Photographic Exhibition & Lecture: The Milky Way Through Science, History & Art, Sep 6-13 2012 @ Italian Institute of Culture

Presentation by Dr. Paola Platania, the curator of the Istituto di Fisica del Plasma of the Italian National Research Centre (CNR) at the Italian Institute of Culture on Thursday 6th September 2012 at 7.00pm.

The exhibition runs till 13th September 2012
Open from Monday to Thursday from 10.30am to 6.00pm.
On Friday from 10.30am to 4.00pm. – closed on Saturdays, Sundays & public holidays

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WHEREFORE SO MANY LIGHTS?

The spectacle of the arc of the Milky Way in the sky has filled every human generation with wonder, from prehistory to the present day.

Ancient civilizations the world over have built myths and legends attempting to express the intuition of a mysterious relationship between human life and the ineffable celestial nebula.

Throughout history, artists, poets and painters have been inspired by the faint silvery light of the Milky Way.

Starting from the 17th century, modern science has shown us the physical nature of the Milky Way. Today we know that the pale trail of light that we can see in the sky comes from the glow of the Galaxy in which we are immersed: a colossal structure made of hundreds of billions of stars – and we know that our Galaxy is not only made of stars: but also of dark matter, a giant central black hole and that it is in constant upheaval with violent explosions.

Have these new discoveries broken the enchantment? Is there still room for wonder? Have we lost hope for a relationship with the stars?

We will see that, unexpectedly, scientific knowledge itself shows us that life on the Earth has a deep and unforeseen correlation with the history and the structure of the Milky Way.

We will discover a relationship that could be even more intimate than the fabulous pre-scientific visions that were once daringly imagined.

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