The History of GAL Hassin

Hassin is a word of Syriac origin and means "cold stream". This is how the Arabs called Isnello when they arrived in Sicily.

Who We Are

The name GAL Hassin is therefore a play of words that has the double value of remembering the territory in which the Center rises and of recalling our Gal-axy that from Isnello is well visible.

The great quality of the sky is indeed one of the characteristics of these places, so much so that in the 1970s the locality of Piano Battaglia, within the Madonie Park, was identified as a possible site of the Galileo National Telescope (TNG, now at Roque de Los Muchachos, La Palma, Canary Islands).

After many years that quality, which has remained intact, has prompted the Municipality of Isnello to promote a Center for Research and Outreach and Communication of Astronomical Sciences.
In November 2009 the Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning (CIPE) financed the project.
GAL Hassin was inaugurated on 11 September 2016 and since then has continued to grow with the aim of becoming an important reference center for research, teaching and scientific outreach in the Mediterranean.

We succeeded because we were moved by strong conviction, great tenacity and great passion. After all, “the best things are achieved with the utmost passion” said J. W. Goethe.

The GAL Hassin Center rises not far from the town of Isnello, in the heart of the Madonie Mountains. Inauguration, September 11, 2016. Credits: GAL Hassin

Isnello by Night, with the beautiful Milky Way visible in the sky. Credits: GAL Hassin/Vincenzo Sapienza

The sky of Isnello is one of the most beautiful skies in Europe. The great conjunction Jupiter-Saturn, December 2020. Credits: GAL Hassin/Carmelo Falco

Isnello. Credits: GAL Hassin/VIncenzo Sapienza

Culture is everything. It is knowledge of our history, of man’s activities, of his research efforts to improve living conditions, to understand how we are made and what the world around us is like and to interact with it. Culture is also the understanding of everyday things, the ability to analyze data and to make innovative and intelligent choices.
Margherita Hack