The 400th anniversary of Galileo's telescope will be marked by a highly organized international effort to celebrate the age of astronomy entitled the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009). The year-long worldwide event will emphasize education, public engagement, and the participation of young people. UNESCO has endorsed IYA2009. As host of the Galileo, the Medici and the Age of Astronomy exhibition, The Franklin Institute was the natural location for the kick-off of one of IYA2009's eleven global cornerstone projects—100 Hours of Astronomy (100HA, www.100hoursofastronomy.org). From April 2-5, 2009, science centers, observatories, astronomy clubs, and other organizations around the world participated in 100 continuous hours of public outreach events. Research observatories also hosted live webcasts. More information about the event appears below.

100 HOURS of Astronomy KICK-OFF:
LIVE International Web Streaming Featuring Galileo's Telescope!
The Franklin Institute - April 2, 2009 - 11:00AM EDT

The Franklin Institute, as host of the world exclusive exhibit, Galileo, the Medici and the Age of Astronomy, presented by Officine Panerai, kicked off "100 Hours of Astronomy" on April 2nd with a LIVE international interactive web streaming event at 11AM! As one of the global cornerstone projects of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, "100 Hours of Astronomy" brought science centers from around the world together to participate in an extraordinary webcast as The Franklin Institute launched its "Galileo, the Medici and the Age of Astronomy" exhibition.

Highlights included:

• VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE EXHIBITION! The audience saw Galileo's ORIGINAL telescope and more during an unforgettable virtual tour of the Galileo, the Medici & the Age of Astronomy exhibition!

• ASK YOUR QUESTION! Whether tuning in from Philadelphia or Japan, visitors asked questions via USTREAM for a chance to hear from Galileo experts Dr. Paolo Galluzzi and International Year of Astronomy Spokesperson and The Franklin Institute's Chief Astronomer, Derrick Pitts!

• INTERACTIVE TELESCOPE ACTIVITY: The audience participated in a hands-on telescope workshop.

• CELESTRON SOLAR VIEWING

*Admission: This was a live web streaming event, courtesy of USTREAM.

*Note: The Franklin Institute is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, which is in the Eastern Daylight timezone, currently GMT -04:00.

The 100 Hours of Astronomy cornerstone project (100HA) was a round-the-clock, worldwide event with 100 continuous hours of a wide range of public outreach activities, including live webcasts, observing events and more. One of the key goals of 100HA is to have as many people as possible look through a telescope as Galileo did for the first time 400 years ago. 100HA took place from April 2-5. For more information, visit: www.100hoursofastronomy.org. Celestron is the global sponsor for 100 Hours of Astronomy and the astronomy sponsor for The Franklin Institute's Galileo, the Medici and the Age of Astronomy exhibition.

Galileo, the Medici and the Age of Astronomy was created in partnership with the Istituto e Museo della Storia di Scienza of Florence, Philadelphia's Sister City, and the Medici Archive Project.

Marketing support is provided by grants from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation.

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