View Jupiter Better Than Galileo Did

Sidewalk Astronomy to Span the U.S. in Celebration of “Galileo Nights”

Astronomy enthusiasts across the globe are breaking out their telescopes this weekend (October 22-24) in a coordinated  effort to help hundreds of thousands of people experience their own “Galileo moment” of awe and discovery when  seeing the planet Jupiter and its four largest moons.

More than 1,100 public observing events in over 70 countries are being organized as part of “Galilean Nights,” a cornerstone project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009). More than 75 events in the United States are listed on the international Galilean Nights Web site at www.galileannights.org.

Large U.S. events are being planned for Inwood Hill Park in New York City and Hilo, Hawaii, for example. A wide variety of other events are scheduled at places as diverse as a Starbucks coffee shop in Alabaster, Alabama; Wilhemina State Park in Mena, Arkansas; the Amoeba music store in Hollywood, California; Colorado Astronomy Day in Brighton and Chamberlin Observatory in Denver; the Embry-Riddle University observatory in Daytona Beach, Florida; sidewalk astronomy at the corner of North and Wells streets in Chicago; a Radio Shack in Waterloo, Iowa; Chabot Science Center near Oakland; a Border’s Bookstore in Wichita, Kansas; the Longway Planetarium in Flint, Michigan; Bottomless Lakes State Park in Roswell, New Mexico; the
University of Texas Arlington planetarium; the Great Salt Lake Nature Center in Utah; the Carnegie Institution of Washington, DC; and the Green Bank Science Center in West Virginia.

For more information, visit:
www.galileannights.org
www.astronomy2009.org