CELEBRATING 400 YEARS WITH THE STARS

Norman – Four hundred years ago, the telescope was first used by Galileo to study the sky.  To commemorate the discovery, the International Astronomical Union and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization have declared 2009 the International Year of Astronomy – The Universe, Yours to Discover.

Galileo’s simple telescope with two lenses was hard to use and gave a dim, extremely narrow field-of-view of celestial objects. He had to move his eye around to see the whole picture in the telescope. When he looked at Saturn, he never suspected the rings but only noticed that it looked elongated and appeared to have “ears”. Yet, with this simple telescope, he was able to record observations that established the Earth not at the center of small orderly universe, but as part of a much larger and more magnificent system.

In the past 400 years, technology has far surpassed this simple tool.  At the University of Oklahoma, an observatory sits next to the Huston Huffman Physical Fitness Center, allowing students and interested community members the chance to see the heavens with their own eyes. 

OU’s College of Arts and Sciences Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy is working with UNESCO to promote the International Year of Astronomy by offering a series of free lectures at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, followed by open telescope viewings with weather permitting.

The lectures will kick off at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009, with “The Works of Galileo – From Telescope to Trial” with Kerry Magruder, assistant professor in the History of Science Department in the College of Arts and Sciences at OU.  At 7 p.m. on Feb. 5, Constance Walker of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory will present “GLOBE at Night.”  “Suited for Space” will be the March 5 presentation by Lindsay Aitchison, NASA - Johnson Space Flight Center spacesuit engineer.  Other programs will be presented each month through December of 2009.

“This is an opportunity for both amateur and professional astronomers world-wide to introduce to the public part of the natural world that is often overlooked: the wonders in the day- and nighttime skies,” said Richard Henry, professor of astronomy at OU.  “Here in central Oklahoma, we are tapping into the enthusiasm in astronomy of both high school and university students and faculty and teachers to offer up a series of monthly public lectures. There also will be opportunities for the public to look through one of several of OU’s telescopes, weather permitting.

“Speakers for the series at the museum have been selected based on their expertise in an interesting and current topic. Each speaker will introduce his/her topic at a basic level during the lectures.  Questions from the audience are welcomed and encouraged.”
For more information about the Year of Astronomy, visit their Web site at http://astronomy2009.us/.