ABSTRACT
In our epoch, images are a powerful way to convey a message to a large audience. Through the use of amazing astronomical photographs, science can be communicated effectively at different levels, to a very diverse audience of all ages. In fact, astrophotography combines aesthetic appeal with the illustration of the science behind astronomical phenomena. This is the aim of the exhibit "A che Punto è la NOTTE - A scientific exhibition of astrophotography” organized by us in Italy, in October 2020, with the partnership of the cultural association PhysicalPub. Many different authors, both single individuals and professional or amateur observatories, were asked to send their best pictures. The 54 astronomical images chosen by a scientific committee, categorised in three different topics (night landscape, deep sky, instrumentation), were seen by more than 2000 visitors and 11 school groups (despite the difficult period due to the COVID pandemic). A free audio-guide, available on-line through a web-application developed on purpose, delivered scientific explanations of images for self-guided tours. Conferences and guided tours were also organized. The highlight of the exhibit were four mirrors from the MAGIC telescope and an ASTRI scale-model that allowed an in-depth description of how an Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope (IACT) works, introducing the science of VHE cosmic radiation. We will summarize the main difficulties in organizing this event and the feedback we had from the visitors. The exhibit is still available online, visiting the website mostrascientifica.it or via the web audio-guide (english and italian) at guida.mostrascientifica.it. © Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
ABSTRACT
The outreach program "A scuola di Astroparticelle” was proposed in 2016 by the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN - Napoli Division) in collaboration with the Physics Department "Ettore Pancini” of the Federico II University in Napoli, CNR-SPIN and CNR-ISASI Institutes. Its main goal is to engage teachers and students of High Schools in astroparticle physics projects. For the third edition (2018/19), the activities, which are also part of the Italian Educational Program PCTO - "Percorsi per le Competenze Trasversali e per l'Orientamento”, involved 18 schools for a total of 21 projects on several topics. Some projects were strictly related to astroparticles as cosmic rays, while others were more technical, as the development of particle detectors, or cross-disciplinary projects. Students worked for the entire school year and prepared materials for the final event. More than 600 students attended the event and presented their work to a jury with a poster and an oral presentation in plenary sessions. Since 2018, the program is part of OCRA - Outreach Cosmic Ray Activities - a national outreach project of INFN with the aim of collecting, within a common framework, the numerous outreach activities in cosmic-ray field carried out at the local level. The fourth edition (2019-20), in spite of the difficult situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has also seen the participation of 22 schools that carried out part of the activities in an online format. The project realized using the open data of the Pierre Auger Observatory will be presented in detail. © Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)