Four hundred years ago, Galileo Galilei lifted his new telescope to study the sky, setting in motion a myriad of astronomical discoveries that forever changed our view of the universe.

Contrary to current wisdom, Galileo was not persecuted by the church for his belief that the planets orbited the sun. In fact, that idea had been around for hundreds of years and was the publicly held belief of other scientists, including Copernicus (1473-1543). But in a time before the concept of free speech, Galileo was not exactly diplomatic. When he publicly mocked the Pope in a book published by the church, he landed in jail for several days. Later, he was confined to his villa and during those 10 years he continued his research, writing, received visitors, and remained outspoken in his beliefs. He died in 1642.

It was actually his development of the telescope that constitutes his greatest contribution to science.

In honor of Galileo, the United Nations declared 2009 the International Year of Astronomy.

The 2009 opening ceremony will be in Paris on Jan. 15-16.About 400 participants are expected, including Nobel Prize winners and 200 student ambassadors from 100 countries.

On of the main events of the year is the 100 hours of astronomy, April 2-5, days when the early evening is good for observing. The goal is to have as many people as possible peering through telescopes to study the sky.

For more information check www.astronomy2009.org.