It involved millions of people in 148 countries and was coordinated by a Portuguese person: the International Year of Astronomy will be leaving Portugal, with a day of celebrations at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.

It was the greatest ever event for divulging scientific knowledge, involving the participation of millions of people in a hundred and fifty countries. The International Year of Astronomy will end in Portugal with a day of commemorations at the FGC. The closing session took place on the 17th of March.

In total in Portugal the celebrations of the International Year of Astronomy (AIA2009) resulted in the holding of two thousand events over 365 days, in over 300 cities, towns and villages, in an initiative in which over 440 institutions and 3,000 people participated, most of whom were volunteers.

“And what remains after the International Year of Astronomy? First of all we should note that hundreds and hundreds of partnerships agreements were made between different institutions in order to celebrate the AIA2009. This is an excellent window open on future collaborations. AIA2009 was an extraordinary example of dynamism in society, given that many of the activities originated at local level. The National Committee is working to maintain that legacy “, guarantees the president of the National Committee of the International Year of Astronomy, João Fernandes.

And what can we expect form Portuguese astronomy? “The community of astronomers in Portugal is highly qualified, and its contribution to the body of knowledge in the different areas of research is very relevant. We may highlight the following ones: solar physics, stellar dynamics, galactic dynamics and galactic swarms, active nuclei of galaxies. Portugal is particularly strong in the recent science of the detection of extra-solar planets and in cosmology. A recent study (http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0612066) shows that in this last area the research carried out in Portugal, is, in Europe, only behind that which is done in the four major countries (Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom) in terms of magnitude and average”, states Orfeu Bertolami, a researcher at the Higher Technical Institute.
“Portugal is also taking its first steps and may therefore stand out in radio-astronomy, with participation on the Polarized Galactic Emission Mapping Project, a global project headed by the Nobel Prize for Physics George Smoot, which consists of “listening to” our galaxy through an aerial placed in Pampilhosa da Serra”, he explains.

The International Year of Astronomy (www.astronomia2009.org) is organised in Portugal by the Portuguese Astronomy Society, with the support of the Foundation for Science and technology (FCT), of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, of the Science Museum of the University of Coimbra, of the Living Science Agency and of the European Astronomical Society (EAS).

“Astronomy in Today’s Portugal”
On the day on which the closing of the International Year of Astronomy is being celebrated in Portugal, the Gulbenkian Foundation will inaugurate an exhibition that intends to captivate youngsters to research in astronomy.

The “Astronomy in Today’s Portugal” exhibition, which is curated by António Pedrosa, director of the Espinho Planetarium, intends to inform the public about the most recent developments in Portugal in the science that studies the stars, both on the level of research and scientific divulging. Visiting the exhibition, which includes material loaned by the Southern European Observatory, is free.

The “Astronomy in Today’s Portugal” exhibition will remain at the Gulbenkian for a week.

400 years later, Portugal translates the first work by Galileo It is one of the most relevant works in the history of western thought: “Sidereus Nuncius. The Messenger of the Stars”, published in March 1610, is the first book by Galileo Galilei to be fully translated in Portugal. With a translation and notes by Henrique Leitão, it will be launched at the closing session of the International Year of Astronomy.

The book has an introductory note by the Belgian researcher Sven Dupré, one of the greatest specialists in the world on Galileo’s telescope, and includes a study and translation by Henrique Leitão, a chronology and also an integral facsimile of the original edition of the 1610 “Sidereus Nuncius”.

Editorial Team
news@fm.ul.pt