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	International Astronomy Day

Posted by: WunderPress, 5:56 PM GMT on April 30, 2009

Our friends at Distant Suns have brought to our attention that this Saturday is International Astronomy Day - if you don't have a telescope to point to the stars, never fear, your iPhone will now suffice.

Four hundred years ago, a scientist in Padua, Italy, took a child’s toy and pointed it towards the heavens; what he discovered would give birth to modern science. The toy was a new invention called a “telescope” and the scientist was Galileo.

Now, exactly four centuries later, people around the world - from the most casual sky watcher to the serious professional astronomer - prepare for International Astronomy Day, this coming Saturday on May 2.

With 2009 called the “International Year of Astronomy” we can look back at how far we’ve come from Galileo’s time. We’ve landed on the moon, built telescopes the size of office buildings, photographed comets breaking up, collected samples from an asteroid, set two spacecraft out of the solar-system, discovered planets around other stars and with the Hubble Space Telescope, peered into the depths of creation itself.

For the casual hobbyist, new technologies are making both telescopes and other tools better then ever. From new lightweight telescopes, to digital camera and even hand-held computers can capture the splendor of the evening sky.

One of the newest of these technologies can be found in the hands of anyone with an iPhone or iPod/touch. Essentially the power of a desktop computer crammed into a package that can fit in a pocket these are perfect tools for among other things: astronomy software. The ability to take one’s iPhone out, aim it at the sky and identify that that bright yellow “star” in the south is actually Saturn, and then “fly” out to Saturn to look back at the earth would have been considered lunacy even a few years ago. Astronomy related applications are a staple of nearly every brand of device out there, and Apple’s are no exception.

Among the best known of these new crop of portable planetariums is Distant Suns. First released for the legendary Commodore Amiga back in 1987, Distant Suns is one of the longest-lived continuously available software titles in history. With little more than a flick of a finger users can jump from east to west, from the northern skies to the southern, from noon to evening and see what the heavens have in store for the day. Distant Suns sports all of the stars available to Galileo, not to mention the planets, constellations and over 100 galaxies, star clusters and nebula. The clock may be accelerated to demonstrate the more subtle motions of the sky, and time and date set to find out what the heavens looked like on one’s birthday. And for purists, Pluto may be turned off.

A companion piece was just released which concentrates on the solar-system. Whereas Distant Suns depicts the planets as seen from the earth, Grand Tour depicts them as seen from your own private spacecraft. Users can fly to any of the planets and many of their moons for “god’s eye view” of the endless dance of the endless eternal dance. With network access, Earth will be shown with the current cloud cover. Users can orbit Jupiter next to Europa, witness the craggy mountains of Phobos, or skim below Saturn’s rings.

“The ability to take one’s iPhone, aim it at the sky and identify that that bright yellow “star” in the south is actually Saturn, and then “fly” out to Saturn to look back at the earth would have been considered lunacy even a few years ago,” explained the developer of the applications, Mike Smithwick.

And if today’s “Galileos” make new discoveries are made, both applications will stay current with alerts and tutorials.

And in honor of May 2 Grand Tour will be on sale in the iTunes Store: $2.99, and Distant Suns, for $3.99.

For further information about National Astronomy Day please go to: www.astroleague.org

If only Galileo had an iPhone, he probably would never have needed a telescope.

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