TheSormano Astronomical Observatory, the Group Amici del Cielo, the Comune di Sormano and theUniversity of Insubria, as part of the cooperation program Interreg Italy/ Switzerland (project ASTRONETILO) and under the patronage of CICAP (Italian Committee for the Control of Claims on Pseudoscience), are organizing the 2nd edition of the series of meetings entitled: “WORDS and STARS 2023″ – “ASTRONOMY MEETINGS EXPECTING THE PLANETARY.”
The scientific program, will allow viewers to delve into some of the latest achievements in astronomy accompanied by top-notch speakers. It will also be an opportunity to visit the Larian Triangle because the meetings will be held in Como and five towns: Sormano, Barzago, Arosio, Bellagio and Magreglio.
The series of meetings started in Como on May 6th with CICAP’s National Conference “Are We Alone in the Universe?” which presented itself as a unique opportunity to discuss one of the most fascinating and debated topics in modern science: the existence of extraterrestrial life forms. The conference provided an in-depth look at the scientific and philosophical aspects related to the search for life beyond our planet, thanks to the participation of experts in the field: Patrizia Caraveo (astrophysicist and INAF research director), Paolo Attivissimo (scientific journalist), Stefano Covino, (astrophysicist ), Monica Rainer (astrophysicist), Giuseppe Galletta (astrobiologist), Amedeo Balbi (astrophysicist) e Andrea Ferrero (space engineer).
The program includes open days on a monthly basis for the public at the Sormano Astronomical Observatory as well as evenings of scientific popularization following telescope observations, in particular we highlight the traditional and always very popular August 10 appointment with shooting stars.
In June the series offgers two meetings:
On Friday, June 9th in Barzago, Stefano Tosi of the Trezzano s/n Astrophilic Circle will talk about lunar exploration programs starting from NASA’s Artemis project to future colonies and scientific outposts that will be built in the coming decades.
On Thursday, June 22nd in Arosio, Loris Lazzati, science popularizer and head of the Lecco Planetarium, will talk about “Navigators and Stars. The great journeys of history and orientation with the stars” also the subject of a book he recently published. We will discover how throughout the centuries explorers have known how to navigate between sea and sky and what navigational tools, based on the position of the stars, were used then.
Then it’s off to Sormano, when on Saturday, July 1, Dino Pezzella (Gruppo Amici del Cielo) and Alessandro Fumagalli (Sormano Astronomical Observatory) will tell us about the “James Webb Space Telescope” and the many scientific discoveries of this new space telescope, which has been operational for more than a year.
It continues Saturday, July 22 in Magreglio at the Ghisallo Museum, 9 p.m., when Ivan Proserpio of the Sormano Astronomical Observatory with “The Moon in 10 Questions,” will focus attention on our satellite by analyzing its motions, structures and physical/chemical characteristics.The small crescent moon will be clearly visible with telescopes mounted outside the museum.
On Saturday, August 26, in Bellagio, the astronomical observing event “The Sky of the Lario” will be preceded by a talk on the summer sky and what objects can be observed and/or photographed.
The lecture series will close on Saturday, September 9th, in Sormano with “Black Holes: History and Physics of the Universe’s Most Mysterious Objects,” by astrophysicist Davide Trezzi of the Gruppo Amici del Cielo.
The lectures will be complemented by opportunities for sky observation with telescopes from the Gruppo Amici del Cielo and the Sormano Observatory.
