Public Engagement & Outreach
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Overview
Astro-COLIBRI actively connects professional astronomy with the broader community, engaging in citizen science, amateur astronomy, and public outreach. By providing real-time alerts on transient astrophysical events, we empower amateur astronomers to contribute valuable observations to scientific research. Our platform is showcased at public events, including science festivals and amateur astronomy gatherings, where we demonstrate its capabilities and foster discussions on time-domain and multi-messenger astrophysics. Through these efforts, we aim to bridge the gap between experts and enthusiasts, making cutting-edge discoveries more accessible to all.
Below, you’ll find a selection of our past and ongoing public engagement activities, featuring brief descriptions and photos from each event.
We are always happy to participate in new events and collaborate with amateur astronomy clubs, schools, and science outreach initiatives. If you’re an organizer and would like to invite us to your event, feel free to contact us!
Astro-COLIBRI is an official partner of the Open Universe, an initiative of the United Nations under the auspices of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).
We are also a member of the Executive Committee Working Group on Professional-Amateur Relations in Astronomy (PARC) of the International Astronomical Union.
The Astro-COLIBRI team is happy to support observations of time domain and transient phenomena by amateur astronomers across the globe. We are for example close partners of the GEMINI ProAm program, the RAPAS network. We are also collaborating with the Unistellar citizen science program on Cosmic Cataclysms supported by SETI.
Astro-COLIBRI is committed to sharing the excitement of time-domain and multi-messenger astrophysics with the general public and especially young audiences. Through hands-on activities, interactive demonstrations, and collaborations with science festivals, we aim to inspire the next generation of scientists, promote STEM topics and engage the broader community in the wonders of the universe. A selection of our outreach initiatives and events is given below.
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STELLAR (CERN, July 2025)
19 July 2025, a special, public event was organized at CERN: STELLAR, “a chance to meet astronauts, Nobel Prize laureates and other world-class scientists. Discover with them how astrophysics and particle physics are shaping the future, from exploring the Universe to transforming our daily lives in a surprising range of diverse fields including healthcare and climate modelling, disaster relief, transportation and global safety.” We were excited to have been invited to participate in the event with a dedicated lab where we showcased our platform, discussed time domain astrophysics and how citizen scientists can participate in the exciting endeavour to understand the most violent phenomena in the Universe. Throughout a single evening more than 850 visited our stand within the CERN Science Gateway Education Lab.
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Rencontres du Ciel & de l'Espace (Cité des Sciences, Paris, Nov. 2024)
Astro-COLIBRI participated in the 2024 Rencontres du Ciel & de l'Espace, a major astronomy festival held at the Cité des Sciences in Paris. Our team presented the Astro-COLIBRI platform to a diverse audience of science enthusiasts, and amateur astronomers. We showcased the latest developments in time-domain astronomy and multi-messenger astrophysics, and engaged with visitors through interactive presentations, hands-on activities, and live demonstrations of the Astro-COLIBRI platform. Colleagues and friends from various ProAm projects gave presentations about the use of Astro-COLIBRI in their work. We also introduced the integration of Smart Home devices for visual alerts of cosmic events.
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Fête de la Science (ENS Paris-Saclay, Sept. 2024)
Astro-COLIBRI was proud to participate in the 2024 Fête de la Science, a national science festival in France that celebrates scientific research and discovery. Our team participated in the "Village des Sciences" at ENS Paris-Saclay with interactive presentations, hands-on activities, and live demonstrations of the Astro-COLIBRI platform. In dedicated sessions we engaged with several groups of students at different high school levels, and introduced them to the exciting world of time-domain astronomy and multi-messenger astrophysics and STEM topics in general. We also showcased the latest developments in the Astro-COLIBRI platform, including the integration of Smart Home devices for visual alerts of cosmic events.
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Explor'Espace (Paris/Montrouge, Nov. 2023)
The Astro-COLIBRI team was again delighted to participate in the 2023 Explor'Espace festival, a major astronomy event held in Paris/Montrouge. Our team presented the Astro-COLIBRI platform to a diverse audience of science enthusiasts, families, and students. We illustrated the ever changing sky with a live demo of our platform and engaged with the young audience through Gamma-Catcher, our own online and smartphone game.
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Firmamento (NYU Abu Dhabi, April 2023)
A first contribution towards capacity building in the Middle East and the Global South, the Astro-COLIBRI team was invited to participate in the 2023 Firmamento workshop at NYU Abu Dhabi. We presented Astro-COLIBRI to a diverse audience of researchers, amateur astronomers and students. We illustrated how our open and free platform can facilitate access to large datasets from ground and space-based observatories and how it lowers the barrier to an active participation in the exciting research of time domain astrophysics.
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Rencontres du Ciel & de l'Espace (Cité des Sciences, Paris, Nov. 2022)
The Astro-COLIBRI team participated in the 2022 Rencontres du Ciel & de l'Espace at the Cité des Sciences in Paris. Our team engaged with amateur astronomers and astronomy enthusiasts through interactive demonstrations of the platform, showcasing how it can be used to follow up on transient events in real-time. We received valuable feedback from the amateur astronomy community and discussed potential collaborations for future citizen science projects.
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Explor'Espace (Paris/Montrouge, Nov. 2021)
The Astro-COLIBRI team was delighted to participate in the 2021 Explor'Espace festival, a major astronomy event held in Paris/Montrouge. Our team presented the Astro-COLIBRI platform to a diverse audience of science enthusiasts, families, and students. We illustrated the ever changing sky with a live demo of our platform.
