Every year Iranians celebrate the longest night of the year named Shabe Yalda (Yalda Night). Yalda is a traditional Iranian festival which occurs on the eve of the Winter Solstice.

Astronomical Society of Iran, Amateur Committee celebrates Shabe Yalda by organizing an astronomical gathering on 20th of December. The gathering was a Welcome Ceremony for International Year of Astronomy 2009 in Iran too.

Photo by: Masood Garousian

Irene Shivaei, a member of StarPeace core team introduced StarPeace project to Iranian astronomers during Shabe Yalda Ceremony. She started her speech by showing two world maps; one of them was the Earth with border lines and the other was the Earth without borders. She mentioned that they believe the “real” Earth is the second picture and this simple thought leads them to start the StarPeace project.