{"id":31712,"date":"2022-05-03T11:00:26","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T11:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=108096"},"modified":"2022-05-03T11:19:09","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T11:19:09","slug":"a-brief-history-of-the-vatican-observatory","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/a-brief-history-of-the-vatican-observatory\/","title":{"rendered":"A brief history of the Vatican Observatory"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Maggie Aderin-Pocock\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 03 May 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

A <\/span>trip to the Vatican is always illuminating, whether it is as a pilgrim or as a tourist, but it may seem a strange destination<\/span> for an astronomer.<\/p>\n

So you may be surprised to learn that not only does the Vatican have a long history of astronomy, it continues to perform research today.<\/p>\n

Read our guide to winter stargazing by the Vatican Observatory\u2019s Brother Guy Consolmagno<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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The Vatican Observatory in Castel Gandolfo, Italy on January 26, 2008. Photo by Eric VANDEVILLE\/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The Vatican\u2019s documented astronomy work began with Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.<\/p>\n

In his time it had been noticed that the calendar was slipping: the spring equinox that should<\/span> have occurred around 21\u00a0March was actually<\/span> happening on a calendar date near 10 March.<\/span><\/p>\n

The motivation for the investigation was to stop the date of Easter slipping from the time of year that it was celebrated when it was introduced by the early Church.<\/p>\n

A thorough enquiry into the duration of a year resulted in a 0.002% adjustment, as their measurements and calculations gave the duration of a year at 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes and 12 seconds.<\/p>\n

On 4 October 1582 Pope Gregory implemented the change and the day after the 4th became 15 October \u2013 a slip of 11 days.<\/p>\n

It took a while for other countries to adopt the change \u2013 some thought it was a catholic sabotage plot \u2013 but it was eventually accepted universally.<\/p>\n

Having established an aptitude for astronomy, what came next seemed a bit of a surprise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vatican vs Galileo<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Galileo shows the Doge Leonardo Dona\u00a0his telescope. From a painting by H. J. Detouche (Photo by Universal History Archive\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

In 1632, Galileo<\/a> published a book,<\/span> The Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief <\/i>World Systems<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was written as a discussion<\/span> among three people: one who supports the Copernican theory of the Sun-centred Universe, one who argues against it using Aristotle\u2019s theories and one who is impartial.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though Galileo claimed\u00a0Dialogues<\/i> was neutral, it clearly was not.<\/p>\n

The Aristotelian advocate comes across as a simpleton, getting<\/span> caught in his own arguments, and it was thought that he represented the Church.<\/p>\n

Although the church took umbrage at Galileo and the book, just a few years later they accepted the Copernican theory.<\/p>\n

It was not until 31 October 1992 that Galileo received an apology, however. The Galileo incident proved to be a source of embarrassment for the Vatican for years to come.<\/p>\n

Vatican\u2019s astronomical achievements<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Italian astronomer Angelo Secchi Credit: DEA \/ BIBLIOTECA AMBROSIANA\u00a0\/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

In modern times the Vatican has been at the forefront of astronomy.<\/p>\n

Father Angelo Secchi was a Jesuit priest and also a passionate astronomer who ran the Vatican Observatory for 30 years.<\/p>\n

He introduced a new technique to astronomy that enabled astronomers to view stars as they had never been seen before.<\/p>\n

He was the first to use spectroscopy<\/a> to classify stars into different types: a technique we still use today.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another<\/span> Vatican first is the Carte du Ciel, the first photographic survey of the whole sky, created<\/span> in conjunction with 19 other scopes<\/span> around the world, the results of which are being used as a baseline for our modern surveys like Gaia<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

But perhaps not surprisingly,<\/span> the Vatican today is also asking the deep philosophical questions, such as what was that moment of creation actually like?<\/p>\n

They have people working on an answer.<\/p>\n

I found my trip to the Vatican was both surprising and enlightening \u2013 a true insight to work happening at the cutting edge of astronomy today and in the past.<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n

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