Monday, December 14, 2009 — Galileo, the IYA, and Our Place in the Universe by Roy Bishop. To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first use of a telescope in astronomy, the International Astronomical Union and the United Nations have designated 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy (IYA). The central figure in this story is Galileo Galilei, renaissance physicist and the founder of modern experimental physical science.