To set the stage, the P.I. has published three articles. The first is about the reception of Ptolemy in the Renaissance, while the second (multi-authored) is about how the naked human eye perceives stellar light and how such light is described in historical sources. Other two articles (on the observers' scientific correspondence network and on literary references to SN1604, respectively) are forthcoming. The third article is a case-study about how was perceived and understood the antecedent nova (of 1572) by one of the leading astrologer of that time, namely Francesco Giuntini (1522-1590).
More specifically, however, the SN1604 research starts from a comprehensive "corpus", or set, of primary sources, which had been assembled in its entirety at the beginning of the project. Hence, a couple of treatises on the "new star" by Raffaello Gualterotti (1544-1638) have been selected as the first object of study for their contextual relevance. A commented edition of these neglected works is currently in progress. A second edition in preparation is the Discorso on the new star by Lodovico delle Colombe (Florence, 1606).
On this background, the main and somehow surprising result of the research project has been the attribution of a pseudonymous astronomical treatise on the “new star” to none less than Galileo Galilei. The attribution was possible thanks to the discovery and analysis of neglected documents at the Biblioteca Nazionale in Florence in the course of the archival survey performed by the P.I. In the past Galileo was suspected as the author of the treatise, although his debated role could not be confirmed without the newly retrieved documentary evidence. Therefore the commented edition of the authentic but overlooked work by Galileo has been set on top of the research agenda of the SN1604 project. The edition is anticipated by a peer-reviewed article about the attribution process in the strict sense.
As planned, the P.I. has received one-to-one training in the fields of archival conservation, history of Renaissance astronomy, and digital humanities. Moreover, several talks on topics related to the research project have been given at seminar meetings, interdisciplinary workshops and international conferences. In particular, a workshop and a conference on topics related to SN1604 have been organized and hosted at the P.I.'s beneficiary institution in 2023.
A sequence of online notices, interviews and press releases has accompanied the implementation of the research project for its public fruition. A series of communication and public engagement activities have been offered as well, including the theatrical staging and adaptation of a vernacular comedy on the new star by Galileo Galilei on the occasion of the 2022 edition of the Researchers' Night.
