Telescope Reviews: White House Star Party

USIYA: White House Star Party Kicks Off Astronomy Events

THE FOLLOWING RELEASE WAS RECEIVED FROM THE U.S. INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF
ASTRONOMY 2009 PROGRAM OFFICE AND IS FORWARDED FOR YOUR INFORMATION.
(FORWARDING DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT BY THE AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL
SOCIETY.)

Rick Fienberg, American Astronomical Society:
rick.fienberg@aas.org, 1-202-328-2010 x116.

October 5, 2009

Contacts:
Stephen M. Pompea
U.S. IYA2009 Program Director
spompea@noao.edu
+1 520-907-2493

Andrea Schweitzer
U.S. IYA2009 Program Manager
schweitz@frii.com
+1 970-691-4747

Doug Isbell
U.S. IYA2009 Single-Point-of-Contact
dougisbell@hotmail.com
+1 520-991-0380

WHITE HOUSE STAR PARTY KICKS OFF
A BUSY SEASON OF ASTRONOMY EVENTS

A bountiful fall harvest of astronomy events kicks off this week with
a star party at the White House. On Wednesday evening, October 7th,
professional and amateur astronomers will set up more than 20
telescopes on the White House lawn to give President Obama, his
family, and a group of lucky middle-school students an
up-close-and-personal look at lunar craters and mountains, the giant
planet Jupiter and its moons, and other celestial wonders. The event
coincides with the 400th anniversary of Galileoâ€™s first glimpse of the
heavens through a telescope, a milestone being celebrated worldwide
throughout 2009, declared by the United Nations as the International
Year of Astronomy (IYA2009).

According to a statement issued on October 2nd by the White House
press office, the star party is being held â€œto highlight the
Presidentâ€™s commitment to science, engineering, and math education as
the foundation of this nationâ€™s global technological and economic
leadership and to express his support for astronomy in particular â€”
for its capacity to promote a greater awareness of our place in the
universe, expand human knowledge, and inspire the next generation by
showing them the beauty and mysteries of the night sky.â€
The gathering has been organized by the White House, the Office of
Science & Technology Policy, and NASA. But the idea originated with
Chicago-area amateur astronomer Audrey Fischer and has been actively
promoted for six months by the U.S. IYA2009 team. â€œWeâ€™re delighted
that President Obama will take a break from his pressing terrestrial
concerns to personally witness some of the same celestial spectacles
that Galileo first studied 400 years ago and that revolutionized our
understanding of the universe and our home planet,â€ says astronomer
Stephen M. Pompea of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory
(NOAO). Pompea is U.S. IYA2009 Program Director and will attend
Wednesdayâ€™s star party.

President Obama will kick off the event with a brief address that will
be streamed live on the White House website and on NASA TV around 8
p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Even if clouds or rain intervene to
prevent telescopic viewing, attendees will still have plenty to do.
The star-party program features interactive planetarium presentations
and hands-on activities such as the construction of scale models of
the solar system, simulations of impact cratering, and investigations
of meteorites and Moon rocks.

The White House Star Party is just one of many family-friendly
astronomy events and activities happening this fall. Among the others
are these:

* October 4-10 -- World Space Week
(www.worldspaceweek.org)
* October 9 -- NASAâ€™s LCROSS impact on the Moon
(lcross.arc.nasa.gov/education.htm,
groups.google.com/group/lcross_observation)
* October 13 -- Hubbleâ€™s Amazing Rescue premieres on
NOVA (www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/hubble)
* October 9-23 -- Great World Wide Star Count
(www.starcount.org)
* October 19-25 -- Fall Astronomy Week, including Fall
Astronomy Day on Saturday, October 24, organized by
the Astronomical League (www.astroleague.org)
* October 22-24 -- IYA2009 Galilean Nights
global star party (www.galileannights.org)
* November 10-30 -- NASAâ€™s Great Observatories image
unveiling (hubblesource.stsci.edu/events/iyafinale)

While only a lucky few will be able to join President Obama for
telescopic viewing at the White House, many more citizens will get to
look through telescopes on October 7th and throughout the fall thanks
to the many â€œsidewalk astronomersâ€ who will take to the streets all
across the country. Among them will be Pompeaâ€™s NOAO colleague Robert
Sparks; heâ€™ll set up telescopes near the White House this week so that
visitors without invitations to the star party can still do some
astronomical observing supervised by an expert. Among the telescopes
Sparks will employ is the Galileoscope, which he, Pompea, and others
developed as a Cornerstone Project of the global IYA2009 effort. While
not quite a replica of one of Galileoâ€™s telescopes, the Galileoscope
is similar in design to the ones Galileo used but much improved thanks
to its 21st-century optics.

# # #

More information about the International Year of Astronomy 2009 is
available at these websites:
* www.astronomy2009.org
* www.astronomy2009.us
* astronomy2009.nasa.gov

More information about the Galileoscope is available at www.galileoscope.org.

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