White House to throw celebrity party Wednesday

President Barack Obama will welcome sky watchers to the White House Wednesday for an evening of stargazing with the first family.

A group of professional and amateur astronomers will place up more than 20 telescopes on the White House lawn during the presidential star party to mark the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009), a celebration of the 400th anniversary of famed astronomer Galileo Galilee's first use of a telescope to observe the night sky. President Obama, his family and a group of local middle-school students are probable to attend.

The White House star party will begin Wednesday night at around 8 p.m. EDT with a beginning address by President Obama to be broadcast live on NASA TV. It corresponds with World Space Week, which began Sunday and end on Oct. 10.