Now that I’ve spent a few months in my new home town, I’ve managed to do a little poking about, and one of the first things I did was to pay a visit to one of Philadelphia’s finest institutions. The Franklin Institute is a wonderful science museum, with a wide range of exhibits and educational resources, and is a remarkable asset to the community. If you’re visiting Philadelphia, I’d recommend taking a look around it, particularly if you have children, for whom there are lots of things to do.

But particularly interesting right now is the focus on astronomy at the Franklin, coinciding with the International Year of Astronomy. The centerpiece is a new exhibit, Galileo, the Medici and the Age of Astronomy, on display until September 7, with description

Created through The Franklin’s exclusive partnership with the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence, Italy, the exhibit showcases Galileo’s accomplishments, his relationship to the ruling Medici family, his discoveries, and his overall impact on astronomy, physics, and math. This will be the first time one of the two remaining Galileo telescopes has left Italy. Also exhibited will be other instruments belonging to Galileo, as well as paintings, prints, and manuscripts from the priceless Medici collection. Together, the collections will showcase how the union of science, art, and political power gave rise to Galileo’s success.

You can hear a little more about this from the Franklin’s resident astronomer – Derrick Pitts

who appeared on The Colbert Report a couple of weeks ago to discuss the exhibit, and managed to achieve the rare feat of getting his message across without breaking Colbert’s rhythm or appearing humorless.

But the International Year of Astronomy connections don’t stop there. Fittingly, the Franklin Institute has also chosen to award the prestigious Franklin Institute Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science to renowned astronomer Sandy Faber.

The award ceremony is this coming Thursday, but at Penn we’ll be fortunate enough to see the recipient a day early for a colloquium on Galaxy Evolution Over the Last Two-Thirds of Cosmic Time.