Here at Urban Astronomer, we’re big fans of Cosmoquest.  They do great work at the interface between professional science and the general public, taking care of both outreach and citizen science projects.  One day when I’m all grown up, I hope to work more closely with them.  On a personal note, I once commented on one of their blog posts and in response got a goodybag of NASA material and a handwritten note from project director Pamela Gay in the post.  They’re really cool people, is my point.

But they’ve been hit hard by recent decisions of the US Government, and are having funding trouble.  To fix this, they’re updating the 24 hour telethon concept to a 32 hour Google Hangout-a-thon.  In Pamela’s own words, “This weekend we’re holding a 24 hour (+8) telethon using Google Hangout on Air. Our primary goal is to raise money to protect our programs in the face of cutbacks all throughout astronomy/science education and communications. Beyond this initial goal, we’re hoping to use this event to showcase what a wonderful and vibrant community CosmoQuest has the privilege to be a part of.”

For more details, visit the event page, or click here to see a schedule of events (listed times are American – the hangout-a-thon starts at 4pm GMT).