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

Friday 16 January 2009