The Universe, Yours to Discover -

it is the official slogan of the International Year of Astronomy 2009.

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 gives you a great chance to attend several regional and global astronomy events, and search lot of new websites, aimed to broaden at least a bit the knowledge of people on Earth about the universe.

In addition to my favorite that was launched by NASA in 2008 with brilliant photos about the universe (the direct link is at the link list in my blog at -

http://sunnyestonianews.blogspot.com/2008/10/planets-mother-earth-and-other-planets.html

there are also many new sites warmly worth recommending like

take short imaginary trips out from our planet at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgg2tpUVbXQ -

you get there directly also clicking the headline of this story

plus another related video is at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9HLIOnTapE&feature=channel

and

at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGxRWCmwSDE

or search sky photos at

http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/photos.asp?ID=3001762&Sort=Region
(regional galleries at right)

or site of the Hubble Space Telescope,
the joint project between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA:

http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/

The year 2009 was proclaimed to be the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations General Assembly.

The official site of The International Year of Astronomy 2009 is at

http://www.astronomy2009.org

"One hundred years ago we barely knew of the existence of our own Milky Way. Today we know that many billions of galaxies make up our Universe and that it originated approximately 13.7 billion years ago. One hundred years ago we had no means of knowing whether there were other solar systems in the Universe. Today we know of more than 200 planets around other stars in our galaxy and we are moving towards an understanding of how life might have first appeared," Catherine Cesarsky, IAU President writes at the astronomy year 2009 webpage.

"Astronomy is one of the oldest fundamental sciences. It continues to make a profound impact on our culture and is a powerful expression of the human intellect. Huge progress has been made in the last few decades. The International Year of Astronomy 2009 is a global effort initiated by the International Astronomical Union and UNESCO to help the citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through the day- and night-time sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder and discovery."