Welcome to the 4th issue of Celestron's 2009 Newsletter.

As we continue the celebration of the International Year of Astronomy, the focus of this issue is the part Celestron plays in the global astronomical community....

Introducing SkyScout IYA Edition

Just in time for an official "kick off" of IYA festivities in Philadelphia, Celestron has announced the release of a (very) Limited Edition IYA2009 SkyScout.

This version of SkyScout features the limited edition IYA Expansion card that contains detailed information regarding important IYA and Celestial events taking place each month throughout 2009.

SPOTLIGHT: 100 Hours of Astronomy

100 Hours of Astronomy (100HA) was a tremendously successful global astronomy event that took place from 2nd to 5th of April with a sole purpose to expose as many people as possible to the timeless hobby of astronomy! Celestron sent out teams to three of the numerous events taking place around the world. Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA see photos »   Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, CA see photos »   Irvine Spectrum, Irvine, CA see photos » Across the pond, in Germany, our local distributor, Baader-Planetarium participated in a tremendously successful 100HA event held in the center of Munich. See Munich photos: Gallery 1 | Gallery 2 | Gallery 3 We have brought back priceless memories and awesome photos. Most importantly we made a few new friends and renewed our passion for the hobby. Read 100HA blogs from around the world on CelestronLife.com » You may also share your 100HA stories, images and even videos on CelestronLife.com

	NEW ON CELESTRON.com: FirstScope Update
	The talented folks in our multimedia department have recently unveiled a trailer for the upcoming FirstScope Tour.

BTW, did you know that...

• FirstScope is now available for purchase on Celestron.com
• We have just announced the accessory kit for FirstScope

INSIDE CELESTRON: Community Relations

In 2008 Celestron launched an innovative community outreach program. There are two key aspects to the program, development of online communities (like CelestronLife and CelestronImages) as well as "boots on the ground", old fashioned human outreach. To accomplish the latter, the Community Relations department was formed. In this issue, we would like to highlight the great work done by these brave men and women led by our Community Relations Coordinator, Kevin Kawai. Check out Kevin's CelestronLife.com Profile and our Flickr Photo Album to see the awesome places their work has taken them and the wonderful people they met along the way.

Welcome to the 8th issue of Celestron's 2009 Newsletter!

Celestron would like to congratulate the winners of the IYA 2009 One Hundred Hours of Astronomy Competition! Celestron is honored to be a part of this phenomenal global event which enabled more than a million people across the world to view through a telescope for the first time. Congratulations to everyone around the world who organized and participated in the events in your community and helped make 100 Hours of Astronomy a success.

Awards, which include Celestron’s SkyScout Personal Planetarium, were given out at the IAU General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 11, 2009, where Mike Simmons, Co-Chair of 100 Hours of Astronomy, publicly announced the winners at the 100 Hours of Astronomy Awards and Closing Ceremony. read more »

	Solar Eclipse 2009
	by Dark Matters

What a trip it was - 14 days, meeting many very nice people, both locals and foreigners, visiting Shanghai and 3 provinces, the Synta telescope factory at Suzhou, Purple Mt. Observatory at Nanjing.

And of course, the total solar eclipse!

That part of the adventure began with preparations here in the US, resulting in two complete photo rigs and approximately 20 lbs in photo gear. Everything was packed into one Jetpilot wheely bag of medium size plus a smallish Gregory Advent backpack. I had no troubles with the airline's size and weight restrictions...

« see Eclipse photos | read Blog entry »

NEW ON CELESTRON.COM: Related Products

Earlier this month we have launched a new version of our shopping cart. In addition to being faster and more user friendly, it features a list of products and accessories purchased by other users that bought the item you are looking at.

We hope that this addition will help you quickly locate the products and accessories for your particular application... comment on this »

SPOTLIGHT: Contest Winners "Discovered"

We are extremely proud to congratulate the winners of the "Capture the Universe" astrophotography contest sponsored by CelestronImages.com and Discover Magazine.

By entering this contest, you have shown that you share the same innate desire that drives us at Celestron to develop the tools needed to search, learn and share the world around us – and beyond.

Click here to view our brand new "Contest Winners Hall of Fame".

Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy.com, who judged the contest, was so impressed by the quality of the contest entries that a total of 11 of the photographs were featured on Discover Magazine's Website

« see Phil's Picks on CelestronImages.com | read Phil's blog entry »

We really hope you've enjoyed reading this newsletter.
Please submit your feedback here:
http://www.celestronlife.com/blogs/entry/2009-Newsletter-Issue-8

Clear Skies!

Celestron Marketing Team

	Event Calendar Starfest 2009 - A Celebration of Astronomy August 20-23 Ontario, Canada Starfest is Canada's largest annual observing conference and star party. It attracts over nine hundred astronomy enthusiasts from Ontario, and neighboring provinces and states. It has been ranked among the top star parties in North America by Sky and Telescope magazine. read more »

Event Recaps
by Kevin Kawai

	SCAE 2009 July 18th Oceanside, California
Here we are again in the middle of summer and for us Californians, July means warm, sunny blue skies, sandy beaches, summer Milky Way and Oceanside Photo and Telescope's Southern California Astronomy Expo (SCAE)! How quickly an entire year has rolled around since the last SCAE 2008! This past Saturday, July 18, 2009, OPT Boss, Craig Weatherwax, hosted the 5th Annual SCAE event and invited down nearly 40 vendors of astronomical related gear to showcase their latest wares to the public. Just a week earlier, OPT held a very successful parking lot swap meet, followed by a film presentation and vendor star party at nearby Palomar College...
« photo GALLERY | read Blog entry »

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