Get ready to experience 'Galilean Nights'!

Berlin, October 22 (ANI): Hundreds of thousands of people all around the world are all set to experience 'Galilean Nights', in which the people would look up at the sky through a telescope for the first time.

Galilean Nights will be a global experience, with more than 1000 public observing events in over 70 countries, and this number is still increasing each day.

The Galilean Nights is a Cornerstone project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) and takes place from 22-24 October 2009.

From stargazing in the deserts of Iran to the culinary delights of food and star parties in rural Australia, and from large observing parties in the busy capital city of Uruguay to neighbors in China studying craters on the Moon, Galilean Nights is an event for people from all walks of life, all around the globe.

Amateur astronomers, societies and other groups will be setting up telescopes in public places to allow as many people as possible to look at the heavens.

Astronomy enthusiasts will be taking their telescopes to shopping centers, busy streets, schools or even the squares of capital cities.

The hard work of hundreds of organizers in every country will culminate over these three days when people of all ages will share the wonders of the night sky and see the objects that Galileo first observed 400 years ago.

For many, it will be their first glimpse of the marvels of the heavens through a telescope, seeing breathtaking sights such as the cloud bands of Jupiter, and intricate details on our cratered Moon.

As well as seeing our planetary neighbors through a telescope, people are encouraged to photograph what they see and share the sights with the wider world through the Galilean Nights astrophotography competition.

Astrophotographers of all levels of experience are enthusiastically taking part in the competition as they try to produce their own captivating photographs of the Universe. (ANI)