In the year 2009, the world celebrated the International Year of Astronomy as it commemorated the 400th anniversary of Galileo's use of a telescope to study the skies, and Kepler's publication of Astronomia Nova. 2009 was also the anniversary of many other historic events in science, including Huygen's 1659 publication of Systema Saturnium. This is modern astronomy's quadricentennial, and the 2009 Year of Astronomy is be an international celebration of numerous astronomical and scientific milestones. Events are still being planned, and you are invited to tell us how you want to celebrate. This page is a product of the U.S. 2009 IYA team, and we want to help you make 2009 a year long celebration to remember.
Spread the word: the Universe is yours to discover. Celebrate IYA 2009.
Many International Year of Astronomy Programs Continuing
The International Year of Astronomy 2009 is closing with a full moon, a "Blue Moon" that seems a fitting conclusion to such an event-filled year.
We would like to thank everyone for the many hours of dedicated volunteer time that went into making IYA2009 such a huge success! Although IYA2009 is coming to an end, many programs and events will be continuing. Please download a listing of the Continuing Programs as well as a Calendar of Astronomy Events that are coming up in 2010 and beyond.
The International Year of Astronomy 2009 Cornerstone project, 100 Hours of Astronomy, is on track to be the largest single science public outreach event ever. More than 1500 events have been registered in over 130 countries and this number is increasing every day. 100 Hours of Astronomy is a truly global project; an event on a scale never attempted before, with more than one million people expected to participate!
Links
• 100HA website: http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org/
• 100HA programme: http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org/program
• 100HA Ustream.tv channel: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/100-hours-of-astronomy
• IYA2009 website: http://www.astronomy2009.org/
Join us live on this site to watch the live webcast of “Around the World in 80 Telescopes” 3 April 09:00 UT to 4 April 09:00 UT.
Comedy Central’s very own Steven Colbert is talking Astronomy with IYA’s Derrek Pitts of The Franklin Institute. Check it out Monday March 30th,
For more information about Pitts at the Galileo Telescope, check out this NY Times article.
(As soon as YouTube video is available we’ll be linking to it.)
The Franklin in Philadelphia will become host of the world exclusive exhibition “Galileo, the Medici and The Age of Astronomy,” on April 4 thru September 7, 2009. The one-time only special exhibition features one of only two existing, original Galileo telescopes that will leave Italy for the first and only time. The exhibit coincides the [...]
In celebration of the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first use of the telescope, the International Astronomical Union and UNESCO have declared 2009 to be the International Year of Astronomy (IYA 2009). As part of a world-wide celebration of this event, the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) will be sponsoring a free-admission Open House on Saturday, 4 [...]
Set you clocks, arrange for a few nights off, and get ready to spend April 2-5 participating in the 100 Hours of Astronomy. Partnering with the 100 Hours team is the “Around the world in 80 telescopes” 24-hour broadcast from the largest and most advanced telescopes in the world taking place from 3 April 09:00 [...]
Wednesday, March 4th, over 850 people attended one of the public IYA events planned at Foothill College (near San Francisco), as part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures, which is this year celebrating its 10th anniversary of bringing free public lectures by noted astronomers to a wide public.
Dr. Steven Beckwith, the recently retired Director of [...]
Check out these IYA related articles and newsletters:
400 Years of the Telescope Newsletter
Review: Far Out Fridays at Adler Planetarium and in Second Life
Paul Devlin’s “BLAST!” shown at Thessaloniki Film Festival
For a limited time the March issue of the journal “Physics World” is available for free download from IOP publishing. This issue is dedicated to the International Year of Astronomy and includes IYA related feature stories and articles of general interest from contributors including: Catherine Cesarsky, President of the International Astronomical Union; Martin Rees, the [...]
Currently the From Earth to the Universe portable display is on display at the Tucson International Airport. The exhibit, which is along the airport’s ticketing area, will run through March 25. This is the first location on this exhibits national tour. Over the next year these panels will appear all across the US, and local [...]
The International Year of Astronomy 2009 Cornerstone project, 100 Hours of Astronomy, is on track to be the largest single science public outreach event ever. More than 1500 events have been registered in over 130 countries and this number is increasing every day. 100 Hours of Astronomy is a truly global project; an event on a scale never attempted before, with more than one million people expected to participate!
Links
• 100HA website: http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org/
• 100HA programme: http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org/program
• 100HA Ustream.tv channel: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/100-hours-of-astronomy
• IYA2009 website: http://www.astronomy2009.org/
Join us live on this site to watch the live webcast of “Around the World in 80 Telescopes” 3 April 09:00 UT to 4 April 09:00 UT. 
