(June 18, 2009) A renovated convent in Albano, Italy, is the new home of the Vatican
Observatory -- a change that will give the Jesuits who work there better living and
working space, and better accommodate visitors to the Observatory. The Vatican Observatory
had been housed in the pontifical palace at Castel Gandolfo, the town south of Rome
where the Pope spends the summer months. It moved there in 1939, more than three centuries
after its first beginnings within Vatican City, because of growing light pollution
in Rome. The Observatory and its 15 scientists are moving to their newest home this
month, though the new space won't be inaugurated until October. The move is an undertaking
that involves the 22,000-volume library, which includes a collection of ancient books,
as well as works by Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Kepler and others. A notable collection
of meteorites will also be part of the move. The Vatican Observatory was founded
in 1578 by Pope Gregory XIII as a committee to study the data and implications involved
in the reform of the calendar that occurred in 1582. Since that time, the papacy
has continued to support astronomical research. In 1981, the Observatory founded
a second research centre, again because of too much light in the night skies close
to Rome. That location is now one of the world's largest centre’s for observational
astronomy.