The Vatican Observatory, Castel Gandolfo 80th Anniversary Celebration [Hardcover]

This book presents contributions from an internal symposium organized to celebrate the 80^th anniversary of the Specola Vaticana, or Vatican Observatory, in the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo. The aim is to provide an overview of the scientific and cultural work being undertaken at the Observatory today and to describe the outcomes of important recent investigations. The contents cover interesting topics in a variety of areas, including planetary science and instrumentation, stellar evolution and stars, galaxies, cosmology, quantum gravity, the history of astronomy, and interactions between science, philosophy, and theology.

On September 29, 1935, Pope Pius XI officially inaugurated the new headquarters of the Specola Vaticana at Castel Gandolfo. With new telescopes, a new astrophysical laboratory for spectrochemical analysis, and a young staff comprising Jesuit scientists, this inauguration marked the beginning of an intense period of scientific achievements at the Observatory.?This anniversary book, featuring contributions from members of the current Observatory staff and adjunct scholars, will appeal to all with an interest in the history of the Specola Vaticana and its significance for astronomy.

Pictures of the two Stamps for the 80^th Anniversary Symposium.- Popes address at the Papal Audience.- Preface.- Introduction.- Planetary Science.- 1) 108 years of Meteorites at the Vatican Observatory (Robert Macke).- 2) Physical characterization of fast rotator NEOs (Jean-Baptiste Kikwaya Eluo).-?Stellar evolution and Stars.-?3) The Enigmatic Lambda Bo?tis Stars (Chris Corbally).- 4) A New near infrared survey of the inner regions of the Milky Way (Dante Minniti).- 5) Some Recent Investigations in Stellar Evolution at the Specola Vaticana (David Brown).- 6) The Vilnius Photometry System at the Vatican Observatory (Robert Janusz, and Richard Boyle).-?Galaxiesl3$