project

Project title: Coordinating Astronomy for Public Outreach in Viet Nam (Phase 2): Uniting Amateur Astronomy Clubs and Bringing Astronomy to a Broader Public
Project leader: Dr. Quang Nguyen Luong

The 2012 TF3 grant from IAU-OAD, in the recent years. The IAU-OAD TF3 funded project named “Coordinating Astronomy for Public Outreach in Viet Nam: Bringing Astronomy to Remote Areas” has blown the new winds to activities of Vietnamese amateur astronomy clubs: 10 outreach trips, in 08 different provinces/municipalities, are being on the way to final success, a new astronomical web portal for the all of Vietnamese astronomy enthusiasts is being carred out by the end of this year. Dozens of Vietnamese young amateur astronomers are happily joining hands to bring the space science tours to hundreds of students nationwide. The Vietnam outreach project is surely succeed with its commitments, and the project organisers are proud of being chosen by IAU-OAD, as the first beneficial country in the South East Asia region.It is the right time to make the next step, a continuous succesful extension: the phase two!

There have been about 20 astronomical clubs/societies since the dawn of Internet in Vietnam. From online forum boxes to small-sized organisations, their members experience the changes of Vietnam science. However, because of the generation gap, the knowledge disparity, the far distance, the lack of communications, the differences in operation, and other disadvantages have lead to the isolation of Vietnamese amateur astronomy. The clubs’ lives usually gone with their predecessor leaders, and do not have good planning, investment in a middle/long term vision. The idea is to maintain activities of local astronomy clubs throughout the country, and organise a national-level meeting for all/most of them to unite into one network. We will inspire new initiatives, receive real feedback, and all are expected to act under a same flag, for the best effeciency in astronomical knowledge dissemination, and in potential astronomers incubation.