In 1609, as Galileo pointed the sky with a telescope, he observed Jupiter's satellites and changed our vision of the universe. Four hundred years later, we celebrate this event all over the world, and also in the Canaries. 2009, the International Year of Astronomy, is a very special year for the Science and Cosmos Museum (Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos). This was the first museum in Spain supported by a public entity, The Local Government of Tenerife (Cabildo de Tenerife), through its Autonomous Council of Museums (Organismo Autónomo de Museos y Centros), and a research centre, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias. Fifteen years later, this museum, which receives 50,000 visitors a year, celebrates the International Year of Astronomy with fifty projects described in this paper.

The interest to astronomy has incredibly risen in the younger generation of Iranians during the last two decades. By the end of the devastating war with Iraq, science popularisation activities started again in Iran and with only a handful of astronomers and few dozens of serious amateur astronomers in the whole country in late 1980s now there are thousands of amateur astronomers (60% female on average) and over 100 professional astronomers propelling the fun and science of astronomy in the society.

The teaching and the popularization of Astronomy, nowadays, suffers from the absence of attractiveness. It's, somehow, consensual that the most efficient approach to attract the general public or even an uninterested student to the Astronomy is the sky observation. With the help of instruments like telescopes or binoculars, the observation of aesthetical impressive objects such as galactic clusters, approaching planets and many others may have a great impact upon those people. We have been executing an efficient and attractive didactic method which has been evaluated permanently for more than two years and has shown great efficiency that consists in the utilization of legends and myths from different cultures (including Brazilian Indians myths, in an etnoastronomical approach) about the constellations and their dispositions in the sky. The objective of this panel is to show the efficiency of the method and some of its teaching routines always beginning with myths or legends involving a great number of constellations (using, preferentially, most of the watchable sky in a certain time of year), using asterisms for identification and then following to a certain constellation from which it is possible to extract the information required for the studied subject.

The popular event Nuits des étoiles has become in France the summer encounter with the sky. More than 400 events are set up for three consecutive days each year: several thousands of voluntary organisers invite more and more people to observe the heavens and discover astronomy. Each summer, those collective star parties reach about one hundred thousand people, several millions of sky maps are printed and distributed by newspapers and the associated TV live program broadcast by France 2 channel interested 1 to 3 millions spectators. Since 1991, Nuits des étoiles has helped to develop organisations at the local level and increased the stakeholders' interest in general public awareness. It contributed in France to strengthen and professionalise an astronomical leisure offer.