This weekend commemorates the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first use of a telescope in astronomy.  Galileo didn’t invent the telescope, and of course astronomy predates Galileo by centuries, but combining the two established the modern view of the Solar System proposed by Copernicus and Kepler.

To commemorate this event, the world is celebrating 100 Hours of Astronomy:  http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org/. The event began on Thursday (local time here) and will end tomorrow, with many events going on worldwide. We will be a trifle late, since our regular program is on Monday night, but rest assured: we will talk about Galileo, what made his discoveries so important, and hopefully weather will permit us to go outside and see Saturn’s “ears” (as Galileo called the rings when he discovered them).

Our main show on Monday, April 6 is Oasis in Space, the search for liquid water in the Solar System and beyond. After the main program, we will celebrate Galileo, and hopefully go outside to use our telescopes. The program begins at 7:30 PM, and costs $5 for adults, $3 for children under 18, and $10 for a family of 3 or more. Lambuth students, faculty, and staff are admitted free with their ID.

Posted by Matthew R. Francis under History & Public Events |