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20,000 copies * City Map * Useful Information October 2017 Hello Milano On our 21st birthday more information, more pages, more photos. Guided tours connect Bicwith Last Supper tickets www.hellomilano.it Tourist assitence ART DEA online guide More information on I pag 12. www.artidea.co.uk See more at What’s On www.friendinmilan.co.uk translations • graphics • free press and find eventual possible changes After a look up there, could we take the leap on Mars? Mars, the “Red Planet”, is visible to the naked eye. hellomilano.it/hm/visit-brera-strolling-through-the- Known even by the Egyptian astronomers since 1534 centuries/), Brera Palace passed to the rulers of the B.C., it has always called us from among the stars, Austrian Habsburg dynasty who continued to sustain awakening our desire to visit. the Observatory. In fact, when the telescope became available, the After the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, on first step towards the knowledge of Mars was made 17 March 1861, the Astronomical Observatory of in 1672 by Giovanni Domenico Cassini, an Italian/ Brera was given new life under the great work held French mathematician, astronomer, astrologer and by Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli. He studied at the engineer, who succeeded in measuring the diurnal University of Turin, and later at Berlin Observatory, parallax of Mars, to determine the Sun-Earth dis- under Johann Franz Encke. He then worked in the tance. His observations and astronomical discoveries Pulkovo Observatory near St. Petersburg, and finally were so remarkable that recently his name has been arrived in Milan in 1882, where for over forty years, given to the asteroid “(24101) Cassini”, to Lunar and he was the director of the Brera Observatory. Martian craters, and to the Cassini–Huygens probe. Here in Milan he had at his disposal a quite good Mars thus started to be considered as a “terrestri- Merz telescope produced in Germany, but Schiapa- The upper part of the Merz-Repsold telescope al planet” with valleys, deserts and polar ice caps relli strongly requested the purchase of one of the wrapped inside a thin atmosphere, and a rotational largest and most powerful telescope in Europe, the Schiapparelli died in 1910, in 1936, the telescope was period with seasonal cycles similar to Earth. Merz-Repsold. transferred to the new and more modern Observatory The second step towards discovering more about the The huge investment of 250,000 lire (more than 1 in Merate, and then sadly dismantled in the early 1960s. Red Planet was made in Milan, on 6th February 1760, million € today) was approved despite the country’s But on the occasion of the centenary of Schiapa- by two Jesuits who were teaching to the clergy and economic difficulties due to the recent reunification, relli’s death, the Astronomical Observatory of Brera nobles classical and scientific studies at the Brera but made the Milan Observatory one of the most ad- launched a project for its restoration, made possible University. vanced in the world to deepen Mars studies. by a funding approved by the Chamber of Deputies, Despite being professors of philosophy, they were Constructed by Merz (the optical part) and Repsold and further supported by contributions from other astronomy fans and discovered a comet with their (the structure), had an objective lens of 49 centime- public and private sources. naked eye, following its passage with their telescope. ters in diameter (no longer present), a focal length of Its complex restoration was worked out by the volun- At this news, the Milanese were really excited and 7 meters, a support column of about 5 meters high, taries of the Association for the Restoration of the An- convinced the University to build a proper astronom- and a total weight of around 7 tons. cient Scientific Instruments Onlus. After an research, ic observatory, calling on Milan Giuseppe Lodovico This instrument granted a precise and detailed ob- they have reproduced the missing parts in agreement Lagrangia, a famous Jesuit astronomer at that time servation of the sky, marking a turning point in the with the Metropolitan City of Milan’s Superintendence working in Marseilles. study of planets. It allowed Schiaparelli to design of Archeology, Fine Arts and Landscape. The “Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera” was then several Mars maps showing the presence of “chan- Born to a new life, the telescope is now part of the built in 1764 in collaboration with a further fourth nels”, which gave rise to a heated debate among highlights kept inside the Space and Astronomy sec- Jesuit, Ruggero Boscovich (born in Croatian - Ruđer scientists on the existence of water, vegetation and tor of the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tec- Josip Bošković), a typical eighteenth-century figure of even intelligent life on the planet. nologia in Milan, in addition to the important