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100 hours of astronomy at the Mexican northern border

Nature Astronomy volume 4, pages 4–5 (2020)Cite this article

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To the Editor — The International Astronomical Union (IAU) encourages inclusivity1 and information technology presents tools that can make astronomy accessible to all. By using social media, our outreach proposal intends to inspire the next generation of astronomers. By using apps and social media combined with traditional talks, interaction between the public and researchers can be facilitated, and a more diverse audience can be reached, in line with the IAU’s mission to build a wide astronomy-literate community in a cost-effective way.

The importance of effective and inclusive outreach efforts cannot be disputed (for example, see ref. 2). Discriminating people based on their gender, age, race or ethnicity, can lead to their under-representation in the research community and diminish their contributions to science and astronomy3. For example, in the United States, between 2002 and 2012, close to 3% of all astronomy doctoral students were members of minority communities4. Several efforts are underway to remedy this situation. Examples include projects directed to those with visual5 or hearing6 impairments. Another project uses the Japanese art form of manga to communicate astronomy to a more diverse audience7.

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References

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank A. Ortiz-Gil for her guidance, and the IT staff of the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez. S.P.T.-M. acknowledges the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme for funding support given under grant agreement no. 639459 (PROMISE). I.V.-P. acknowledges L. Binette, Y. Rito, R. Pankayatselvan, J. Butler, R. Walterbos, R. Armendariz and A. Bruce for their support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science Department, Doña Ana Community College, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA

    I. Villicaña-Pedraza

  2. Instituto de Ingeniería y Tecnología, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico

    J. Sáenz, M. González-Bolívar, B. Delgado, K. Castrejón-Parga & L. Vázquez-Zubiate

  3. Departamento de Investigación en Física, Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, Mexico

    J. Saucedo-Morales & L. Olguín

  4. Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ensenada, Mexico

    R. Vázquez

  5. Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands

    L. Guzman-Ramirez

  6. Physics Department, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA

    F. Carreto-Parra

  7. Universidad de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico

    P. Valdés

  8. Instituto de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, Mexico

    L. A. Zapata

  9. Planetario Alfa, Monterrey, Mexico

    P. Lonnie-Pacheco

  10. Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Mulegé, Santa Rosalía, Mexico

    E. Sandez

  11. Physics Department, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA

    H. Noriega-Mendoza

  12. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica, Tonantzintla, Mexico

    O. López

  13. Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology Onsala Space Observatory, Onsala, Sweden

    S. P. Treviño-Morales

  14. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico

    D. Sánchez

  15. Cosmo Glaretum, Nuevo Laredo, Mexico

    R. Aparicio

Authors
  1. I. Villicaña-Pedraza
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  2. J. Sáenz
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  14. S. P. Treviño-Morales
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  15. M. González-Bolívar
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  16. B. Delgado
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  17. K. Castrejón-Parga
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  18. L. Vázquez-Zubiate
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  19. D. Sánchez
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  20. R. Aparicio
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to I. Villicaña-Pedraza.

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Villicaña-Pedraza, I., Sáenz, J., Saucedo-Morales, J. et al. 100 hours of astronomy at the Mexican northern border. Nat Astron 4, 4–5 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0875-z

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