INFINITE SUNS, INNUMERABLE WORLDS
Special event held by the Planetarium of Rome on October 8 in the square Campo dei Fiori in Rome. Under the statue of Giordano Bruno – the first to imagine the existence of external worlds – a transiting extrasolar planet was observed live by more than 1000 people.

Rome, October 12, 2009
“Infinite Suns exist. Innumerable worlds orbit those Suns, like the seven planets orbit our Sun.
These worlds are inhabited by living beings”. With these words, in 1584 Giordano Bruno foresaw by centuries one of the most fascinating frontiers of current research in astrophysics, the search for extrasolar planets, and also because of this idea he was accused of heresy. Just in the same place where the great Italian philosopher was burned at the stake, the historic square Campo dei Fiori, the Planetarium of Rome presented a public event called “Infinite Suns, Innumerable
Worlds” on October 8 from 8:30pm to midnight.
More than 1000 people crowded Campo dei Fiori to attend. The evening started off with the evocative scene of the fire enveloping the statue of Giordano Bruno and a reconstruction of his theories and his ill fated story by journalist Corrado Augias and music by Fabio Tricomi. Afterwards the focus lifted off from the statue up to the sky in order to detect, even among the lights of Rome, the new Suns.
Throughout the evening the public was involved in an ambitious astronomical observation: the detection of the transit of a distant extrasolar planet, TrES-3b, in front of its Sun’s disk. In a symbolic way, this observation gives finally justice to Giordano Bruno, marking the climax of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 in Rome.
While the transit was progressing, the scientific staff of the Planetarium – composed by Gabriele Catanzaro, Giangiacomo Gandolfi, Stefano Giovanardi and Gianluca Masi, coordinated by director Vincenzo Vomero – presented a specifically tailored show dedicated to the discovery of extrasolar planets and their surprising features, including the hypothesis of the existence of a “new Earth”.
For this special occasion the square Campo dei Fiori was partially darkened by switching off all public lights for the duration of the event in order to let the stars shine. A few telescopes were set up in the square for a session of public observing after the show, to let the audience take a look with their own eyes at some of the infinite Suns (Gamma Cephei, 51 Pegasi, Upsilon Andromedae).
The event was realized with the contribution of INAF – National Institute for Astrophysics, the patronage of the Municipality of Rome and the Sovrintendenza ai Beni Culturali of Rome.
Special thanks to ACEA spa for switching off the public illumination and to Auriga spa for providing the telescopes for public observing.