The Music of the Spheres & 100 Hours of Observation

I am blogging live from the back corner of my astrobiology class lecture hall, where my professor was just explaining the ancient geocentric concept of the universe, in which Earth was fixed at the center while the other heavenly bodies moved around it in constant rotation.

Pythagorus, who lived in the days of the geocentric system, suggested that if people sat outside in total silence and listened carefully, they would be able to hear the sound of the sun, moon, and stars rotating around the Earth on their crystalline spheres. If you were in the "right state of mind," as my professor put it, you could listen to this "music of the spheres."

He also informed us that 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, and to celebrate, thousands of people around the world will watch the sky for 100 hours between April 2nd and April 5th.

80 observatories around the world will provide live webcasts of the observation event, which will bring astronomy to the masses.