[AstroNet] Galilean Nights: Global Astronomy Event Invites the World to Discover Our Universe

[Kevin Govender]

Please diarise next big IYA2009 event!
22 to 24 October 2009
Let's get as many people as possible to look at Jupiter during Galilean 
nights. See press release at

http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iya0915/

Text copied below
Regards
Kevin


Press Releases
News Release - IYA0915: Galilean Nights: Global Astronomy Event Invites 
the World to Discover Our Universe

Sep 17, 2009, Paris

Wind the clock back 400 years and follow in the footsteps of a giant — 
experience now just what first amazed Galileo in 1609! The latest 
Cornerstone project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 
(IYA2009), Galilean Nights, will see thousands of public observing 
events around the world replicating Galileo’s observations and bringing 
what he saw 400 years ago to the public of today. From 22 to 24 October, 
amateur and professional astronomers, science centres, schools and all 
interested groups are invited to be part of the Galilean Nights project 
and to register their events on the project website 
www.galileannights.org. We can all make this a worldwide success.

Click to Enlarge

The Galilean Nights builds on the unprecedented success of April's 100 
Hours of Astronomy, another IYA2009 Cornerstone project. Over three 
nights amateur and professional astronomers, and enthusiasts, will share 
their knowledge and enthusiasm for the Universe by encouraging as many 
people as possible to look through a telescope at our neighbouring 
planets. The focus for the Galilean Nights is on the observations made 
by the Italian astronomer Galileo 400 years ago, including those of 
Jupiter and the Moon, which will be well-positioned in the night sky for 
observing during the event. For many members of the public it will be 
their first look through a telescope, when they can see such 
breathtaking sights such as the cloud bands of the gas giant, Jupiter, 
and intricate details on our cratered Moon. It will be an unforgettable 
experience.

Anyone, from any background and with any level of experience is 
encouraged to organise events, from one person sharing the night sky 
through a telescope with a small group of neighbours and friends, to 
large astronomical groups holding major observing sessions in public 
areas. To keep track of developments, assist with promotion and to help 
people to find local Galilean Nights activities, all events should be 
registered on the project website: www.galileannights.org. Hundreds of 
events all over the world have already been registered and the number is 
increasing every day.

IYA2009 Executive Committee Chair, Catherine Cesarsky says, "Amateur 
observations have always played an important role in astronomy, a fact 
highlighted by one of the most exciting events of this year when it was 
an amateur astronomer who noticed that Jupiter had suffered a massive 
impact by an asteroid or comet. So it is fitting that Galilean Nights 
continues this tradition as thousands of amateur astronomers and the 
public will turn their attention to Jupiter and other objects that 
Galileo observed 400 years ago."

Stunning images of distant objects in the Universe are well known around 
the world and do more to bring astronomy to the wider public and to 
inspire future astronomers than words ever could. The public have been 
set the challenge of capturing the inspirational nature of our local 
solar neighbourhood in the worldwide Galilean Nights photography 
competition. Run in partnership with Europlanet, the Galilean Nights 
competition encourages anybody with an enthusiasm for astronomy to try a 
different approach to their observations and create their own 
inspirational photographs of our planetary neighbours. The contest is 
being officially launched today during Europlanet's European Planetary 
Science Congress, held this year in Potsdam, Germany.

Four hundred years since Galileo's telescopic observations 
revolutionised our view of the Universe, the public will once again be 
turning their attention to the heavens. People all around the world are 
encouraged to take part in the Galilean Nights Cornerstone project and 
experience for themselves the same sense of awe and wonder that Galileo 
must have felt.
Links

* Galilean Nights website: www.galileannights.org
* IYA2009 website: www.astronomy2009.org
* European Planetary Science Congress website: 
http://meetings.copernicus.org/epsc2009/

Notes

The vision of the IYA2009 is to help the citizens of the world 
rediscover their place in the Universe through the day and night-time 
skies the impact of astronomy and basic sciences on our daily lives, and 
understand better how scientific knowledge can contribute to a more 
equitable and peaceful society.

The aim of the IYA2009 is to stimulate worldwide interest, especially 
among young people, in astronomy and science under the central 
theme‚"The Universe, Yours to Discover". IYA2009 events and activities 
will promote a greater appreciation of the inspirational aspects of 
astronomy that embody an invaluable shared resource for all countries.

The IYA2009 activities are taking place at the global and regional 
levels, and especially at the national and local levels. National Nodes 
in each state have been formed to prepare activities for 2009. These 
Nodes establish collaborations between professional and amateur 
astronomers, science centres, educators and science communicators in 
preparing activities for 2009. The International Year of Astronomy was 
proclaimed by the United Nations on 20 December 2007.


For more information

Catherine Moloney
Galilean Nights Task Group Chair
Cellular: +44 7881861400
E-mail: cmoloney at eso.org
Further contacts

Pedro Russo
IYA2009 Coordinator
ESO ePOD, Garching, Germany
Tel: +49 89 320 06 195
Cellular: +49 176 6110 0211
Fax: +49 89 320 23 62
E-mail: prusso at eso.org

Yolanda Berenguer
UNESCO Focal Point for the International Year of Astronomy 2009
UNESCO HQ, Paris
Tel: +33 1 45684171
E-mail: y.berenguer at unesco.org

Anita Heward
Europlanet Press Officer
Tel: +44 7756 034243
E-mail: anitaheward at btinternet.com

Ian Corbett
General Secretary, International Astronomical Union
IAU Secretariat, Paris, France
Tel: +33 1 43 25 83 58
E-mail: icorbett at eso.org

Lars Lindberg Christensen
IAU Press Officer
ESO ePOD, Garching, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6761
Cellular: +49 173 3872 621
E-mail: lars at eso.org



-- 

Kevin Govender
Chair: Developing Astronomy Globally Cornerstone
Manager: SALT Collateral Benefits Programme / SA Chair for IYA2009
South African Astronomical Observatory, a facility of the NRF
Office: +27 21 460 9350
Mobile: +27 82 487 8466
Fax: +27 21 447 3639
Email: kg at saao.ac.za / Skype: kevindran / Twitter: govender
Websites: www.saao.ac.za / www.salt.ac.za / www.astronomy2009.org.za / www.developingastronomy.org
Postal: P.O. Box 9, Observatory, Cape Town, 7935, South Africa
Street: SAAO, Observatory Road, Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa