[meteorite-list] Vatican Astonomers To Move To Bigger, More Modern Facilities

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 15:24:00 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <200801042324.PAA19103_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0707310.htm

Vatican astronomers to move to bigger, more modern facilities
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
December 21, 2007

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- After more than half a century based at the
papal palace in Castel Gandolfo, the Vatican's astronomers will be
moving to bigger, more modern facilities.

The astronomers' new offices and residences still will be located on
the grounds of the papal summer residence in the hill town of Castel
Gandolfo, about 15 miles south of Rome, but they will be in a
completely renovated convent nestled in the papal gardens.

"This is going to be a great improvement" for carrying out the
astronomers' work and studies and the new residences "will be a whole
lot more comfortable," said U.S. Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno.

Work has not yet begun on the new headquarters, so the relocation is
not likely to occur before next fall, he said.

While the papal palace, where the observatory and two powerful
telescopes are located, is "a beautiful, historical building" dating
back to the 1500s, "it's also freezing in the wintertime and too hot in
the summer," the Vatican astronomer told Catholic News Service Dec. 21.

The Jesuit community that works there can number up to 14 people in
the summer months, but the facility only has one shower, he said.

Vatican officials had been considering moving the Jesuit astronomers
out of the papal residence for several years, said a statement by the
Jesuit curia earlier this year.

"The needs of papal quarters, where large crowds gather for audiences
and where dignitaries visit the pope even in summer, are not easily
combined with a residence for Jesuits engaged in study, teaching and
research," it said.

The Jesuits have been entrusted with the Vatican Observatory since
1935, when Pope Pius XI decided to move the observatory from the Tower
of the Winds not far from the papal apartment in the Vatican to the
papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo.

This newest plan to relocate within Castel Gandolfo had some
speculating that Jesuit stargazers were being "kicked out," as one
Italian newspaper headline reported Dec. 20.

The Jesuits and Brother Consolmagno disagreed.

The Jesuit brother said the enormous effort the Vatican is putting
into planning and renovating the new facilities is "a sign of just how
much they're supporting our continued presence here."

The Jesuits said in their statement that giving the astronomers a new
headquarters is "a confirmation of the importance attributed by the
Holy Father to the work being carried out" by them.

The Vatican astronomers' new facilities will cover two stories with
residences on one floor and, on the bottom floor, brand new offices,
laboratories, a museum, a library, a large classroom for their summer
school program and additional space for the summer students' use.

"We're all pretty happy with the way they've planned things out,"
Brother Consolmagno said.

He said after they move to their new quarters they will still have
access to the two large telescopes located on the roof of the papal
palace as well as access to some adjoining rooms and an office.

He said the telescopes are not used very often in the summer while the
pope is there because "the nights are short," giving astronomers
reduced viewing time.

The Vatican Observatory's Zeiss refractor telescope, built in 1935,
also is getting ready for a face-lift.

Brother Consolmagno said in a Dec. 21 interview with the Orlando
Sentinel newspaper in Florida that the Jesuit astronomers have invited
Nate Lust, a recent astronomy graduate of the University of Central
Florida, to help them see if he can rescue "some beautiful old
telescopes with some cutting-edge technology."

Lust was to head to Castel Gandolfo in January to see if an electric
camera and other technology he developed can help tackle the problem of
light pollution, which got so bad for the Vatican astronomers that they
set up a second research center in 1981 in the desert of southern
Arizona so they could carry out their observational work.
Received on Fri 04 Jan 2008 06:24:00 PM PST