collec- cosmopolitan intellect who was a physicist, astrono- While Schiaparelli remained cautious in hypothesiz- tion present at the Museum since 1961 when, follow- mer, mathematician, philosopher, diplomat, poet and ing what could have been Mars nature, other astron- ing the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Schi- theologian. omers engaged in debates which went far beyond aparelli’s death, some of the most valuable historical His father, a Ragusan merchant, died when he was a the scientific sphere to invade sociology and cos- Brera instruments were donated to the Museum. child so his Italian mother sent him in Italy. Here he tume, indissolubly linked to the myth of the Martians Let us end this article recalling the NASA Mariner studied, lived and worked for most of his life, exclud- and the new lucky science fiction! Program conducted from 1962 to 1973 to investigate ing a period of 10 years in France, and some works Only many years later, scientists realized that the de- Mars, Venus and Mercury. It was the starting point carried out in various capitals, including Warsaw, tails of the Mars surface were the result of an optical for many subsequent NASA/JPL, such as the Voyager, London, Vienna and Constantinople. illusion. Schiaparelli was in fact a victim of a well- or the Viking, Mariner-based spacecraft included the To build the Observatory, he modified the Brera Pal- known perceptual phenomenon according to which Magellan probe, the Galileo probe, and the Cassini– ace adding a tower with a terraced roof with four the human brain tends to give a geometric structure Huygens probe. small conical domes to accommodate observational to details grabbed by the eye in a vague and indis- After so many centuries, now we are quite sure that instruments. tinct way. Mars is really different from Earth, non-existent Mar- The considerable cost was funded by the University, tians will never land on by the scientific patronage of volunteers, including our planet, and for us it several Jesuits, and partly by Boscovich himself. will difficult to live there, Following the suppression of the Jesuit order (see as even taking a shower our Hello Milano issue on May 2017, http://www. would be pretty hard! Idroscalo Concert-competition for young musicians Each Thursday until November. For the Sergio Dragoni page 2 prize of €1,000, this competition involves young musicians, aged 13 to 25, winners of the Milan Conservatory 2016 What’s on Award. They will perform in the halls of Casa Verdi, the October 2017 retirement home for musicians donated by Giuseppe Verdi, whose grave is housed in the crypt. This series of concerts offers the opportunity for a unique contest that involves the young performers and the elderly guests who form the jury. Highlights €2, including a visit to Verdi’s crypt and the picture gallery. See http://www.quartettomilano.it/en/gigs/premio-sergio- dragoni-a-casa-verdi/ Musical Dinosaurs in ... meat and bones! From 5 October to On an artificial lake that was originally constructed as a 31 December. Wed. seaplane airport, there are now many attractions such as to Sat. at 20.45; a beach; some swimming pools; a bar; a kiosk; a water- Sat. and Sun. after- play path that stretches for 50 meters; a complete full size noon at 15.00; Sun. cable system for water sports such as water skiing and wa- evening at 19.00. keboarding; a self-service restaurant from 9.30 to 21.00 “Flashdance” writ- and a happy hour with food cocktails, non-alcoholic drinks, ten by Tom Hedley beer; 11 hire stations for normal and electric bicycles; ca- and Joe Eszterhaz; noe hire and beginners’ courses. Affordable prices. Idro- directed by Adrian scalo, Via Circonvallazione, Segrate (Milano) • bus 73 to Lyne; performed in Aeroporto di Linate + km 1.2 walking Italian with original English music such as What a feeling, Cine-Museum Maniac, Gloria, Man Hunt, I love Rock’n Roll. €20/73. www.ticketone.it - www. Until December. A calendar of movie events that, thanks Until 5 November. Mon - Fri: 15.30 –19.30; Sat. Sun, teatronazionale.it. Teatro Nazionale, Via Giordano Rota 1, to the digital cinema technology, showcases on the big holidays: 10.00 – 19.30. Strong educational character in corner Piazza Piemonte • M1 Wagner screen the richness of the world’s most important exhibi- this spectacular touring exhibition inside the Monza Park. tions, artists, museums. The tour is concentrated in the green area near Cascina A list of the Italian cinemas is available on www.nexodigi- Casalta, a perfect location that offers a beautiful natural tal.it. setting to admire about forty, full scale reconstructions of Fair From 9 to 11 and dinosaurs and prehistoric animals, some of them in gigan- 18 October. “Ferrari tic dimensions. There are Mesozoic reptiles, such as Spino- From Friday 27 312B”, in Italian, with saurus and Tyrannosaurus, and species that lived in Italy to Sunday 29 music by Philip Abus- such as the Lombard Ticinosuco and the Titanosaurus sau- October.