1609-1610

Galileo’s first observations with the telescope:

In Padova, Galileo discovers mountains and valleys on the Moon, as well as sunspots, the phases of Venus, the myriad stars which make up the Milky Way and the four main moons of Jupiter

1630-1639

With the telescopes built by Francesco Fontana, Giovanni Battista Zupi discovers the horizontal bands of Jupiter and the phases of Mercury

1655

In Bologna, Gian Domenico Cassini builds the world’s longest meridian to confirm the Gregorian calendar. This also allows him to check Kepler’s second law

1664-1666

With a telescope built by Giuseppe Campani, Cassini discovers spots on the surface of Mars, as well as the Great Red Spot on Jupiter, and measures the rotation period of both planets. A few years later, in Paris, he discovers the four moons of Saturn

1665

Giovanni Battista Riccioli and Francesco Grimaldi publish a map of the Moon, whose nomenclature is still in use today for lunar geology

1801

At the Palermo Observatory, using the Ramsden Circle, Giuseppe Piazzi discovers Ceres. Initially classified as the eighth planet, Ceres is now recognized as a dwarf planet. Once its true nature was understood, the term “asteroid” was coined for it

1812-1819

Establishment of the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte in Naples

1822

After several decades of activity in other locations, the Astronomical Observatory of Turin was built inside Palazzo Madama. Afterwards, it was moved to Pino Torinese

1858

Angelo Secchi publishes in Rome the first photographic atlas of the Moon. A few years later, he suggests the first spectroscopic classification of the stars

1869-1872

Establishment of the Astronomical Observatory of Arcetri, after several decades of activity in other locations in Florence

1871

The Società degli Spettroscopisti Italiani (nowadays “Società Astronomica Italiana” – Italian Astronomical Society) is established. This is the world’s first institution for the promotion of Astrophysics. The publication of the Memorie della Società degli Spettroscopisti Italiani will inspire the foundation of the Astrophysical Journal

1880-1885

The construction of the Bellini Observatory is completed on the hills of Mount Etna, followed by the construction of the Astrophysical Observatory of Catania downtown

1887


This is the start of the international Carte du Ciel project to map millions of stars, involving the Observatory of Catania and the Vatican Observatory

1893

Establishment of the Observatory of Collurania in Teramo: originally it was a private institution, which was later donated to the Italian State in 1917 (nowadays Astronomical Observatory of Abruzzo)

1899

Establishment of the Astronomical Station of Carloforte (South Sardinia),  from whose tradition the Astronomical Observatory of Cagliari was born

2003

The first binary pulsar, PSR J0737-3039, is discovered by an Italian-led team of researchers, with the radio-telescope in Parkes, Australia, and the Lovell telescope in the United Kingdom

2004

Inauguration of the Large Binocular Telescope on Mount Graham, Arizona (INAF has a 25% share)

2009

International Year of Astronomy, proclaimed by the United Nations, at the request of Italy, to celebrate 400 years from Galileo’s observations

2011

• The AGILE satellite discovers Gamma Ray-Bursts coming from the Crab Nebula 
• The GAPS (Global Architecture of Planetary Systems) collaboration starts its observations at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo in order to characterise the systems of exoplanets
• VST (VLT Survey Telescope) is inaugurated at the Observatory of Paranal, Chile
• The Dawn mission orbits for the first time around an asteroid, Vesta. In 2015, it will enter into orbit around dwarf planet Ceres

2013

• Publication of the first map of the Planck satellite with the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background radiation 
• Inauguration of the Sardinia Radio Telescope: with a 64-m parabolic antenna, it is the largest radio-telescope in Italy

2014

The Rosetta mission achieves the first ever comet landing

2016

The largest and most accurate 3D map of the distant Universe, with over 90,000 galaxies, is completed with the VIMOS spectrograph on ESO's Very Large Telescope

2017

The first kilonova is discovered, with the joint detection of gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation, kicking off the era of multi-messenger astronomy

2018 

• The first 3D map of the Gaia satellite is published, with the positions, distances and motions of 1.7 billion stars in the Milky Way
• An Italian-led team presents first evidence of the existence of underground liquid water, based on the data from the Mars Express probe

2019 

• The MAGIC observatory, in La Palma, catches the first gamma-ray burst in very-high-energy gamma rays
• The first image of a black hole is released by the Event Horizon Telescope 
• Italy leads the negotiations for the signing of the treaty that establishes the SKA Observatory, an intergovernmental organization to oversee the construction of the world’s largest radio-telescope

2020

• With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the astronomical community offers its expertise and know-how to fight against the virus, through several technologies, such as air and surface disinfection through special UV-C lamps
• During lockdown, the first Fast Radio Burst originating in the Milky Way is discovered, accompanied by the detection of flashes in both X- and gamma rays

2022

• The DART mission performs the first planetary defense experiment, by deviating the orbit of the Dimorphos asteroid: the Italian nanosatellite LiciaCube records the impact
• Several space and ground telescopes observe the brightest gamma-ray burst of all times
• The IXPE satellite images for the first time a supernova remnant in polarised X-rays

2023

Discovery of the low-frequency gravitational wave background through timing of pulsar radio signals. The Sardinia Radio Telescope is also involved

2025 

The first data from the Euclid space mission is released to the public

2027

The 33rd General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union will take place in Rome