Heavenly Views

2009 has been christened the International Year of Astronomy, in part because it was four hundred years ago—in 1609—that Gallileo Galilei trained a small eight-power telescope on the Italian night sky and changed history. The earth-centered theory of the universe was gone forever.

If you still crave more astronomical information after reading "Heavenly Hobbies" by Dee Goerge in the current Lake Country Journal Magazine, (July/August 2009, p. 52), consider visiting these websites:

• The newsletter for the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy features an article titled, "Galileo and the 400th Anniversary of the Telescope."

• Wired.com offers up, "How the Telescope Changed Our Minds."

• If you just want to prove how smart you are, take a quiz about one of the most famous telescopes ever, "The Hubble Space Telescope."

There are also a couple of sites designed to help you enjoy—and understand—our night sky and the universe it represents.
• StarDate Online is full of timely tips, events, and explanations of what you're seeing right now in the night sky.
• HubbleSite is a reference site full of space information, plus a gallery of extraordinary photos taken through the Hubble Space Telescope.

So take your telescope outside and see what you can find in the Lake Country night sky. If you see something interesting, let us know. Just register or log in to add a comment. And thank your lucky stars for the telescope!