316
what initially was an international journal into an Italian bulletin, does not seem to
have met with hostility from the astrophysicists; Hale himself approved it and “was
glad to read of the organization of the new Astronomical Society on the solid foundation provided by the Spettroscopisti, which played such an important part also in
the firm establishment of the science of astrophysics” (Abetti 1960). After the initial
few volumes (published erratically), mainly dedicated to critical reviews and theoretical studies, the Memorie was opened to observational papers; and beginning
with volume 4 (1927–1929) it started to include spectroscopic works, mainly from
Arcetri.
Soon another astrophysics center opened: Brera Observatory, directed by Emilio
Bianchi (1875–1941). Bianchi could be considered one of renovators of Italian
astronomy, though his role has been overshadowed by Abetti’s, probably because of
his uncritical support of fascism and the lack of a direct visible contribution to astrophysics (Braccesi 2005). Before becoming director at Brera in 1922, Bianchi had
mainly worked in positional astronomy, first at Carloforte, then at the Collegio
Romano. In 1926 he obtained a 102-cm Zeiss reflector equipped with a spectrograph for Merate Observatory, a new observational annex located far from the city
of Milan where Brera Observatory is located.
Lacking personnel with any background in astrophysics, the instrumentation was
first used for the determination of trigonometric and spectroscopic parallaxes,
reflecting Bianchi’s interests in positional astronomy. The situation changed in
1934, when young Livio Gratton (1910–1991), fresh from studies abroad, arrived at
Merate, and nova DQ Herculis exploded. Spectroscopic studies of this event (and of
nova CP Lacertae in 1936) helped to establish an expertise in stellar spectroscopy
and atmosphere models in Milan that attracted a new generation of physicists and
lasted until the departure of Gratton for Argentina in 1949 (Rosino 1986; Masani
1998; Braccesi 2005).
The astronomy practiced in other Italian observatories, however, was not as
exciting as the latest discoveries in physics. A young, astrophysicist-to-be, Leonida
Rosino (1915–1997) remembered a visit to Padua Observatory in 1933, where he
was given a boring introduction to the use of the transit instrument. Later at
University, he compared the “scientific excitement that animated the modern
Institute of Physics […] with the somewhat inactive atmosphere at the Observatory
(a.t.)” (Rosino 1986: 3). Most directors still believed that classical astronomy was a
necessary knowledge for all astronomers: “Astronomers are formed at Carloforte,”
they used to say (Masani 1998). However, for astrophysicists like Fracastoro (1983:
98–99), working at Carloforte was a sort of persecution: “Righini […] was unexpectedly assigned to Carloforte (16/2/1937), according to a practice that dates from
decades past and insists that astronomers from all observatories make an almost
compulsory stay there […] Everything seemed to be going well, when the lightning
of Carloforte strikes the hill of Arcetri yet again. The designated victim this time is
Colacevich (1/10/1939) (a.t.).”
S. Bianchi
what initially was an international journal into an Italian bulletin, does not seem to
have met with hostility from the astrophysicists; Hale himself approved it and “was
glad to read of the organization of the new Astronomical Society on the solid foundation provided by the Spettroscopisti, which played such an important part also in
the firm establishment of the science of astrophysics” (Abetti 1960). After the initial
few volumes (published erratically), mainly dedicated to critical reviews and theoretical studies, the Memorie was opened to observational papers; and beginning
with volume 4 (1927–1929) it started to include spectroscopic works, mainly from
Arcetri.
Soon another astrophysics center opened: Brera Observatory, directed by Emilio
Bianchi (1875–1941). Bianchi could be considered one of renovators of Italian
astronomy, though his role has been overshadowed by Abetti’s, probably because of
his uncritical support of fascism and the lack of a direct visible contribution to astrophysics (Braccesi 2005). Before becoming director at Brera in 1922, Bianchi had
mainly worked in positional astronomy, first at Carloforte, then at the Collegio
Romano. In 1926 he obtained a 102-cm Zeiss reflector equipped with a spectrograph for Merate Observatory, a new observational annex located far from the city
of Milan where Brera Observatory is located.
Lacking personnel with any background in astrophysics, the instrumentation was
first used for the determination of trigonometric and spectroscopic parallaxes,
reflecting Bianchi’s interests in positional astronomy. The situation changed in
1934, when young Livio Gratton (1910–1991), fresh from studies abroad, arrived at
Merate, and nova DQ Herculis exploded. Spectroscopic studies of this event (and of
nova CP Lacertae in 1936) helped to establish an expertise in stellar spectroscopy
and atmosphere models in Milan that attracted a new generation of physicists and
lasted until the departure of Gratton for Argentina in 1949 (Rosino 1986; Masani
1998; Braccesi 2005).
The astronomy practiced in other Italian observatories, however, was not as
exciting as the latest discoveries in physics. A young, astrophysicist-to-be, Leonida
Rosino (1915–1997) remembered a visit to Padua Observatory in 1933, where he
was given a boring introduction to the use of the transit instrument. Later at
University, he compared the “scientific excitement that animated the modern
Institute of Physics […] with the somewhat inactive atmosphere at the Observatory
(a.t.)” (Rosino 1986: 3). Most directors still believed that classical astronomy was a
necessary knowledge for all astronomers: “Astronomers are formed at Carloforte,”
they used to say (Masani 1998). However, for astrophysicists like Fracastoro (1983:
98–99), working at Carloforte was a sort of persecution: “Righini […] was unexpectedly assigned to Carloforte (16/2/1937), according to a practice that dates from
decades past and insists that astronomers from all observatories make an almost
compulsory stay there […] Everything seemed to be going well, when the lightning
of Carloforte strikes the hill of Arcetri yet again. The designated victim this time is
Colacevich (1/10/1939) (a.t.).”
S. Bianchi