O F T E N I M I TAT E D , N E V E R B E T T E R E D . Issue 708
17 June 2011 - 23 June 2011
YURI GAGARIN, who flew into history as the first man in space back in 1961, will be honoured at a truly unique gathering of astronomers in Tenerife and La Palma over the next week. And among a galaxy of stars paying their respects to the late Russian cosmonaut will be none other than American astronaut Neil Armstrong. He commanded the Apollo 11 spaceship and landed it on the moon on 20th July 1969. The whole world then held its breath collectively while watching on TV as he left the spaceship and became the first man to walk on the moon, with Buzz Aldrin following minutes behind him. The Starmus Festival, to be staged generally at the Abama Golf & Spa Resort, is where the lecture Discover the cosmos and change the world! will take place from Monday to Thursday. The entire show will be an immense attraction to astronomers the world over because the Canary Islands are regarded as an astronomical paradise, with two of the most advanced astronomical observatories in the world, based here and in La Palma. Yet the glittering event, said to be the largest gathering of figures related to astronomy
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The all-star supershow! Tenerife lays on a dazzling week in space for the masses
and space exploration ever held globally, may well appeal more to rock fans. That’s because Queen guitarist Brian May, a megastar in
his own right and a genuine star-gazer, will be playing at a special concert to highlight the week. He will be appearing along-
side the legendary Tangerine Dream, and the show takes place at the Magma Art & Congress Hall, in Playa de Las Americas, next Friday (24th June). Tangerine Dream, the German electronic group renowned for their film soundtracks, will be showcasing their own Sonic Universe concert there, as well as playing two new compositions with the Queen legend, dedicated to Yuri Gagarin and Alexei Leonov. Organisers are certain they are delivering a “unique scientific, artistic and musical event”, which runs from Monday (20th June) until Saturday. It is the brainchild of Dr Garik Israelian, an astrophysicist at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (Canarian Astrophysics Institute, IAC), in Teide National Park.
The Festival, primarily put on to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Gagarin’s space flight, will be supported by several worldwide scientific institutions and organisations. The festival director Garik Israelyan stressed “It’s a problem of values – we need to show young people that science and the space race are interesting. The future of our planet lies in space” There will be information about the Space Agency programmes in Russia and the USA. A young star gazer, a 10 year old Canadian girl will open the festival. Kathryn Aurora Gray discovered a supernova or exploding star with her telescope. Visitors will be seeing stars all the way - human and otherwise - during a host of recreational and informative activities, which will be made
popular and appealing to the ordinary public. Astrophotography, spaceart exhibitions, documentaries, star parties, talks and conferences are just some the endless activities that will delight music fans and astronomy aficionados alike. Starmus will be the first popular festival to link the many disciplines in astronomy and the space sciences, and will feature world-famous scientists and astronauts. Spookily, we are told that we will hear music made from the real sounds of celestial bodies, while renowned speakers and experts in astrophysics will bring science to the public at large. And in a unique webcast event, scientific speakers and Brian May - will gather for the round-table discussion 108 Minutes inside the dome Continued on page 3.