As part of the International Year of Astronomy, observatories around the world are participating in the 100 Hours of Astronomy (April 2-5, 2009).

Today, Friday April 3, 80 observatories around the globe are participating in a 24-hour live webcast organized by the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

(From APOD) The webcast event follows night and day around the globe to visit some of the most advanced observatories on Earth and in space, exploring the universe in visible light and beyond. The Gemini North Telescope (Hawaii, USA) and the large observatories at the summit of volcanic Mauna Kea are scheduled for the first stops in the program beginning April 3 at 09:00 UT. Others on the schedule include the Swift Satellite and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, the Himalayan Chandra Telescope (Hanle, India), and the 10-meter South Pole Telescope and IceCube Neutrino Telescope (South Pole, Antarctica).

Here is the link to the webcast.

If you miss some of the events, this link also has some recorded sessions for playback at a more convenient time.

And don’t forget that the HAA is also doing our own things with our general meeting tonight (Fri Apr 3) and a public observing night in Grimsby (Sat Apr 4 – see Glenn’s posting below). There may also be some sidewalk astronomy occurring over the weekend so keep an eye on this blog for details as they become available.