  The XXXI European Symposium on Occultation Projects will be celebrated in
ICRANet center of Pescara from 24 to 27 August 2012
(www.icranet.org/clavius2012). The occasion is the fourth centennial of the
Jesuit astronomer Christopher Clavius (Bamberg 1538- Napoli 1612). The hybrid
eclipse witnessed by Clavius in Rome (1567) and published on his Commentarius
on the Sphere (1581 edition) was the first account of an annular eclipse ever
published in a scientific book. To account of this eclipse a larger solar
diameter for 1567 has to be considered, and the scientific debate is still
open. This is the trait-d'union between Clavius and ESOP annual meeting. The
city of Pescara and the region of Abruzzo are presented with an historical,
climatic, religious and gastronomical outline.
