Abstract
HIS HOLINESS POPE PIUS XI has shown himself a frequent patron of science. On the occasion of the official opening of the new academic year at the Papal Academy of Science, in the presence of the Pope, Dr. Joh. Stein, S.J., who has succeeded the late Father Hagen as director of the Papal Observatory, announced, as reported in the Osser-vatore Romano of December 19–20, that the Papal Observatory is to be moved from the Vatican to Castel Gandolfo, where it is to be rebuilt on a much larger scale. Castel Gandolfo is an old summer residence of the Popes, which has been returned to them by the Italian Government according to the terms of the Lateran Treaty and is being thoroughly restored. Joined to this historic building, a new observatory with the most modern equipment is to be constructed at the Pope's instructions, with easy access from the State apartments for his convenience during his summer visits to Castel Gandolfo. The contract for the supply of the instruments has been placed with Messrs. Carl Zeiss, Jena. The equipment includes two domes of about 8½ m. diameter, a large double astrograph with a 400 mm. refracting and a 600 mm. reflecting camera, a co-ordinate measuring apparatus, a spectrograph, several objective prisms, a Blink comparator and an astro-wedge-photometer, as well as a new refractor-mounting for an existing telescope objective. The domes will each be equipped with an observation platform of the latest type, the so-called tilting platform, which is moved by electric motors controlled by switches within easy reach of the observer. On these sliding platforms the observer can easily follow any movement of the telescopes. The instruments and apparatus are to be supplied within two years.
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Papal Observatory in Castel Gandolfo. Nature 131, 124–125 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/131124d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/131124d0