Category of Astronomical Heritage: tangible immovable
Palermo Astronomical Observatory, Italy

Description

Geographical position

Palermo Astronomical Observatory (Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo), Piazza del Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Location

Latitude 38°6’43.92’’ N, Longitude 13°21’21.96’’ E, Elevation 37m above mean sea level.

IAU observatory code

535

Description of (scientific/cultural/natural) heritage

Fig. 1a. Palermo Astronomical Observatory (1790), (Photo: Gudrun Wolfschmidt)

Fig. 1b. Palermo Astronomical Observatory (1790), (Credit: Illeana Chinnici)

The Palermo Astronomical Observatory (Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo "Giuseppe S. Vaiana"), Palermo University, belongs to the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF).

Fig. 2a. Giuseppe Piazzi (1746--1826), (CC)

Fig. 2b. Piazzi, Giovanni: Discorso recitato nell’aprirsi la prima volta la Cattedra di astronomia nell’Accademia de’ r. Studj di Palermo. Palermo: Stamperia reale 1790. (CC)

The Palermo Astronomical Observatory was founded in 1790 in the Palazzo dei Normanni, at the behest of the Viceroy Caramanico, by the Abbè Giuseppe Piazzi (1746--1826), professor of astronomy (1786), its first director until 1817; then he was nominated as Director General of the Observatories of Naples and Sicily. ....

Fig. 3. Pietro Tacchini (1838--1905), (CC)

With Pietro Tacchini (1838--1905), the new discipline, called "physical astronomy" and later "astrophysics", was introduced in Palermo. Famous Italian pioneers were Pater Angelo Secchi (1818--1878), director of Osservatorio del Collegio Romano, and Giovan Battista Donati (1826--1873).
On the occasion of the total solar eclipse of 22 December 1870, visible from Sicily, the Italian government financed a scientific expedition for the first time. In that circumstance, the difference in longitude between Palermo and Naples was determined by Pietro Tacchini and Arminio Nobile (1838--1897), astronomer at the Capodimonte Observatory.
Even greater prestige was acquired with the foundation of the Society of Italian Spectroscopists in October 1871 by Secchi, Tacchini, Nobile, Giuseppe Lorenzoni (1834--1914) of the Padua Observatory and Lorenzo Respighi (1824--1889) of the Observatory del Campidoglio: the famous Memoirs of the Society were in fact published in Palermo by Tacchini himself, who until his death was President of the Society and editor of the Memoirs.
Tacchini compiled with the meridian circle, made by Pistor & Martins of Berlin a catalogue of 1001 southern stars from 1867 to 1869. In addition, he put an emphasis on meteorology, especially he purchased the Secchi meteorograph, one of the most spectacular and sophisticated instruments for the automatic detection of meteorological parameters ever built. A Central Meteorological Office was established in Rome in 1879.

Fig. 4a. Palermo Astronomical Observatory (1790), (Photo: Gudrun Wolfschmidt)

Fig. 4b. Palermo Astronomical Observatory (1790), (Credit: Illeana Chinnici)

....

to be continued!

History

Fig. 6a. Vertical Circle, made by Jesse Ramsden of London (1790), Palermo Astronomical Observatory (Photo: Gudrun Wolfschmidt)

Fig. 6b. Palermo Vertical Circle, made by Jesse Ramsden of London (1790), (CC)

Instruments

Vertical Circle, made by Jesse Ramsden of London (1790)
25-cm-Equatorial, made by Merz of Munich
Meridian circle, made by Pistor & Martins of Berlin
....
....

Fig. 7a. Meridian circle, made by Pistor & Martins of Berlin, Palermo Astronomical Observatory (Photo: Gudrun Wolfschmidt)

Fig. 7b. Palermo Meridian circle, made by Pistor & Martins of Berlin (Photo: Gudrun Wolfschmidt)

Fig. 8a. 25-cm-Equatorial, made by Merz of Munic, Palermo Astronomical Observatory (Photo: Gudrun Wolfschmidt)

Fig. 8b. Geissler Tubes for astrophysical research in Palermo Astronomical Observatory (Photo: Gudrun Wolfschmidt)

Directors

1790 to 1817 -- Giuseppe Piazzi (1746--1826)
1817 to 1841 -- Niccolo’ Cacciatore (1780--1841)
1841 to 1849 -- Gaetano Cacciatore (1814--1889)
1849 to 1860 -- Domenico Ragona (1820--1892)
1860 to 1863 -- Gaetano Cacciatore (1814--1889)
1863 to 1879 -- Pietro Tacchini (1838--1905)
1879 to 1889 -- Gaetano Cacciatore (1814--1889)
1889 to 1890 -- Annibale Ricc├▓ (1844--1919)
1891 to 1898 -- Temistocle Zona
1898 to 1931 -- Filippo Angelitti (1856--1931)
1931 to 1936 -- Corradino Mineo (1875--1960)
1937 to 1939 -- Francesco Zagar (1900--1976 )
1939 to 1949 -- Corradino Mineo (1875--1960)
1949 to 1969 -- Luciano Chiara (1910--1969)
1969 to 1976 -- Salvatore Leone (1917--1981)
1976 to .... -- Giuseppe Salvatore Vaiana (1935--1991)

State of preservation

The Palermo Astronomical Observatory (Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo "Giuseppe S. Vaiana") in the Palazzo dei Normanni is well preserved including instrumentation and archives.

Comparison with related/similar sites

no information available

Threats or potential threats

no threats

Present use

The Palermo Astronomical Observatory (Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo "Giuseppe S. Vaiana") is still an active research institute for astrophysics.

Astronomical relevance today

INAF -- Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo
In 1999, the Italian Government established the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) which embodies the astronomical observatories and, since 2002, the astronomical institutes of CNR.

References

Bibliography (books and published articles)

Chinnici, Illeana: Tacchini, Pietro. In: Romanelli, Raffaele (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Band 94. Rome: Stampa-Tarantelli, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana 2019.
Chinnici, Illeana & Foder├á Serio, Giorgia & Loredana Granata (2000). Duecento anni di meteorologia all’Osservatorio astronomico di Palermo. Palermo: Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo G.S. Vaiana 2000.
Chinnici, Illeana: Cacciatore, Niccol├▓. In: Hockey, T. et al.: The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York, NY: Springer 2007, p. 191.
Chinnici, Illeana: Personal communication (2021).
Cunningham, Clifford; Marsden, Brian & Wayne Orchiston: Giuseppe Piazzi: the controversial discovery and loss of Ceres in 1801. In: Journal for the History of Astronomy 42 (2011).
Cunningham, Clifford J.: The First Asteroid. Star Lab Press 2001.
Foder├á Serio, Giorgia & I. Chinnici: L’Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo. Palermo: Flaccovio Editore 1997.
Piazzi, Giovanni: Discorso recitato nell’aprirsi la prima volta la Cattedra di astronomia nell’Accademia de’ r. Studj di Palermo. Palermo: Stamperia reale 1790.
Shea, Robert P. O’; Brini, Stefano & Nicholas Wade: Ragona-Scina’s (1847) Method for, and Observations of, Simultaneous Color Contrast. In: i-Perception 7 (April 2016), No. 2.
Wolfschmidt, Gudrun: Internationalität in der astronomischen Forschung vom 17. bis zum 21. Jahrhundert. In: Wolfschmidt, Gudrun (ed.): Internationalität in der astronomischen Forschung (18. bis 21. Jahrhundert). Hamburg: tredition (Nuncius Hamburgensis; Vol. 49) 2020, p. 22--115.