Historical Astronomical Instruments from the Collection of the Specola Vaticana, an exhibition organized with the Vatican Observatory in the Academy’s Gallery, will feature works from one of the world’s finest collections of historical instruments for observing the sky and identifying stars and celestial bodies. Also contributing to the exhibition is Florence’s Museo Galileo, which is loaning to AAR a replica of a 1610 Galileo telescope, which travelled on the space shuttle Atlantis in 2009.

The exhibition will be on view between Friday, April 8 and Friday, April 15, 9:30–12:30pm, and on Thursday, April 14, 7:00–11:00pm.

This event is part of a week-long celebration to mark the four hundredth anniversary of Galileo’s first demonstration in Rome of his new invention, the telescope, at the American Academy’s Casa Rustica (in the present Bass Garden). Each of these Galileo-related events at the American Academy in Rome is made possible through the generous support of Finmeccanica.