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Second announcement: "Schiaparelli and his legacy"

A conference to highlight Schiaparelli's accomplishments during his life and to illustrate his legacy to present day astronomy.
icon arrow Milano, Palazzo Brera, October 19-20 - 9:00-18:30
icon arrowTorino, Biblioteca Universitaria Nazionale, October 21 - 9:00-18:30

RATIONALE:
Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli was one of the most important astronomers of his times.
Born in Savigliano (CN) where he developed his first interests in astronomy, he graduated in Torino and soon after became the Director of the Brera Observatory just at the time of Italy’s unification.
Most of his work is based on observations made at and with instruments at Brera, where he was active for over 40 years.
According to his contemporaries, he had an insatiable thirst for knowledge, a vigor of intellect that knew no inactivity and a versatility without apparent limit.
He gave fundamental contributions to the study of Solar Systems bodies, such as meteors and their origin, Mercury and Mars, and to the history of astronomy.
He was also a believer in the importance of explaining science and disseminate the scientific results to the public at large.
This conference is part of the celebrations organized in the centennial of his death.

FORMAT:
The conference will consist mostly of solicited talks distributed on three days:
1) a first day devoted to the role of Schiaparelli and his achievements
2) a second day devoted to scientific talks, in particular on planetary sciences
3) a third day devoted to the new technologies and exploratory missions of the Solar System.

The first two days will be held in Milano.
The aim of the presentations will be to celebrate his scientific results, his interesting and complex personality also through the international links he established with the scientific community, and the status of astronomy and history of astronomy at his time, which have led to his legacy.
We will discuss both a modern view of planetary science, with presentations on our current understanding of Mars, Mercury, comets and the discovery of exoplanets, and some relations between visual astronomy and visual neurophysiology.
The third day in Torino will be dedicated to the presentations on both technology and scientific aspects of the future space missions for the exploration of the Solar System, which are ideally connected to the scientific contributions by Schiaparelli.
The main strategies of Space Agencies and National Industry and the future Cosmic Vision will also be discussed together with the associated technological challenges.

PROGRAM:
The conference is based on solicited talks, with limited space for few short contributions.
The current plan of talks and speakers can be seen on the web site dedicated to the meeting.
Please be aware that the program is being finalized and the schedule could have modifications.

If you are willing to give a short contribution, please send title and an abstract to the official e-mail address of the conference:
e-mail contact (you need JavaScript enabled to view it).
However be aware that the schedule is already quite full and the contribution might be considered only in written form to be included in the proceedings.

PROCEEDINGS:
Proceedings will be published in the Memorie della Società Astronomica Italiana Vol 82 n.2.
To meet the deadline with the editors, the deadline for submission of the manuscripts will be december 5th.
The articles must be prepared using LateX2e, using the document class mem.cls, available from the web site of the Memorie (http://sait.oats.inaf.it).

WEB SITE:
The official website for the conference is:
http://www.brera.inaf.it/schiaparelli2010
where you can find the updated information on the program and the logistics.
To communicate with the organizers please use the e-mail address of the conference: e-mail contact (you need JavaScript enabled to view it)

REGISTRATION:
There will be no conference fee.
However registration is required to be able to properly plan the logistics of the meeting.
Participants should registed at http://www.brera.inaf.it/interroga/dbServer?page=schiaparelli

VENUE
Milano:
The conference will be held in the "Sala Napoleonica" in Palazzo Brera, via Brera 28.
Torino:
The conference will be held in the auditorium of the Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria, Piazza Carlo Alberto 3.

We are looking forward to celebrating this outstanding scientist with all of you.

Alessandro Manara and Ginevra Trinchieri for the Scientific advisory committees,
the SOC and the LOC
.