25 May: Open day at IRSOL and Specola

You say "Locarno", and immediately, everyone thinks of Lake Maggiore, the beaches, and the mountains. Everyone, but not the astrophysicists: for them Locarno evokes above all the Sun. The star, of course. Locarno is, in fact, home to two renowned sun research centres: Istituto ricerche solari Aldo e Cele Daccò (IRSOL), affiliated to USI, and Specola Solare Ticinese. Both observatories, as part of a communication project organised in collaboration with USI's L'ideatorio, supported by the Agorà programme of the Swiss National Science Foundation and with the support of the Swiss Society of Astrophysics and Astronomy and the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences, are holding an

Open Day

Saturday, 25 May 2024

from 10 am to 4 pm

At IRSOL, the Sun's magnetic fields are investigated with specific instruments that are among the most precise in the world, with the aim, among others, of improving our understanding of space meteorology, i.e. of conditions in near-Earth space and throughout the Solar System, and refining our ability to predict geomagnetic storms. IRSOL is recognised by the federal government as a research institute of national importance and is affiliated with the Faculty of Informatics at Università della Svizzera italiana.

The solar cycle is studied at Specola using a sunspot counting method developed in Switzerland and utilised by an international network of observatories. As the heir to the observing tradition of ETH Zürich, Specola has become the world's reference observing station for determining the Sunspot Number within the international network.

Ticino is, therefore, known as the "Sunny Canton", not only for tourism but also for scientific research: a leading reality that the population of Ticino is also invited to discover in more detail. Anyone wishing to find out about the research on the Sun that is being carried out in Ticino and to learn what secrets our star still hides will therefore be welcome at the two Observatories, where they will find scientific staff available to answer any questions or curiosity.

The event will take place rain or shine, and admission will be free and without reservation (unfortunately, significant architectural barriers do not allow easy access for people with disabilities). As the car parks of the two institutes are not accessible to the public and the availability of public parking in the area is very limited, the use of public transport is strongly recommended: the Monti della Trinità bus stop and the Orselina station of the funicular railway are located near the Specola. A minibus shuttle service will operate between the two observatories.

All information: https://www.irsol.usi.ch/it/open-day

Contact details:

Svetlana Berdyugina, director of IRSOL ([email protected], 091 290 90 25)

Renzo Ramelli, Deputy Director of IRSOL ([email protected], 091 290 90 21)

Marco Cagnotti, Director of the Specola ([email protected], 079 467 88 21)