Announcements 2008

26 May 2008: In this edition the contributions cover the full spectrum of astronomy communication from forefront technology to the fine art of communicating controversy. Three of the topics discussed in this issue deal with communicating contentious topics: the cases of the meteorite ALH 84001, the TMR-C1 "protoplanet" and the UK spacecraft Beagle 2 featured prominently in the media coverage of astronomy in 1996, 1998 and 2003 respectively. Two great articles examine the backstage drama and the media coverage of these remarkable stories thoroughly. There are many lessons to be learnt from these case studies. On the CAPj's website, www.capjournal.org, you will find the current issue in PDF format, a job bank, submission guidelines and back issues.

25 March 2008: Today, an updated version of the popular software has been released with, among other features, native support for Intel-based Macs. Another key update is a much improved support for embedding of descriptive information, so-called metadata, directly within the final image. Based on a updated version 1.1 standard for Astronomy Visualization Metadata, this information is stored in the standard manner like that used by digital cameras to record exposure information. The FITS Liberator is freely available for download from: http://www.spacetelescope.org/projects/fits_liberator/download_v22.html Version 2.2 of The ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator has been improved in several areas, some of which are: Universal Binary for Mac allows native CS3 operation on Intel-based systems Flip image checkbox allows image orientation to be selected on import. Root functions (x1/2, x1/3, x1/4, x1/5) now operate antisymmetrically about x=0. Version 1.1 of the Astronomy Visualization Metadata (AVM) standard is now fully supported. For more information see http://www.virtualastronomy.org The import …

7 March 2008: Less than one year after its launch, the Hubblecast HD video podcast (vodcast) series has become a tremendous success. It has just been awarded a position among the best new 25 video podcasts in 2007 by the Apple iTunes store. Hubblecast is the name for a series of free video podcasts that presents the latest news and beautiful images related with the science produced by the Hubble Space Telescope. Its target group is laypeople interested in astronomy and the amazing images from outer space. The "HD" stands for "High Definition", and is the standard format that can be watched on online movie players such as the AppleTV. However, Hubblecast HD can also be watched on any computer screen. Two other Hubblecast channels are available: "Hubblecast" which is low resolution and Hubblecast Full HD, using the 1080p format (1920 x 1080 pixels). It is easy to find Hubblecast HD in iTunes: …

25 February 2008: ESA/Hubble has started a collaboration with the University of Copenhagen's Niels Bohr Institute on the NBI Cast. The first collaboration has resulted in the episode "Our Cosmic Roots" about the most distant galaxies observed. NBI Cast is currently only available in Danish, but will soon be accessible in English also. ScienceXplorer HD / EnglishXplore the world of physics and astronomy by joining the researchers in their quest to discover the mysterious Universe, missions to Mars, in the arctic cold in Greenland, and in the world's largest particle accelerator in CERN. Produced by the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.

21 February 2008: In this issue we marvel at the breathtaking images taken by astrophotographers from The "World at Night project", get insider tips from authors of two popular astronomy vodcasts, learn how to navigate the labyrinth of European Commission grants for education/outreach and much more. CAPjournal is a newcomer to the field, but we are very happy with the community feedback, which gives us an added incentive to continue. Between editions you can stay in touch through our website, www.capjournal.org, discussions on the papers, a job bank, back issues and the current issue of CAPjournal. Check out the full articles on: http://www.capjournal.org/issues/02/index.php

6 February 2008: The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a new image of the galaxy NGC 1132 which is, most likely, a cosmic fossil – the aftermath of an enormous multi-galactic pile-up, where the carnage of collision after collision has built up a brilliant but fuzzy giant elliptical galaxy far outshining typical galaxies. In this Hubblecast, check why this elliptical galaxy has been intriguing the scientists and how it can help us understand more about the inner workings of the Universe.