held in the Near East and North Africa. Since the 1980s, the focus lay on Europe again. An important condition for the choice of a location has always been that it is as far from centres of population as possible such that observations can be performed free from light pollution. In 1999, in which the solar eclipse of that summer was a major event, 99 people participated, excluding former participants of previous camps who joined for a one-week old-oldies special reunion. In recent years, the number of participants has remained stable at around 65. The 42nd (July 16 – August 5, 2006), the 43rd (July 29 – August 18, 2007) and the 47th (July 17 – August 6, 2011) IAYC took place in Třemešek, Czech Republic. The 44th camp took place in Sayda, in the German federal state of Saxony from 20 July until 9 August 2008, the site of the 33rd (1997) and 40th (2004) camps. The 45th camp was held in Hala Miziowa (Poland). Related camps The IAYC is not the only youth camp that focusses on astronomy. In Germany the Astronomische Abenteuer Camp (AAC; Astronomical Adventure Camp) is held annually around Easter and the Astronomische SommerLager (ASL; Astronomical Summer Camp) is held yearly in the summer. In The Netherlands, the Youngsters Working Group for Astronomy organises several youth camps every year. Several Slovenian astronomical associations organise MART (Youth astronomy research camp) together. It is held in August in Slovenia. Youths from neighbour countries participate too because the camp is very well known in the area. See also List of astronomical societies References External links http://www.iayc.org – The IAYC website Summer camps Amateur astronomy organizations Astronomy education events