The International Year of Astronomy 2009 was never foreseen to be a “one-off” event for one year, but a means to creating structures for collaboration, lasting self-sustaining activities and innovative concepts for the communication of astronomy. Within the IYA2009 project this “living heritage” goes under the name “IYA2009 Legacy”. ... Legacy Resources

Astrobiology

Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. This multidisciplinary field encompasses the search for habitable environments in our Solar System and habitable planets outside our Solar System, the search for evidence of prebiotic chemistry and life on Mars and other bodies in our Solar System, laboratory and field research into the origins and early evolution of life on Earth, and studies of the potential for life to adapt to challenges on Earth and in space.. ... Full Text

Black Holes

The black hole is huge about 100 million times the mass of our sun. Its gravitational force is strong enough to prevent light or anything else from escaping. The black holes in the Universe do not emit any detectable type of light. However, astronomers can still find them and learn a lot about them. We can measure the speed of the star by studying the visible light that it emits. Knowledge of this speed can be combined with the laws of gravity. ... Full Text