Explanation:
Today,
100 Hours of Astronomy
begins, a cornerstone project of the
International Year of Astronomy 2009
celebrating the 400th anniversary
of
Galileo's original telescopic
exploration of the sky.
Running from April 2 through April 5, many different public programs are
planned
worldwide
as part of the project, starting with today's
opening
event at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.
Featuring one of Galileo's two remaining telescopes, the event will be
webcast
live.
Of course, the sky
examined by Galileo can still be appreciated today,
with much more
capable instruments
that are widely available.
But
this skyward view
from a private
observatory in Veszprem Hungary also
includes objects Galileo did not see when he
gazed into the night.
Recorded on March 26, the image captures the paired
trails of
the International Space Station (the brighter trail) and the shuttle orbiter
Discovery in low Earth orbit, as well as the streak of a passing airplane.
digg_url = 'http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090402.html'; digg_skin = 'compact';
