International Year of Astronomy
Preliminary Programme
The conference language will be English, with simultaneous interpretation English/French
Thursday 15 January 2009
UNESCO, Paris
7, Place de Fontenoy
75007 - Paris
(Room I)
8 a.m.- 9 a.m. Registration and open visit to the exhibitions in the Miro Hall
Morning session
9 a.m. -10.15 a.m. - Inauguration
- Opening remarks by UNESCO Director-General, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura
- International Year of Astronomy: Vision and goals, by Catherine Cesarsky, IAU President
- Remarks by President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space, Reynald Seznec
- Greetings by government ministers and important personalities
10.15 a.m. - 10.45 a.m. Coffee break
10.45 a.m. -12 p.m. - Astronomy: History and Culture
Chair: Jean-Claude Carrière
- The Skies of the World, a Multicultural Experience - Franco Pacini (Italy)
- The First Astronomers: Astronomy over Four Millenia - Juan Antonio Belmonte (Spain)
- Mayan Astronomy - Julieta Fierro (Mexico)
- Islamic Astronomy - George Saliba (USA)
- Astronomical Exploration and the Public Imagination - Baruch Blumberg (USA)
12 p.m. - 12.30 p.m. - From Galileo (400 years) to Apollo (40 years)
Chair: Jean-Claude Carrière
- From Galileo to Einstein - Françoise Balibar (France)
12.30 p.m. - 2 p.m. Lunch break
Afternoon session
2 p.m. - 3 p.m. : (continuation of From Galileo (400 years)...)
Chair: Tim de Zeeuw
- The New Frontier: The Exploration of the Solar System - André Brahic (France)
- Echoes of creation: Discovery of the Big Bang Fossil Radiation - Robert Wilson (USA)
3 p.m. - 3.30 p.m. - Modern astronomy: Discoveries on our origins
- From a "simple" beginning to our complex cosmos - Lord Martin Rees (UK)
3.30 p.m. - 4 p.m. Coffee break
4 p.m. - 5.30 p.m. (continuation of Modern Astronomy...)
Chair: Jan Palous
- A Multitude of Worlds: Extrasolar planets - Michel Mayor (Switzerland)
- IYA2009: Astronomy for Humankind, Cornerstones and Universe Awareness - Kevin Govender (South Africa)
- Video and news from the South Pole Concordia Research Station, presented by Yves Frenot, Institut Paul Emile Victor (France)
Evening
7.30 p.m. - 9.30 p.m. Reception at the Palais de la Découverte
- Video clip of "Around the World, Around the Sky" by Robert Pansard-Besson (France)
- Film of the Adler Planetarium presented by José-Francisco Salgado (USA) with the music "The Planets" by G. Holst