Hi everyone, and welcome to the 100HA blog!  I'm Terry Bridges, one of the 100 Hours Task Group members. We thought that this would be a good way to share with you all the exciting things going on with 100 Hours of Astronomy.  And I think you'll agree that there is a lot going on.  If you look through our web pages you'll know that we have a lot planned during April 2-5: a live science center webcast, a 24 hour observatory webcast, a 24 hour star party, and Sun Day.  More and more people are registering every day, and every week we are launching new things on our webpages. On Tuesday the IYA2009 Secretariat will be issuing a press release about 100 Hours and it feels like things are really taking off.

Over the next several weeks you will see a range of bloggers here, some from the 100 Hours Task Group and others from outside. This blog will be linked to Cosmic Diary (http://www.cosmicdiary.org) and we urge you to check out their excellent web site where a diverse group of professional astronomers are blogging. If you have any comments on this blog please email me ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). You can also participate in the 100 Hours Forum (see below).

Today I would like to mention two other new features of the 100 Hours website that we have launched today:  the Photo Galleries and the Forum. You will see links to these on the main left-hand menu. In the Photo Galleries you will be able to view galleries of other users or create your own. There are also visual instructions to help you get going. The Forum gives you a chance to discuss any and all aspects of 100 Hours with other users. There are topics on the main events, presentations, new ideas, where to start, and anything else you'd like to talk about. So have a look and get involved -- your participation is what will make 100 Hours of Astronomy a success!

Best wishes to all of you, and have fun planning your 100 Hours activities!

Terry