2009: International Astronomy Year

International Astronomical Federation (IAU) said the United Nations announced in 2009 the International Astronomical Year to honor Galileo's revolutionary findings about space science 400 years ago.

The idea was proposed by IAU and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) based on Italy's aspirations, the home of this great scientist and accepted by the United Nations. There have been 99 countries and 14 organizations registered to participate in the activities of the year. These activities are aimed at promoting public participation in observing the universe, especially young people.

" I think this world is nothing more than suffering without knowledge " - Galileo.

IAU announced ' The 2009 Astronomy Year will focus on international cooperation for peaceful purposes. The process of understanding the origin of the universe and the common heritage of mankind will link the citizens of the whole earth . '

In 1609, Galileo discovered sunspots, craters and peaks on the moon and Jupiter moons with a primitive telescope. His discovery proved the correctness of the Copernican doctrine that planets orbiting the Sun and not the Earth. This made the Roman Church angry for going against the Church's cosmological doctrines. Galileo was convicted by the Inquisition and forced to withdraw his statements or be cremated. Galileo was imprisoned in his home for eight years before he died.

In 1992, after a 13-year investigation, Pope John Paul II declared the church wrong, but also argued that 17th-century scholars were only doing their jobs with the highest knowledge. at the time.

Photo by NASA capturing Jupiter and its four moons in 2003. The United Nations announced in 2009 the International Astronomical Year to honor Galileo's findings about space science 400 years ago.