This paper presents an overview of distance education at university level and some of the associated challenges and pitfalls.

The goal of this work is to present an analysis of the observational projects developed by the Teaching and Popularization Section of the Liga Ibero-Americana de Astronomía (LIADA). The Section is based in Brazil and counts on the support of 16 volunteer coordinators from most Latin-American countries. The observational projects are described on the home page of LIADA and aim to attract the attention of the general public, teachers and students to encourage their active participation in observational astronomy. The strategy is to circulate support material and open a discussion forum about each of the astronomical phenomena to enhance their consideration by and visibility to the public. Participants' reports are posted on the Internet forum and the web page of LIADA. We have analyzed the records of these activities and present an evaluation of the difficulties with written reports, the need of a dynamic maintenance of the home page, the establishment of a useful communications network and the visibility of the activities of LIADA.

Small aperture (<1m, typically 20–50 cm) optical telescopes with adequate back-end instrumentation (e.g. photometer, CCD camera and CCD spectrograph) can be used for spreading the joy and excitement of observational astronomy among postgraduate and research students in colleges and universities. On the basis of our experience over a decade of observing with small optical telescopes it has been amply demonstrated that such a facility, which any university can hope to procure and maintain, can be effectively used for teaching and research. The Physics Department of Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University at Raipur, India offers Astronomy & Astrophysics as one of the specializations of its MSc program in Physics. A set of observational exercises has been incorporated with a view to provide training in observations, analysis and interpretation of astronomical data. Observing facilities available in the department include 8”–14” aperture telescopes equipped with a photometer, CCD camera and a CCD spectrograph. A facility of this kind is ideally suited for continuous monitoring of a variety of variable stars, and thus can provide valuable data for understanding the physics of stellar variability. This is especially true for a class of variable stars known as chromospherically active stars. The stars belonging to this class have variable light curves that change from year to year in a rather strange way. A large fraction of these active stars are bright; hence the importance of small aperture telescopes for collecting much-needed photometric data. For over a decade the research activity using the 14” optical telescope has focused on photometric monitoring of well known and suspected active stars. These data, together with X-ray and radio data from archives as well as spectroscopic data obtained at Indian observatories, has led to the identification of new chromosperically active stars. This paper is aimed at sharing our experiences with the colleagues from the developing world on the usage of small optical telescopes for teaching and research with the objective of spreading the joy of astronomy among young students.

The main goal of this work is to have a better understanding of the problems and characteristics of photometric surveys with small-sized affordable equipment, like the one available at the Astrophysics Division/INPE, in São José dos Campos, Brazil. The use of low-cost instruments is appealing in the context of the detection of Extrasolar Planets (ESP), in the sense that many observers are available for survey and follow-up programmes. It could also make possible the inclusion of many developing countries in the search for planetary transits. We describe the data collection and analysis procedure for differential photometry of the transit of HD 209458 b, using a small telescope and a commercial CCD camera. According to the HST observations of Brown et al. (2001), the transit produces a box-shaped light curve with 2% depth and 184-min duration. The orbital period is ∼ 3.5 days. The equipment consists of a f/10, 11” Schmidt-Cassegrain Celestron telescope equipped with a SBIG ST7E CCD camera. Since the seeing at the campus is quite poor, we used a focal reducer to produce an effective focal ratio of about f/5, still keeping a good sampling of the PSF but with a larger field of view. The larger field of view allows the simultaneous observation of a relatively bright nearby star, suitable for differential photometry. We discuss the IRAF reduction procedures for the large number of images collected and present the results obtained in the transit of September 8, 2004

This paper describes a new initiative in support of the aim of Commission 46 of the IAU to develop and improve astronomy education at all levels throughout the world. This paper discusses the ideal specification of a facility to support basic astronomy within education programmes which are delivered to students who have access to the Internet. The available robotic telescopes are discussed against this specification and it is argued that the Bradford Robotic Telescope, uniquely, can support many thousands of users in the area of basic astronomy education, and the resource is free.

Access to the Internet is growing in the developing world and this is true in education programmes. This paper discusses the serious problems of delivering to large numbers of students a web based astronomy education programme supported by a robotic telescope as part of a general education. It examines the problems of this form of teaching for teachers who have little experience of working with IT and little knowledge of basic astronomy and proposes how such teachers can be supported.

The current system (http://www.telescope.org/) delivers astronomy education in the language, culture and traditions of England. The paper discusses the need to extend this to other languages, cultures and traditions, although for trainee teachers and undergraduates, it is argued that the current system provides a unique and valuable resource.

Astronomical education is entering a new stage of development which is closely connected with the development of new technologies for communication, computing and data visualization. We discuss this evolution in the context of astronomy education in Armenia. As students spend only a short time in Byurakan Observatory for training in observations, they are not able to carry out systematic astronomical observations. Hence their training places emphasis on the use of astronomical archives and analysis of observational data obtained previously with the Byurakan telescopes and other ground-based and space telescopes. Thus, one of the aims of the Armenian Virtual Observatory is to support the training of students in this modern context.

Astronomers have opportunities at least twice a year to use partial, annular, or total eclipses of the Sun, or planetary transits, to interest the public in astronomy through their observations. It is important to provide accurate information about the pleasures and hazards of looking toward the Sun. The International Astronomical Union helps by providing knowledgeable information from experienced eclipse observers.

