Published: 28th November 2025 13:00 (UTC)

On August 30-31 2025, the Romanian National Astronomy Education Coordinator team—composed of Cătălina-Ana Mirițescu, a PhD student at the Institut de Física d’Altes Energies in Barcelona, Elisabeta Ana Naghi, Mathematics and Astronomy Inspector at the Ministry of Education and Research and National Astronomy Education Coordinator (NAEC), and Iulian Stancu, a physics teacher at The National College Gheorghe Șincai and author of astronomy and physics exercise books—successfully hosted a Teacher Training Program (TTP) in Astronomy.

Organized in collaboration with the Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE), the Cygnus Scientific Society (represented at the workshop by its president, Dr. Victor Șutac), and the Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy (AIRA) lead by Dr. Mirel Bîrlan, the program brought together 20 physics, mathematics, geography, and biology teachers across eight different locations in Romania, providing a hands-on and comprehensive professional development experience.

Beginning this academic year, a new elective course titled “Adventure of Exploring the Universe” will be introduced for 5th and 7th grade students in Romania. This workshop served to present the elective to teachers and to provide them with the necessary knowledge to teach it effectively. In addition, the content went beyond the boundaries of the elective, laying the groundwork for the national astronomy Olympiad curriculum.

Participants explored a wide range of topics, from spherical trigonometry, celestial coordinate systems, and stellar magnitudes to the study of exoplanet transits, light curves in binary star systems, and eclipses. A dedicated study guide was developed especially for this workshop, with each participant receiving both a printed copy and a digital version to support continued learning and classroom use.

Practical sessions added an interactive dimension, with sky orientation exercises, explorations of the movements of the Sun, Moon, and planets, guided use of Stellarium software, and star charts exercises. A highlight was a comprehensive presentation on the composition of the Universe, tracing a path from the Earth and Solar System out to the most distant quasars, held by Dr. Adrian Șonka.

The course also featured direct solar observations guided by researcher Cristian Omăt and an exclusive tour of the instruments at the Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy – organized by researcher Sorin Marin, offering participants a rare behind-the-scenes look at Romania’s astronomical history.

With its blend of theory, practice, and real-world observation, the initiative succeeded in bringing advanced astronomical knowledge closer to the middle and high school teachers, and thus hopefully closer to the classrooms and their students.

         

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