Star Points for January 2009 by Curtis Roelle 2009: International Year of Astronomy The International Astronomical Union (IAU), in conjunction with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), has proclaimed 2009 "The International Year of Astronomy" (IYA). Why was 2009 chosen? It marks the anniversary of when the newly invented telescope was first turned toward the celestial bodies of our night sky, an event that ushered in a new age over the centuries that followed, filled with wondrous discoveries, all made possible thanks to the telescope. The actual invention of the telescopic device is typically attributed to Hans Lipperhey, a German-born spectacle-maker living in the Netherlands at the time of his invention. In 1608 Lipperhey attempted to patent a "device by means of which all things at a very great distance can be seen as if they were nearby, by looking through glasses which he claims to be a new invention." Although the patent was denied, it provided the evidence historians needed to give Lipperhey credit, even though there were others that claimed to have invented the telescope several years before. Although Lipperhey is credited with inventing the telescope, it was the Italian Galileo Galilei who made the telescope famous by turning it skyward. With it he discovered craters on the moon, Jupiter's four brightest moons, the crescent phases of the planet Venus, and the true nature of the Milky Way (a multitude of stars). The significance of these discoveries is that they challenged accepted notions of the day. For instance, the changing phases of Venus and the moons of Jupiter contradicted the belief that the earth was at the center of the universe and that all heavenly bodies revolved around it. These discoveries, and others like them, began in 1609, making the year 2009 the 400th anniversary of the invention of the astronomical telescope. Galileo's telescope was unlike those now being used by contemporary astronomers. He started with a telescope with a magnification of only three power (3x), meaning that objects looked three times larger through it than to the unaided eye. Later he graduated to an 8x telescope, and eventually to a 20x telescope. The latter instrument was the one he used for his most important discoveries. Speaking of telescopes, one of the events expected to get underway during the IYA is the construction of a long-awaited astronomical observatory at Bear Branch Nature Center. The building is being constructed by the Westminster Astronomical Society, Inc. (WASI) on the nature center grounds. The largest telescope of the instruments to be installed initially is a computer-controlled model that is equipped with a 14-inch-diameter mirror. By comparison, Galileo's telescope had a lens only one inch in diameter. One can only imagine the discoveries he would have made with an instrument like the WASI telescope. For more information about the IYA visit the official website at www.astronomy2009.org