An astronomer on the Himalayas: books, maps, images and scientific instruments on the roof of the world

An astronomer on the Himalayas : books, maps, images and scientific instruments on the roof of the world ” An astronomer on the Himalayas is the title of a virtual exhibition currently being developed dedicated to the expedition to the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Chinese Turkestan, led by Filippo De Filippi. This event is considered the greatest scientific expedition of the early 20th century among the highest mountains on Earth. Leaving Italy in 1913 and returning at the end of 1914, the expedition participants traveled over 2,000 kilometers, from Kashmir to Tashkent, the capital of Russian Turkestan, from where they returned to Europe. Francesca Brunetti, Antonella Gasperini, Simone Bianchi, Federico Di Giacomo, Daniele Galli The archival sources of the Expedition have recently been reordered. Preserved at the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, of which Giorgio Abetti became director in 1921, these documents are of extraordinary importance and uniqueness. Part of this heritage is currently being selected and digitized. It is forming the core of a virtual exhibition currently under development that will be hosted by Polvere di Stelle , the cultural heritage portal of Italian astronomy. While the anthropological and geographical aspects of the Expedition have been communicated to the public, far less attention has been paid to its scientific dimension. Among the primary objectives of this undertaking were studies on gravity and terrestrial magnetism, conducted by Italian astronomer Giorgio Abetti, together with geodesist Alberto Alessio, across the highlands of Central Asia and the mountain ranges of the Himalayas and the Karakoram. The expedition also included research on solar radiation. The De Filippi Expedition (1913-1914) The Arcetri Historical Archive The sections of the virtual exhibition 1.The virtual reconstruction of the expedition’s route. Windows showing the daily stages of the research work. Use of Google Earth and selection of the rich photographic and cartographic documentation digitized. 2.Giorgio Abetti and his contribution to the Expedition. 3.The scientific results of the exploration, which were hampered by the outbreak of the World War I. The virtual exhibition is going to be available to everyone and recounts of a way of doing science from the last century whose echo has now been lost, a useful tool for better understanding the present valorizing the historical heritage.