Telescope Domes The building we are in was constructed in two stages. The far dome in this image dates from 1942; it was connected to the walkway made for Pope Pius XII in 1939 so that he could walk and pray outdoors protected from the rain. The closer dome in this...
Cart du Ciel Telescope By the 1930s, the Carte du Ciel program had already been underway for forty years, and yet a number of plates were still required to complete the coverage of the Vatican zone of the sky. (In fact, the final plates for this project were only...
Schmidt Telescope In 1949, Stein proposed that the Specola purchase a second telescope of the modern Schmidt design. Pope Pius XII provided the funds from his personal fortune and a telescope was ordered from the firm of Hargreaves and Thomson of London. Five years...
The Display Cabinet This octagonal cabinet of wood and glass dating from around 1900 originally housed the early mineral and meteorite donations of the Marquis de Mauroy. Area 3 Group 1 • Group 2 • Group...
Top Cabinet In the display area at the top of the structure are some of the prisms and diffusion gratings used in the original spectra lab, along with a small stand used to check the photographic plates made in the lab. Also in this area is a piece of the Type IAB...
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