The stars have aligned.

Since this year is the 400th anniversary of Galileo and the 40th anniversary of man first landing on the moon, two years ago the United Nations declared 2009 the International Year of Astronomy.

“There was a unanimous vote with the UN, which is not an easy thing to accomplish,” said James Conwell, director of the observatory at Eastern.

David Linton, professor of astronomy, thinks the anniversary of Galileo is important for a number of reasons.

“Galileo and his successors began what has become a very long process, for humanity to realize its rightful role as a part of the Cosmos,” he said.

Margaret McAvoy, vice president of the astronomy club, desires to inform students about astronomy.

She said the International Year of Astronomy, a cooperation of over 130 nations, is symbolic because it helps spread knowledge and stir excitement about the cosmos.

The Astronomy Club at Eastern is also donating 13 telescopes, called Galileoscopes to the Carl Sandburg School, one for every third grade class and five extras ones for field trips and such.

The physics department is also informing the Eastern community by having open houses at the end of each month.

Open houses are the last Friday of each month.

“We have had open houses since 2004, and this year is special because of the fact that it is the International Year of Astronomy,” he said.

The next open house will take place around 8 p.m. today at the observatory.

This one is special because will take place during Family Weekend.

“People can come to these rain or shine,” Conwell said. “They can rotate the dome and a lot of times it is clear enough out that we bring out small telescopes and binoculars and people can bring their own lithe telescopes.”

Most of the time, viewers are looking through a camera or spectrogram in the observatory and a computer captures what the camera sees.

At the open houses, though, people who come can look through the giant telescope without an eyepiece and with their open eyes.

Conwell said the reason a camera is most often used is because a camera’s memory is better than a human’s memory, and this way, pictures of different stars and planets can be taken to put on display.

Conwell said the crowd is typically 100 people, and the most that came was 350 in one night.

He said more people come out when it is clear outside and anyone, not just physics majors, can attend.

“We see no reason to stop the open houses and use them for recruitment and public outreach,” Conwell said. “People can be trained to use the telescope through the Astronomy Club and anyone is welcome to join the club who is interested in astronomy.” The observatory is located across the street from Taylor hall, near the intramural baseball fields.

The next open house will take place on Oct. 30 and display a “Haunted Observatory” because the open house will take place near Halloween.

There were also four speakers that have come this year for the International Year of Astronomy.

The fifth and final speech will be “Other Stars, Other Planets” by Jim Kaler on Nov. 10.

Kaler is a retired professor and president of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

Heather Holm can be reached at 581-7492 or DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.

Past SpeechesPamela Gay’s speech titled “Once and Future Role of Citizen Science” talked about mixing together new media and astronomy.Jim Krebiel’s “Art and Archea-Astronomy” discussed his artwork, which features solstices and the night sky.Brian Fields: “”When Stars Attack! In Search of Near-Earth Supernova Explosions”Bob Mattieu: “Stars that go bump in the Night”