The official close of the International Year of Astronomy 2009
(IYA2009) will take place on 9 and 10 of January, 2010 in Padova,
Italy. The IYA2009 Closing Ceremony concludes one of the world's
grandest science popularization ventures, but also hails the
beginning of a new era: Beyond IYA2009.
The closing ceremony is to be held in the Aula Magna of the
University of Padova, where Galileo Galilei taught experimental
physics and astronomy.
The International Year of Astronomy 2009 Closing Ceremony is
hosted by the University of Padova, organized by INAF (National
Institute for Astrophysics), IAU and UNESCO, under the High
Patronage of the President of the Republic of Italy and several
Italian institutions and academies, particularly the Accademia dei
Lincei of which Galileo was one of the first members.
The IYA2009 Closing Ceremony concludes one the world's grandest
science popularization ventures, but also hails the beginning of a
new era: Beyond IYA2009. The IYA2009 legacy program, which will be
launched in Padova, will foster continued cooperation and will aim
to sustain the enduring network, activities and innovative concepts
for education and public outreach in astronomy which have been
shown to be successful in IYA2009.
Several initiatives have been planned in parallel with the
IYA2009 Closing Ceremony, including a 4 days event (from 7 to 10
January) celebrating the exact 400 years anniversary of Galileo's
groundbreaking observations of Jupiter and its moons and a
magnificent exhibit with one of Galileo's original telescopes.
For more info about the IYA2009 Closing Ceremony click here.
IYA2009 was launched by the International Astronomical Union
(IAU) and UNESCO under the theme "The Universe, Yours to Discover".
IYA2009 marked the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first
astronomical observation through a telescope in 1609, an event that
changed the world forever. Many thousands of individuals in over
148 countries around the world have been involved, forming the
world's largest ever astronomy network.
IYA2009 has shown astronomy as a truly global scientific
endeavour that unites astronomers in an international,
multicultural family of scientists, working together to find
answers to some of the most fundamental questions that humankind
has ever asked.