For other uses, see IYA.

The International Year of Astronomy is a year long celebration of astronomy, taking place in 2009 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the publication of Johannes Kepler's Astronomia nova in the 17th century. The Year was declared by the 62nd General Assembly of the UN. A global scheme, laid out by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), has also been endorsed by UNESCO - the UN body responsible for Educational, Scientific and Cultural matters.

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Significance of 1609

In 1609, Galileo Galilei first turned one of his telescopes to the night sky and made astounding discoveries that changed mankind’s conception of the World forever: mountains and craters on the Moon, a plethora of stars invisible to the naked eye and moons around Jupiter. Astronomical observatories around the World promise to reveal how planets and stars are formed, how galaxies assemble and evolve, and what the structure and shape of our Universe actually are. In the same year, Johannes Kepler published his work Astronomia nova in which he described the fundamental laws of planetary motions.

On 25th September 1608, Hans Lippershey, a young man from Middelburg, travelled to The Hague to demonstrate one of his inventions to the Dutch government - the telescope. Although Hans was not awarded the patent, Galileo heard of this story and decided to use the "Dutch perspective glass" and point it towards the heavens.

Organizational Associates

The IYA2009 Organisational Associates are Organisations, Institutions and Agencies related to astronomy, space science, and natural science which support the global coordination of IYA2009 financially.

As of 19 November 2008, the current list of Organizational Associates is:

American Astronomical Society
European Southern Observatory
Canadian Astronomical Society
L’Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers
National Research Council Canada
Sterrewacht Leiden
Nederlandse Onderzoekschool Voor Astronomie
Science & Technology Facilities Council
The Society for Popular Astronomy
Swiss Academy of Sciences
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spain)
European Science Foundation
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt
Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales
The Planetary Society
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Armagh Planetarium
Indian Space Research Organisation
International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics Network
NASA Lunar Science Institute
Nordic Optical Telescope

References

See also

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Year_of_Astronomy"

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