IYA Opening Ceremony

UNESCO, Paris

15 & 16 January, 2009

A special two day ceremony was held at the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation headquarters in Paris to officially launch the International Year of Astronomy 2009. The programme included lectures from IYA officials, government representives, Nobel Prize winners and eminent scientists, as well as exhibitions displaying everything from the latest telescope technology and astronomy books, to working models of forthcoming space missions and astronomy inspired art. Astronomy Now's Editor and Website Editor were there to document the proceedings.

All images Emily Baldwin/Keith Cooper, Astronomy Now (unless otherwise stated).

Distinguished scientists and IYA officials from around the globe gathered in Paris for the two-day meeting and celebration of the first 400 years of modern astronomy.

Jean-Michel Jarre, master of ceremony, gives the opening address to a packed conference hall. Image: IAU/Jose Francisco Salgado.

Catherine Cesarsky, President of the International Astronomical Union, tells Astronomy Now about her expectations for the International Year of Astronomy.

The UNESCO headquarters, including telescope (right), is set against a more familiar backdrop.

Astronomy Now's Keith Cooper interviews Robert Wilson, co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering the cosmic microwave background with Arno Penzias.

The World at Night exhibition shows stunning photographs of the world's landmarks against celestial attractions.

We also caught up with two UK-based IYA representatives, Dr Helen Walker (President of the Society for Popular Astronomy) and Professor Ian Robson (The UK's IYA 'SPoC' - Single Point of Contact).

Other exhibitions included a 3D rotating planet globe displaying images of everthing from the Earth (top left), the cosmic microwave background (top middle) and Jupiter (top right); the IYA Cornerstone 'Galileoscope' telescope project (bottom left) and models of major space telescopes including CoRoT (shown here).