11/2009

Sarah Francis, a senior, has been selected as NASA International Year of Astronomy Student Ambassador for Louisiana. The NASA International Year of Astronomy Student Ambassadors Program is designed to encourage undergraduate and graduate students to participate in NASA's IYA activities and to help generate excitement about NASA scientific discoveries in astrophysics, planetary science and solar physics within their local communities and beyond.

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 is a global effort initiated by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) 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.

In the year 2009, the world celebrates the International Year of Astronomy as it commemorates the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s use of a telescope to study the skies, and Kepler’s publication of Astronomia Nova. 2009 is also the anniversary of many other historic events in science, including Huygen’s 1659 publication of Systema Saturnium.This is modern astronomy’s quadricentennial, and the 2009 Year of Astronomy will be an international celebration of numerous astronomical and scientific milestones.

For more information, visit:
www.galileannights.org
www.astronomy2009.org