The Vatican Observatory is the astronomical observatory and scientific research center of the Catholic Church, which belongs to the Governorate of the Vatican City State.
The management of the Vatican Observatory is entrusted to the Society of Jesus.
Since 18 September 2015 the director has been brother Guy Joseph Consolmagno.
The origins of the Vatican Observatory are traced back to the construction of the Gregorian Tower, which took place between 1578 and 1580, to allow the astronomical studies necessary to elaborate the reform of the Calendar, commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII and promulgated in 1582.
The main instrument used was the sundial, consisting of a straight line in white marble running along the floor, parallel to the North-South direction, whose purpose was to measure the height of the sun at noon according to the weather seasons.
The Vatican Observatory can be considered one of the oldest astronomical observatories in the world. In fact, its origin dates back to the second half of the 16th century, when Pope Gregory XIII had the Tower of the Winds built in the Vatican in 1578 and invited the Jesuit astronomers and mathematicians of the Roman College to prepare the reform of the calendar then promulgated in 1582.
Since then, with substantial continuity, the Holy See has not ceased to show interest and to give its support to astronomical research. This ancient tradition reached its peak in the twentieth century with the research carried out at the Roman College by the famous Jesuit astronomer P. Angelo Secchi, who first classified the stars on the basis of their spectra.
It was on the basis of this long and rich tradition that Leo XIII, to counter the persistent accusations made to the Church of being contrary to scientific progress, with the Motu proprio Ut mysticam of March 14, 1891, founded the Observatory on the Vatican hill, behind the Basilica of Saint Peter.
Specola Vaticana - Observatory on the Vatican hill
Address: Piazza Sabatini, 4B/5, 00041
Phone:
Site:
https://www.vaticanstate.va/it/organismi-scientifici/specola-vaticana.htmlLocation inserted by
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