308
In June 1871, Tacchini proposed to Lorenzoni and Secchi a program of joint
spectroscopic observations of the solar limb, to determine the influence of the telescope, weather, and observer on the shapes of the observed prominences. The experiment was successful and Secchi suggested the collaboration be extended to other
Italian observatories. The scientific program of a daily monitoring of prominences
became the basis of the Società degli Spettroscopisti Italiani, established in October
1871. Soon after, Tacchini managed to obtain funding to publish the Memorie della
Società degli Spettroscopisti Italiani, whose first issue appeared in January 1872
and which he edited until his death (Chinnici 2008).
18.3 The Memorie as the First Astrophysical Journal
The program of the Società was not as successful as Tacchini and Secchi had hoped
because of a lack of participants and rivalries between astronomers. Only the observatories of Collegio Romano and Palermo (later replaced by Catania) contributed to
produce systematic solar limb drawings; Padua provided drawings only up to 1872,
while Respighi never sent the series he had started in 1869. Nevertheless, all available observations were later combined and completed with the contribution of foreign observatories, constituting an invaluable dataset of solar activity over 40 years
(Chinnici 2008).
By contrast, the success of the Memorie was immediate: Tacchini soon started to
receive requests for copies from abroad, and in 1873 the journal was awarded a
medal and certificate at the Universal Exhibition in Vienna. Later in 1893, the entire
collection of the Memorie was on exhibit at the World Congress on Astronomy and
Astro-Physics in Chicago. As expected from the objective of the Società, the major
focus of the Memorie was on solar physics, though the journal also contained articles on other branches of astronomical spectroscopy and, to a lesser extent, on spectroscopic studies unrelated to astronomy. The Memorie also accepted papers on
non-spectroscopic astronomy and other topics traditionally studied in astronomical
observatories, such as meteorology and geodesy. Despite these contributions, for
several decades the journal kept its character as a publication mainly dedicated to
spectroscopy. Though the main language of the Memorie was Italian, a sizeable
fraction of papers (about 20%) were from foreign authors, among whom were several of the leading astrophysicists in Europe and America (Chinnici 2008). For these
reasons, the Memorie can be considered the first international journal devoted to
astrophysics (Meadows 1984).
Among the contributors of the Memorie was the American astrophysicist George
Ellery Hale. In the USA, astrophysics was having an enormous development, thanks
not only to the availability of private funding but also due to the lack of an established tradition in classical astronomy (and its cultural burden). The rapid advance
of Hale’s academic career, fostered by his wide-ranging interests, mechanical skills,
and entrepreneurial spirit, serves as an example of the possibilities offered to spectroscopists in America (for a biography, see Wright 1966). At the beginning of the
S. Bianchi
In June 1871, Tacchini proposed to Lorenzoni and Secchi a program of joint
spectroscopic observations of the solar limb, to determine the influence of the telescope, weather, and observer on the shapes of the observed prominences. The experiment was successful and Secchi suggested the collaboration be extended to other
Italian observatories. The scientific program of a daily monitoring of prominences
became the basis of the Società degli Spettroscopisti Italiani, established in October
1871. Soon after, Tacchini managed to obtain funding to publish the Memorie della
Società degli Spettroscopisti Italiani, whose first issue appeared in January 1872
and which he edited until his death (Chinnici 2008).
18.3 The Memorie as the First Astrophysical Journal
The program of the Società was not as successful as Tacchini and Secchi had hoped
because of a lack of participants and rivalries between astronomers. Only the observatories of Collegio Romano and Palermo (later replaced by Catania) contributed to
produce systematic solar limb drawings; Padua provided drawings only up to 1872,
while Respighi never sent the series he had started in 1869. Nevertheless, all available observations were later combined and completed with the contribution of foreign observatories, constituting an invaluable dataset of solar activity over 40 years
(Chinnici 2008).
By contrast, the success of the Memorie was immediate: Tacchini soon started to
receive requests for copies from abroad, and in 1873 the journal was awarded a
medal and certificate at the Universal Exhibition in Vienna. Later in 1893, the entire
collection of the Memorie was on exhibit at the World Congress on Astronomy and
Astro-Physics in Chicago. As expected from the objective of the Società, the major
focus of the Memorie was on solar physics, though the journal also contained articles on other branches of astronomical spectroscopy and, to a lesser extent, on spectroscopic studies unrelated to astronomy. The Memorie also accepted papers on
non-spectroscopic astronomy and other topics traditionally studied in astronomical
observatories, such as meteorology and geodesy. Despite these contributions, for
several decades the journal kept its character as a publication mainly dedicated to
spectroscopy. Though the main language of the Memorie was Italian, a sizeable
fraction of papers (about 20%) were from foreign authors, among whom were several of the leading astrophysicists in Europe and America (Chinnici 2008). For these
reasons, the Memorie can be considered the first international journal devoted to
astrophysics (Meadows 1984).
Among the contributors of the Memorie was the American astrophysicist George
Ellery Hale. In the USA, astrophysics was having an enormous development, thanks
not only to the availability of private funding but also due to the lack of an established tradition in classical astronomy (and its cultural burden). The rapid advance
of Hale’s academic career, fostered by his wide-ranging interests, mechanical skills,
and entrepreneurial spirit, serves as an example of the possibilities offered to spectroscopists in America (for a biography, see Wright 1966). At the beginning of the
S. Bianchi