International Year of Astronomy
[2][3] A global scheme, laid out by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), was also endorsed by UNESCO, the UN body responsible for educational, scientific, and cultural matters.
Moreover, served as a platform for informing the public about the latest astronomical discoveries while emphasizing the essential role of astronomy in science education.
On 25 September 1608, Hans Lippershey, a spectacle-maker from Middelburg, traveled to The Hague, the then capital of the Netherlands, to demonstrate to the Dutch government a new device he was trying to patent: a telescope.
[5] Astronomical observatories around the world promised to reveal how planets and stars are formed, how galaxies assemble and evolve, and what the structure and shape of our Universe actually are.
Several committees were formed to oversee the vast majority of IYA2009 activities ("sidewalk astronomy" events in planetariums and public observatories), which spun local, regional and national levels.
Individual countries were undertaking their own initiatives as well as assessing their own national needs, while the IAU acted as the event's coordinator and catalyst on a global scale.
The Secretariat was to liaise continuously with the National Nodes, Task Groups, Partners and Organizational Associates, the media and the general public to ensure the progress of the IYA2009 at all levels.
These are global programs of activities centered on specific themes and are some of the projects that helped to achieve IYA2009's main goals; whether it is the support and promotion of women in astronomy, the preservation of dark-sky sites around the world or educating and explaining the workings of the Universe to millions, the eleven Cornerstones were the key elements in the success of IYA2009.
The Galileoscope[12] was a worldwide astronomy event that ran 2–5 April 2009, where the program was to share a personal experience of practical astronomical observations with as many people as possible across the world.
Professionals were to blog in texts and images about their life, families, friends, hobbies and interests, as well as their work, latest research findings and the challenges they face.
Another objective of the project was to build and maintain an Internet-based, easy-to-handle forum and database, where people regardless of geographical location could read about the subject, ask questions and find answers.
This programme provides an opportunity to identify properties related to astronomy located around the world, to preserve their memory and save them from progressive deterioration.
Support from the international community is needed to implement this activity and to promote the recognition of astronomical knowledge through the nomination of sites that celebrate important achievements in science.
The Galileo Teacher Training Program (GTTP): the International Year of Astronomy 2009 provided an opportunity to engage the formal education community in the excitement of astronomical discovery as a vehicle for improving the teaching of science in classrooms around the world.
These Ambassadors were to train "Galileo Master Teachers" in the effective use and transfer of astronomy education tools and resources into classroom science curricula.
Through workshops, online training tools and basic education kits, the products and techniques developed by this program could be adapted to reach locations with few resources of their own, as well as computer-connected areas that could take advantage of access to robotic optical and radio telescopes, webcams, astronomy exercises, cross-disciplinary resources, image processing and digital universes (web and desktop planetariums).
Universe Awareness noted the multicultural origins of modern astronomy in an effort to broaden children's minds, awaken their curiosity in science and stimulate global citizenship and tolerance.
The Galilean Nights[24] was a worldwide astronomy event that also ran 2–5 April 2009, as a project to involve both amateur and professional astronomers around the globe, taking to the streets their telescopes and pointing them as Galileo did 400 years ago.
