IYA - 100 Hours of Astronomy Cornerstone Project

The 100 Hours of Astronomy Cornerstone Project will be held April 2-5, 2009. Events include an opening event at the Franklin Museum, 24 hours of live webcasts from research observatories, various types of sidewalk astronomy and public events and the 3rd ISAN Global Star Party!

The Sidewalk Astronomers will be playing a key role in this project. We are organizing amateurs around the globe to do events at local libraries, schools, science centers, museums, and planetariums during these 100 hours and we are encouraging EVERYONE to get out on the evening of April 4th, for the 3rd International Sidewalk Astronomy Night Global Star Party.

To join this amazing event, please visit our project website at www.100hoursofastronomy.org to register events, get and share ideas, download resources, and join in the discussion. We are working on the website and you should see changes and improvements almost daily. We have Regional Directors in place, but we still need National and District Organizers if you are interested in helping to make this the largest global astronomy event ever!

We need all of you. If you do astronomy one night a year, you have a scope you haven't taken out in a long time, or you just bought a scope and aren't even really sure how to use it (let alone teach anyone anything about astronomy), WE NEED YOU INVOLVED! We're posting some tips for amateurs and have discussion forums and many other resources to help you in any way we can. Please visit the project website and if there's something you need that you don't see, let us know and we can work on it together.

The 100 Hours of Astronomy IYA2009 Cornerstone Project is a four-day event designed to bring astronomy to the public around the world. Whether it’s a few hours on one day or a 100-hour marathon event, how groups choose to participate is up to them. Plans should fit the resources and enthusiasm that’s available. All activities and events during 100HA will bring astronomy to a new audience.

While groups worldwide will be planning their own events, 100 Hours of Astronomy has its own global events that organizations worldwide will take part in.

100 Hours of Astronomy Global Events:

Opening Event: A VIP event at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia will feature one of Galileo's telescopes. The Director of the Institute and Museum of the History of Science in Florence, which holds the two remaining Galileo telescopes, will speak on the importance of Galileo's telescopes and the discoveries he made with them.
Live Science Centres Webcast: Select science centres will participate in a live webcast featuring discussions on current topics in astronomy on 2 April. Live observations will be made by visitors to select science centres using telescopes operated remotely over the Internet. Science centres worldwide will feature enhanced outreach programmes, many with the participation of amateur astronomy groups holding public observing sessions.
Live 24-hour Research Observatory Webcast: Astronomers at professional research observatories around the world will take viewers inside their telescope domes and control rooms during a live 24-hour webcast on 3 April.
24-hour Global Star Party: For 24 hours on 4 April, telescopes (including solar telescopes) will be made available for public viewing by astronomy clubs and observing groups free of charge. The goal is to allow as many people as possible to have a chance to look through a telescope.
Sun Day: 5 April, sunrise local time. We all owe our very existence to our closest stellar neighbour, the Sun. Without it, all life on earth would perish. The last day of 100 Hours of Astronomy (Sunday) has been set aside to highlight and celebrate the Sun.

Thousands of Local Events are being planned by science facilities and astronomy enthusiasts around the world, including telescope observing sessions, lectures, exhibitions, special shows and more. Make sure to register your events on the website.

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