Frode Kristian Hansen: Planning the Inernational year of astronomy 2009

The year 2009 is the 400 years anniversary of the first use of an astronomical telescope by Galileo Galilei. To celebrate this the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has launched 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009). IYA2009 has been endorsed by UNESCO, which recommended it for adoption by the United Nations. Whether IYA2009 will be approved by the UN General Assembly or not will be decided within the next days and hopefully before Friday but no matter the outcome, the IYA2009 will run as planned all over the world. IAU will coordinate a set of international events to take place during 2009 but each country will also organize local events. The Norwegian national node for IYA2009 has planned a series of national events for 2009 in cooperation with a large number of organizations as well as individual persons. This Friday I will present the ideas and plans that we have for 2009, but I am also hoping for some input from you: What could we do to increase the interest and knowledge of astronomy/science to Norwegians, and especially young Norwegians, in 2009?