IYA2009: Closing event at the Virtual Telescope

Posted on behalf of Valentina Romeo of The Virtual Telescope:

IYA2009: Closing event at the Virtual Telescope - 400 years after the historic Galilean observations of Jupiter

• When: on Jan 7 2010 at 19.30 UT

• Where: http://www.virtualtelescope.eu

On Jan 7, 1610 Galileo Galilei pointed one of his telescopes to Jupiter, unveiling a new system of worlds, with the discovery of its bigger moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

For the IYA 2009 closing ceremony at the Virtual Telescope, we decided to host a special free event on the next 7 Jan 2010, just 400 years after that revolutionary night.

We will offer a guided, live tour through the heavens, with our robotic telescopes and comments, focusing on some objects observed by Galileo.

To join, you just need to enter, on Jan 7 2010 at 19.30 UT, our website at: http://www.virtualtelescope.eu

We are looking forward to celebrate that great anniversary with you, at the very end of the International Year of Astronomy!

The official language for the event will be English.

**Feel free to invite all your friends!**

Are We Alone for 06/08/09 - Bodies in Motion

Are We Alone - Bodies in Motion
Feel the need for speed? Well, you’ll need an extra helping of speed if you plan to leave the Earth and explore other parts of the solar system. On the 40^th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, and as part of our series for the International Year of Astronomy: what it’s like to travel in a rocket (why you won’t feel any motion), and NASA’s plans for returning to the moon.
Also, life in an accelerating universe and why a spacecraft’s quirky trajectory may mean that the laws of motion need tweaking. And we revisit Stanley Kubrick’s epic film 2001: A Space Odyssey
Plus, Seth gets around … and around … when he takes a spin in a gravitational centrifuge.

Guests:

• John Keller – Deputy project scientist for NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
• Robert Kirschner – Astronomer at Harvard University
• Jaime Mateus – Graduate student at M.I.T.’s Manned Vehicle Laboratory
• Mark Frank – Astrodynamicist in California
• Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood – Stars of the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.