Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa
12 February 2012 - 4:12 pm NZ time
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Specola Vaticana
- Specola Vaticana
Located in Castel Gandolfo in the hills above Rome, Specola Vaticana is one of the oldest observatories in the world. Formerly located in the Pope's summer palace, the observatory has just moved down the road to a new location, where astronomer, meteoriticist (and Jesuit) Brother Guy Consalmagno is waiting to conduct the tour. (30′12″)
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Brother Guy Consalmagno showing the students a second edition of Copernicus’s Astronomia isaurata.
Left: Adam Simpson opens the roof for viewing. Right: The larger of the two telescopes inside Castel Gandolfo.
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The observatory dome on the roof of Castel Gandolfo. Located in the hills above Rome, it’s one of the oldest observatories in the world.
In 2009, Justin Gregory travelled to Europe with the winners of the Royal Society of New Zealand’s Big Science Adventure. An annual competition for secondary school students, this year it challenged teams around the country to make a five minute DVD on astronomy and revolutions in our thinking.
The winning team – Timaru Boys High students Ryan Ammar, Matthew Keelty and Adam Simpson, as well as their teacher Tony Bunting – won a three week trip to visit observatories, science institutes and museums in Britain and Italy.
Easily the most memorable was the Specola Vaticana, or the Vatican Observatory. Located in Castel Gandolfo in the hills above Rome, it’s one of the oldest observatories in the world. Formerly located in the Pope’s summer palace, the observatory has just moved down the road to a new location, where astronomer, meteoriticist (and Jesuit) Brother Guy Consalmagno was waiting to conduct the tour.
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