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The Future of the Galileoscope

January 6, 2010

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 drew to a close in December 2009 with a ceremony in Padua, Italy, but a cornerstone project of the year-long celebration will continue into 2010 and beyond.

The Galileoscope hands-on telescope kit — a project spearheaded by Carthage physics professor Doug Arion — will continue to be sold to budding astronomers worldwide. The high-quality, low-cost telescope offers 20 and 50 magnification. It's about 20 inches long with a 2-inch diameter and sells for $20 ($30 after Jan. 10).

More than 110,000 Galileoscopes have been sold in 96 countries, including 6,000 donated to developing nations. Another 70,000 are in production, and thanks to a recent $250,000 donation from Ric and Jean Edelman, 15,000 Galileoscopes and related training will be provided to U.S. teachers across the country.

"The ambitious idea of an inexpensive telescope that could be reproduced in large numbers for use around the world was a unanimous goal of IYA2009 coordinators when we all met in Germany in early 2007, and three years later we're extremely proud of what's been achieved," stated Rick Fienberg, chair of the IYA2009 Galileoscope Task Group, in a press release. Dr. Fienberg is currently the press officer for the American Astronomical Society.

Prof. Arion, director of Carthage's ScienceWorks entrepreneurial program, got involved in the project in 2008. He worked with Dr. Fienberg and Stephen Pompea, manager of science education at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Ariz., to design the telescope. He then worked with Tom Smith of Merit Models in Racine to set up the manufacturing.

Offered initially at a price of $15 for single orders, the cost of individual kits will increase from $20 to $30 on Jan. 11, when the project is handed over from its founding volunteer staff to an educational products company. In total, the Galileoscope project succeeded beyond all but the wildest expectations of its founding group.

"The kit-based aspect of the Galileoscope has proven to have strong educational value, and we look forward to many years of teacher workshops and interested individuals using to help them observe the same inspiring objects in the night sky that Galileo saw 400 years ago,” stated Pompea, chair of the U.S. IYA2009 Telescope Kits and Optics Challenges Working Group.

The Galileoscope was the largest of 11 cornerstone projects in IYA2009. Other projects included a wide variety of dark-skies outreach activities, the reproducible image exhibition known as "From Earth to the Universe," several creative interactive Web sites and New Media programs, and two global star party weekends.

"Thanks to the support of the National Science Foundation, NASA, the American Astronomical Society and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, as well as the hard work of hundreds of volunteers, we were able to conduct a vigorous, fun and wide-ranging set of programs and events throughout 2009," says Douglas Isbell, the U.S. Single Point of Contact for IYA2009. "We are thrilled that so many of these efforts will continue to grow, mature, and morph into new projects in the years ahead."

A month-long repeat of the successful 2009 global star parties "100 Hours of Astronomy" and "Galilean Nights," with new twists, will be held in April 2010 under the leadership of the group Astronomers Without Borders.

For more information about the Galileoscope, or to place an order, visit http://www.galileoscope.org. For more information about the Carthage Physics and Astronomy Department, click here.

To learn more and to join in future events and programs, visit some of these Web sites:

www.astronomy2009.org
www.astronomy2009.us (soon to become www.beyond2009.us)
www.darkskiesawareness.org
www.fromearthtotheuniverse.org
www.astrosphere.org
www.astronomerswithoutborders.org