AHO General Assembly Meeting
Rome, 4 –5 October, 2024
The 2024 AHO General Assembly Meeting was held on Oct 4-5 (evening reception Oct 3) in the Vatican Observatory near Rome.
AHO members and invited guest institutions attended the general assembly meeting in person and remotely. Guest institutions interested in AHO membership should contact the AHO Board using our contact form.
Vatican Observatory (Specola Vaticana)
Piazza Sabatini 5 (sometimes Piazza Pia 5)
Albano Laziale RM, Italy
See map below for useful locations.
Click icons for street addresses, images, websites, and directions; open the sidebar to change base map. Alternatively use Google maps or this printable map.
An outline of the agenda follows. The last column indicates each session's restriction.
The video recordings of the October 4 sessions (open to member and invited institutions) are available here: morning sessions and afternoon sessions. The video recording of the October 5 members-only session is available through the internal page.
| Thu 3 Oct | Evening | Reception | M/I/TP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 4 Oct | Morning | Member updates: Lick, Pic du Midi, Palomar, McDonald, Detroit, Sommers-Bausch, McCormick, Vatican, Dominion, Mt. Wilson Guest updates: Hamburg, Arcetri, Capodimonte, Padua |
M/I |
| Noon | Lunch | M/I | |
| Afternoon | Guest updates (cont'd): Palermo, Greenwich, Heidelberg, Edinburgh, Armagh Member updated (cont’d): Yerkes, Lowell Report on AAS Meeting Report on Docent Workshop Web page updates IAU and AAS/HAD initiative Other initiatives |
M/I | |
| Evening | Dinner | M/I/TP | |
| Sat 5 Oct | Morning | Review of minutes Membership Committee report Feedback on membership New by-laws voting Election of new board members/officers |
M |
| Noon | Lunch | M/I | |
| Afternoon | Tour of the Palazzo Domes | M/I/TP | |
| M: members only; M/I: members and invitees; M/I/TP: members, invitees, and traveling partners. | |||
There is frequent train service between Albano and Rome, and the train station is a short (7 minutes) walk from the observatory offices. Most of the trains go to/depart from Rome’s main train station, Stazione Roma Termini. However, one or two connect at the Ciampino station. These are indicated on the schedule. On Sundays and holidays, fewer trains run and the last train back from Rome is earlier than on weekdays. Please plan ahead so you do not miss it.
Train tickets can be bought in several of the coffee bars on the way to the station, at the Trenitalia website or using their app. Look for the Trenitalia logo or the word “biglietti” (“tickets”) on the shop window. They cost € 2.10 for a one-way ticket.
Regional “COTRAL” buses depart from Piazza Mazzini in Albano to several destinations within the Castelli Romani. Bus tickets can be purchased at the newsstand across from Piazza San Pietro or at a tobacconist shop. Tickets are one-way, so purchase two of them so that you can return. Validate the ticket when you board the bus.
If you wish to go into Rome via bus, board a bus destined for “Anagnina”, which will go to the Anagnina bus station at the very end of the Metro A subway line. There, you will take the subway the rest of the way into Rome. Bus tickets to Anagnina cost € 1.30 each way. (Note that occasionally, the bus will go to a different Metro station, Cinecittà, instead of Anagnina.) To return, you will usually board a bus destined for Ariccia, Genzano, or Velletri (almost always at platform 3 in the Anagnina station)—check the route on the monitor and make sure it includes Albano Laziale—and exit the bus when it reaches Piazza Mazzini in Albano.
It is not difficult to walk to most of the tourist destinations from the Roma Termini train station, but you will want to purchase a map to avoid getting lost in the maze of streets that make up central Rome. Rome also has a subway (“Metro”) system with three lines that intersect at Roma Termini and San Giovanni in Laterano, and there are ATAC city buses that you can board there as well. Tickets for the subway and for the buses are the same, and can be purchased at most newsstands and tobacconist shops. They cost € 1.50 for a one-ride ticket (good for up to 90 minutes on buses including transfers, or for one subway ride). Day tickets cost € 6.00. The subway is usually fine, but it is best to avoid the buses since they are often overcrowded and are sometimes infested with pickpockets.
Please note: ATAC tickets are different from COTRAL and train tickets. The public transport system is not integrated: you cannot use tickets for the ATAC bus on a Cotral bus, and of course, neither work on a train. Taxis in Rome are pretty good. White registered taxicabs are regulated and have standard pricing systems. The price is not bad if you stay in the historic district. However, do not take a taxi all the way from Rome to Albano unless there is no choice. To go that distance, it will cost more than €50.
It is possible to make the train journey from the Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport to the Albano train station (and viceversa) in under two hours with a short layover in Roma Termini. Tickets may be purchased from self-service kiosks in the airport, or online using the Trenitalia website/app.
The airport website has information about taxis, buses, car sharing and other means of transport connecting Fiumicino with Rome and beyond. Explanatory/how-to videos (for example this recent one) can be found on YouTube.
LOC would be happy to facilitate contacts but these activities will not be organized by the LOC.
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.
