International Year of Astronomy 2009 in the United States - A National Program

四百年前，伽利略·伽利莱用一架小型望远镜对着天空，取得了惊人的发现，并在他的著作《星象使者》（Siderius Nuncius）中发表了这些发现。为了庆祝这400周年，并重新建立天文学与公众之间的联系，国际天文学联合会（IAU）宣布2009年为国际天文年（IYA），并获得联合国的正式国际指定。近100个国家已经在规划与国际天文学联合会总体目标有关的具体国家活动。美国天文学会及其合作组织已经制定了一项全面的活动计划，该计划(1)与国际天文学联合会的总体目标一致，(2)为美国公众及其天文社区量身定制，(3)结构可扩展，允许持续的筹款努力，以实质性地支持主要活动，(4)结构以尽可能少的成本产生最大的影响，(5)潜在地可持续发展到未来。在美国国家科学基金会的资助下，该项目将很好地开展核心项目，并获得额外的外部支持，以充分实施计划中的项目和计划。美国国家天文观测计划将允许向广大公众发布最新的、准确的天文研究成果，并通过各种方法对广大公众进行天文科学的教育。一些IYA项目将通过实践研讨会或参与来实现这一目标，参与者将学习望远镜的内部工作原理或测量夜空的亮度，并了解这种观测的含义。一些项目将通过使用一般公众感到舒适的渠道（如报纸插页、公益广告和万维网页面）传播知识，从而产生更广泛的影响。

Four hundred years ago, Galileo Galilei pointed a small telescope at the sky and made startling discoveries, which he communicated in his book Siderius Nuncius. To celebrate this 400th anniversary and to renew the connection between astronomy and the public, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) declared 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) and received official international designation from the United Nations. Nearly 100 countries are already planning country-specific activities connected with the overarching goals of the IAU. The American Astronomical Society and its partner organizations have developed a comprehensive program of activities that (1) are consistent with the overall IAU goals for the IYA, (2) are tailored for the U.S. public and its astronomy communities, (3) are structured to be scalable, allowing an ongoing fundraising effort to substantially support the major activities, (4) are structured to have maximal impact at the least possible cost, and (5) are potentially sustainable into the future. With funding from the National Science Foundation the project will be well placed to carry out core programs and garner additional external support to fully implement the planned projects and programs. The U.S. national IYA programs will allow for the distribution of current, accurate astronomical research results to the public at large and the education, through a variety of methods, of the public at large about the science of astronomy. Some IYA projects will achieve this through hands-on workshops or involvement where participants learn the inner workings of a telescope or measure the brightness of the night sky and understand the implications of this observation. Some programs will achieve broader impact through the dissemination of knowledge using channels the general public find comfortable such as newspaper inserts, public service announcements, and world wide web pages.