Four hundred and forty-five years ago today, Galileo was born. One of the leading scientists of the early modern period, Galileo pioneered the use of the telescope, championed the Copernican heliocentric system, and was considered the father of modern science.<\/p>\n
I received a few days ago a NASA press release \u0097 2009 has been named the \u0093International Year of Astronomy,\u0094 commemorating the fact that 400 years ago, in 1609, Galileo first turned a telescope on the heavens and began the modern era of skywatching, using scientific instruments to map the heavens as the naked eye had never been able to do so before.<\/p>\n
The press release:<\/p>\n
NASA\u0092S GREAT OBSERVATORIES CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY<\/b><\/p>\n
WASHINGTON \u0097 Galileo first turned his telescope to the heavens in 1609, marking the dawn of modern astronomy. To commemorate 400 years of exploring the universe, 2009 has been designated the International Year of Astronomy. <\/p>\n
In conjunction with Galileo\u0092s birthday on Feb. 15, NASA is releasing images from its Great Observatories \u0097 the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory \u0097 to more than 100 planetariums, museums, nature centers and schools across the country.<\/p>\n
The selected sites will unveil a large 9-square-foot print of the spiral galaxy Messier 101 that combines the optical view of Hubble, the infrared view of Spitzer, and the X-ray view of Chandra into one multi-wavelength picture. \u0093It\u0092s like using your eyes, night vision goggles and X-ray vision all at the same time,\u0094 said Dr. Hashima Hasan, lead scientist for the International Year of Astronomy at NASA Headquarters in Washington. <\/p>\n
Participating institutions also will display a matched trio of Hubble, Spitzer and Chandra images of Messier 101. Each image shows a different wavelength view of the galaxy that illustrates not only the different science each observatory conducts but also how far astronomy has come since Galileo. <\/p>\n
Messier 101 is a spiral galaxy about 22 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It is larger than our own Milky Way galaxy but similar in many ways. Hubble\u0092s visible light view shows off the swirls of bright stars and glowing gas that give Messier 101 its nickname \u0093the Pinwheel Galaxy.\u0094 In contrast, Spitzer\u0092s infrared-light image sees into the spiral arms and reveals the glow of dust lanes where dense clouds can collapse to form new stars. Chandra\u0092s X-ray uncovers the high-energy features in the galaxy, such as remnants of exploded stars or matter zooming around black holes. The juxtaposition of observations from these three telescopes provides an in-depth view of the galaxy for both astronomers and the public. <\/p>\n
\u0093The amazing scientific discoveries Galileo made four centuries ago are continued today by scientists using NASA\u0092s space observatories,\u0094 said Denise Smith, the unveiling\u0092s project manager at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. \u0093NASA\u0092s Great Observatories are distributing huge prints of spectacular images so the public can share in the exploration and wonder of the universe.\u0094 <\/p>\n
The unveilings will take place Feb. 14-28 at 76 museums and 40 schools and universities nationwide, reaching both big cities and small towns. Sites are planning celebrations involving the public, schools and local media. <\/p>\n
The Astrophysics Division of NASA\u0092s Science Mission Directorate supports the International Year of Astronomy Great Observatories image unveiling. The project is a collaboration among the Space Telescope Science Institute, the Spitzer Science Center in Pasadena, Calif., and the Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Mass.<\/p>\n
A list of places exhibiting these images can be found at: http:\/\/hubblesource.stsci.edu\/events\/iya\/participants.php<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Find out more about NASA\u0092s contributions to the International Year of Astronomy at: http:\/\/astronomy2009.nasa.gov<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
People who know me know that my head is in space sometimes. I\u0092ve sometimes wished I could live forever, so I could see Earth\u0092s skies billions of years hence, when the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way collide. I\u0092ve sometimes looked into the night sky and felt how completely small I am, how insignificant I am \u0097 and really, how insignificant any of us are \u0097 in the grand scheme of the cosmos.<\/p>\n
Just look up into the sky on a dark night, and think about the lights you see as being places, inpossibly vast distances away. It\u0092s Galileo who helped to turn those lights into places, and it\u0092s his achievement we remember this year, this International Year of Astronomy.<\/p>\n
Happy birthday, Galileo. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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