Vatican observatory

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Telescopic dome in Castel Gandolfo (2008). The Latin inscription means Come, pray God the Creator on .

The Vatican Observatory (it. Specola Vaticana ) is the astronomical research and educational institution of the Holy See . The institute center is located in Castel Gandolfo in the Alban Hills south of Rome, and the research facilities have been moved to the University of Arizona since 1981 . The research facility VATT ( Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope ) has been operating its own observatory since 1993 on Mount Graham near Safford ( Arizona ) in the USA , which works with a 1.8-meter telescope .

As an institution, the Vatican Observatory is one of the oldest research centers in astronomy , whose history begins with the construction of the Tower of the Winds in 1578.

history

Christophorus Clavius
Angelo Secchi

The institute was founded in the second half of the 16th century to carry out the Gregorian calendar reform and to review the calendar by Gregory XIII. founded. From 1578 Gregor XIII. erect the Tower of the Winds and made it available to the Jesuit astronomers and mathematicians of the Collegio Romano for the work related to the calendar reform.

Christoph Clavius SJ , as the leading mathematician at the Collegio Romano and technically responsible for the Gregorian calendar reform, was de facto the first director of the observatory, even if no official appointment is known. 1612 followed Christoph Grienberger SJ Clavius ​​on the mathematics chair at the Collegio Romano and also in its function in the observatory. As early as 1610, shortly after the invention of the telescope , he developed the German mount there .

In the 18th century, a higher tower with better instruments was built on the Palazzo del Collegio Romano , which officially served as the papal observatory from 1774. In the following decades, astronomical research under Father Angelo Secchi reached its first peak. Secchi concentrated on solar research and is considered the pioneer of spectral analysis .

Vatican Observatory and Papal Palace, Castel Gandolfo

In continuation of this tradition, Leo XIII. on March 14, 1891 with the Motu Proprio Ut mysticam a new observatory building on the Vatican Hill behind the St. Peter's Basilica. This had become necessary because of the elimination of the Papal States by the new Kingdom of Italy in 1870 and the Palazzo del Collegio Romano had been drafted. The new building took place under the direction of the Barnabite Father Francesco Denza . With staff from various religious orders (Barnabites, Oratorians, Agostinians, Jesuits), the observatory mainly participated in a large international program to create a photographic map of the sky. Because of the increasing light pollution , the institute was then founded by Pope Pius XI. Relocated to Castel Gandolfo 25 km southeast of Rome . Research began there in 1930 with two new telescopes and an astrophysical laboratory u. a. with a device for astro spectroscopy . In 1957 a wide-angle Schmidt telescope was installed there to classify stars and their spectra.

Starting from 1981, the research department of the Institute was then the head of George Coyne for Arizona at the local university moved. The Vatican Observatory Research Group works there in one of the most modern centers of astronomy , where the construction of the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope began in 1993. The institute is also involved in the Large Binocular Telescope in close proximity to the VATT. The current director is Guy Joseph Consolmagno SJ, who replaced José Gabriel Funes SJ in this position on September 18, 2015 .

Research topics and observatory construction

The observatory and its research have a good reputation to this day - even in the age of large telescopes . The main areas of work are in astrophysics (including expansion of the universe , dark matter , dark energy , variable , " new " stars, planetology , quasars , globular clusters , acceleration of the universe ). A special focus is on interdisciplinary research (astronomy- physics- philosophy- theology ).

The old observatory building from 1930 in Castel Gandolfo has two domes (“Specola”) with several telescopes from the 1950s and a 60 cm Schmidt mirror , which, however, only partially meet today's requirements. That is why the institute operates the Vatican Observatory Research Group at the University of Arizona and additional collaborations with other observatories , especially in the USA . A large double astrograph and a special laboratory for astrophysics (especially spectral analysis, see Angelo Secchi ) are and were significant for galactic and stellar astronomy .

Scientific symposia

One of the many symposia in the humanities and natural sciences (including on evolution , astrophysics, the big bang and cosmology, science and religion ) organized by the Vatican Observatory was the last one in 2006 for an international conference for physicists on black holes and active galactic nuclei .

Since 1986 there has been an intensive four-week summer school for students every two years , the Summer School in Astronomy and Astrophysics . A good number of the listeners come from developing countries , for which the Vatican also arranges professional contacts.

In 1991 a special three-week summer course was held in Castel Gandolfo on cosmology and the case of Galileo , in which 25 bishops from different countries also took part. In four lectures a day, the foundations for a solid dialogue between religion and science were laid and the revision of the Galileo Process was prepared.

The observatory also organizes every year international colloquia on possible relationships between theological and scientific fields, for example

  • 1987, 300 years since Newton's “Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica”, about knowledge of God through physics, philosophy and theology . The conference volumes - together with an accompanying letter from Pope John Paul II - became a kind of manual for the dialogue between theology and modern physics.
  • In 1992, 140 speakers and seven working groups met in Castel Gandolfo on the topic of the origin of the universe . The “ European Society for the Study of Science and Religion ” organizes such conferences every two years. As a condensed conclusion from 1992 it emerged that the Big Bang is not identical with creation , but the development of the universe presupposes creation. The cosmological theory of evolution is not in contradiction to the biblical account of creation.

Well-known Vatican astronomers

The many well-known scientists who carried out astronomical research in the Vatican include primarily Jesuits with a scientific and philosophical education - for example

Web links

Commons : Category: Vatican Observatory  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nomina del Direttore della Specola Vaticana. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , September 18, 2015, accessed September 18, 2015 (Italian).

Coordinates: 41 ° 44 ′ 50.2 "  N , 12 ° 39 ′ 1"  E