We present a case study of “Khagol Mandal,” a voluntary organization primarily based in Mumbai, India. In the 20 years since its inception, Khagol Mandal has given more than 1000 public outreach programmes. The volunteers strive to go beyond amateur level by means of various study tours, astronomical experiments and workshops. These activities have inspired a number of students to take professional astronomy careers. With a volunteer force, probably largest in India or even south Asia, Khagol Mandal is well poised to take advantage of the archival data of large telescopes. With a little guidance from senior researchers, organizations like Khagol Mandal can provide a solution to the ever-increasing need for manpower for ancillary science from these large-scale facilities.

Since 1990, the United Nations has held an annual workshop on basic space science for the benefit of the worldwide development of astronomy. Additional to the scientific benefits of the workshops and the strengthening of international cooperation, the workshops lead to the establishment of astronomical telescope facilities through the Official Development Assistance (ODA) of Japan. Teaching material, hands-on astrophysics material, and variable star observing programmes had been developed for the operation of such astronomical telescope facilities in the university environment. This approach to astronomical telescope facility, observing programme, and teaching astronomy has become known as the basic space science TRIPOD concept. Currently, a similar TRIPOD concept is being developed for the International Heliophysical Year 2007, consisting of an instrument array, data taking and analysis, and teaching space science.

The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) Capacity-Building Programme introduces astronomers in the developing world to the rich resource of space research online archives. The programme consists of a series of regional workshops which each bring together about 30 developing world astronomers with around 8 teaching faculty for lectures and hands-on projects. Five workshops have been held so far with another two planned for next year and a budget which enables on average one workshop each year. Proposals for future workshops are encouraged.

The International Heliophysical Year (IHY) in 2007 & 2008 will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) and, following its tradition of international research collaboration, will focus on the cross-disciplinary studies of universal processes in the heliosphere.

The main goal of the IHY Education and Outreach Programme is to create more global access to exemplary resources in space and Earth science education and public outreach. By taking advantage of the IHY organization with representatives in every nation and in the partnership with the United Nations Basic Space Science Initiative (UNBSSI), we aim to promote new international partnerships. Our goal is to assist in increasing the visibility and accessibility of exemplary programmes and in the identification of formal or informal educational products that would be beneficial to improve space and Earth science knowledge in a given country; leaving a legacy of enhanced global access to resources and of world-wide connectivity between those engaged in education and public outreach efforts that are related to IHY science.

Here we describe how to participate in the IHY Education and Outreach Programme and the benefits in doing so. Emphasis will be given to the role played by developing countries; not only in selecting useful resources and helping in their translation and adaptation, but also in providing different approaches and techniques in teaching.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the International Heliophysical Year (IHY) community have joined hands to deploy arrays of small, inexpensive instruments such as magnetometers, radio telescopes, GPS receivers, all-sky cameras, and particle detectors around the world to provide global measurements of ionospheric, magnetospheric and heliospheric phenomena. The small instrument programme is envisioned as a partnership between instrument providers, and instrument hosts in developing countries as one of United Nations Basic Space Science (UNBSS) activity. The lead scientist will provide the instruments (or fabrication plans for instruments) in the array; the host country will provide manpower, facilities, and operational support to obtain data with the instrument, located typically at a local university. This paper provides an overview of the IHY/UNBSS programme, its achievements and future plans.

Stanford's Solar Center, Electrical Engineering Department, and local educators have developed inexpensive Space Weather Monitors that students around the world can use to track solar- and lightning-induced changes to the Earth's ionosphere. Through the United Nations Basic Space Science Initiative (UNBSSI) and the International Heliophysical Year (IHY) Education and Public Outreach programme, our Monitors are being deployed to 191 countries. In partnership with Chabot Space and Science Center, we are designing and developing classroom and educator support materials to accompany the distribution. Materials will be culturally sensitive and will be translated into the six official languages of the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish). Monitors will be provided free of charge to developing nations and can be set up anywhere there is access to power.

I will discuss in this article the emerging concept of virtual observatories, the efforts being made in various countries to set up these structures, and the relevance of the concept to astronomy in developing countries.

For developing countries it is very important to derive maximum use of data obtained from their own telescopes. This is not only related to maximizing science returns on capital investment, but also to maximizing science output. In this paper we describe how we are utilizing software tools to realize this goal. This paper discusses the design and main features of our software tools, and planned future developments. The primary vehicle for general data interpretation is through various interactive techniques of data visualization. Our software employs an object oriented approach which facilitates data processing for experienced users as well as being easier to learn for novice users. This leads to greatly increased efficiency in every phase of data analysis. For developing countries the kind of software we are developing and the virtual observatory concept holds out the hope of advancing capability and efficiency in scientific research.

One of the purposes of a Virtual Observatory is to facilitate data sharing. Data products from the Solar Multi-Channel Telescope and the Solar Radio Telescope at Huairou Solar Observing Station, Beijing, are not only used for solar research but also for solar activity and space environment predictions. To provide these services, we have exploited a number of technologies, which we discuss in this article. These include the setting up of a WWW server, a local area network, network security facility, data processing software, etc. We discuss the implementation of a Virtual Solar Observatory (VSO) and show how it meets various user requirements for unified international metadata. We also discuss future plans for further development of the system.