We are thrilled to invite AHO members to register for the 2024 AHO General Assembly Meeting which is being held on Oct 4-5 in Rome. Due to limitations of the conference center we have restricted in-person attendance for the meeting (not for the social events) to 30 people.  More people are welcome to attend via Zoom.

Participants limit: 30. Conference dinner limit: 50.

Vatican Observatory (Specola Vaticana)
Piazza Sabatini 5 (sometimes Piazza Pia 5)
Albano Laziale RM, Italy

See map below for useful locations.

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A preliminary outline of the agenda follows. The last column indicates each session's restriction.

AHO members wishing to attend the general assembly meeting please refer to instructions and details in the (password-protected) internal page.

Institutions interested in AHO membership and 2024 meeting attendance should contact the AHO President mshetrone(at)ucolick.org.

LOC would be happy to facilitate contacts but these activities will not be organized by the LOC.

Rome

• Monte Mario
• Monte Porzio Catone
• Sant’ Ignazio
• Torre Gregoriana o “dei Venti” at the Vatican (by special permission only). Entrance through the Secret Archives. It was built so the scientists who reformed the calendar for Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 could perform astronomical observations.

Florence

• Museo Galileo: The Galileo Museum is home to a priceless collection of more than 1,000 historically significant scientific instruments including some designed and built by Galileo himself.
• Villa Gioiello in Arcetri and Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri: Arcetri is an area in the hills west of Florence dedicated to astronomy. The Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, part of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), will host our visit to Villa il Gioiello, the “Jewel”, so called because of its lovely position in the green farmland overlooking the city. This was Galileo’s home where he observed the night sky from his balcony from 1631 until his death in 1642. After dinner our hosts will lead us on a tour of their facility located next door that was inaugurated in 1872 and, if the weather permits, we will be able to observe the night sky using the famous Amici telescope.
• Museo della Specola (one of the most beautiful 18th century meridian rooms: La Sala delle Cicogne): The Museum of Zoology and Natural History, better known as La Specola, is a fascinating site that contains both human and animal anatomical wax figures but we will concentrate on the area dedicated to Galileo and his scientific research. This special guided tour will include Il Torrino, the tower originally built to house the famous Amici telescope that continues to provide an incredible panoramic view of Florence.

Other Possibilities

• Churches with meridians and/or astronomical elements in Rome and Florence
• Ancient Rome and Astronomy
• More astronomical - historical - sites in Florence
• Gubbio and the K-T Boundary. After taking a glimpse of the beautiful Umbrian city of Gubbio on the lower slopes of the Apennine Mountains our group will observe a spot in the exposed rock outside the town where the K-T Boundary can be seen. This is an enriched layer of iridium formed 66 million years ago supporting the theory of the meteorite impact responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Private Tour Guides

We can recommend tour guides (Americans living in Italy): for Florence, Tuscany, Baroque Rome, Assisi …as well as tour guides for the Albano area for your significant other and/or other guests. The area is very rich in fascinating history (aqueducts, catacombs…) but very little is accessible without a guide.