330
observations over 35 years. The final catalog was published in 1911 by Alfonso Di
Legge and Francesco Giacomelli (Di Legge et al. 1911). Di Legge succeeded
Respighi as the director of the observatory in 1889, and under his guidance, all the
work started by Respighi were completed and published. He retired in 1922 at age
75, and Giuseppe Armellini (1887–1958) became the new director. When the
Collegio Romano Observatory was merged with the Campidoglio, Armellini also
took its directorship.
19.4 Astronomy in Rome Between the Two World Wars:
The Astronomical Observatory of Rome
The merging of the two Roman observatories into a single one was not a new idea.
Ever since the Italians conquered Rome, the Italian government had tried to close
the Collegio Romano Observatory, and only the respect for two great scientists like
Angelo Secchi and Pietro Tacchini kept the observatory alive.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Elia Millosevich and Alfonso Di Legge
tried to find a common solution in a new, modern observatory to be built at
Montemario (an idea originally proposed by Respighi and supported by Secchi as
reported in the minutes of the fifth meeting of the Commission for the rearrangement of Italian Astronomical Observatories on 1875) but Montemario was under the
control of the Italian army and the military authorities strongly opposed such a
request (Monaco 2000). In 1919 the Accademia dei Lincei also strongly supported
the need to provide Rome with a large observatory at Montemario, but without
success.
After 1923, Armellini had to move both the astronomical instrumentation of the
Collegio Romano and, most importantly, the collections of the Museum Astronomico
e Copernicano. Armellini acquired new instrumentation – an Askania horizontal
telescope for solar observations (obtained as a war reparation) – but, even though
the sky was still quite dark at that time, it was definitely clear that the Campidoglio
location was no longer suitable for an observatory. Armellini began again to ask
military authorities for permission to build an observatory at Montemario (Armellini
1930). In 1925 he signed an agreement with the Municipality of Rome, and in 1929
the military authorities gave him Villa Mellini, a fifteenth-century countryside villa
built by Cardinal Mario Mellini. Villa Mellini was just outside the military fortress
and close to the Tower of the Prime Meridian of Italy (Aebischer, Chap. 12, in this
volume). It had been part of the military establishment of the Montemario Fortress
and had been used by the Italian army as the site of the first center for specialists in
aerophotogrammetry.
However, the way forward toward the achievement of a new astronomical observatory for Rome was not smooth. Many Italian astronomers, including Vincenzo
Cerulli, Pio Emanuelli, and Emilio Bianchi, spoke strongly against this project and
against Armellini himself (Buonanno 2008). The Campidoglio Observatory was
L. A. Antonelli
observations over 35 years. The final catalog was published in 1911 by Alfonso Di
Legge and Francesco Giacomelli (Di Legge et al. 1911). Di Legge succeeded
Respighi as the director of the observatory in 1889, and under his guidance, all the
work started by Respighi were completed and published. He retired in 1922 at age
75, and Giuseppe Armellini (1887–1958) became the new director. When the
Collegio Romano Observatory was merged with the Campidoglio, Armellini also
took its directorship.
19.4 Astronomy in Rome Between the Two World Wars:
The Astronomical Observatory of Rome
The merging of the two Roman observatories into a single one was not a new idea.
Ever since the Italians conquered Rome, the Italian government had tried to close
the Collegio Romano Observatory, and only the respect for two great scientists like
Angelo Secchi and Pietro Tacchini kept the observatory alive.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Elia Millosevich and Alfonso Di Legge
tried to find a common solution in a new, modern observatory to be built at
Montemario (an idea originally proposed by Respighi and supported by Secchi as
reported in the minutes of the fifth meeting of the Commission for the rearrangement of Italian Astronomical Observatories on 1875) but Montemario was under the
control of the Italian army and the military authorities strongly opposed such a
request (Monaco 2000). In 1919 the Accademia dei Lincei also strongly supported
the need to provide Rome with a large observatory at Montemario, but without
success.
After 1923, Armellini had to move both the astronomical instrumentation of the
Collegio Romano and, most importantly, the collections of the Museum Astronomico
e Copernicano. Armellini acquired new instrumentation – an Askania horizontal
telescope for solar observations (obtained as a war reparation) – but, even though
the sky was still quite dark at that time, it was definitely clear that the Campidoglio
location was no longer suitable for an observatory. Armellini began again to ask
military authorities for permission to build an observatory at Montemario (Armellini
1930). In 1925 he signed an agreement with the Municipality of Rome, and in 1929
the military authorities gave him Villa Mellini, a fifteenth-century countryside villa
built by Cardinal Mario Mellini. Villa Mellini was just outside the military fortress
and close to the Tower of the Prime Meridian of Italy (Aebischer, Chap. 12, in this
volume). It had been part of the military establishment of the Montemario Fortress
and had been used by the Italian army as the site of the first center for specialists in
aerophotogrammetry.
However, the way forward toward the achievement of a new astronomical observatory for Rome was not smooth. Many Italian astronomers, including Vincenzo
Cerulli, Pio Emanuelli, and Emilio Bianchi, spoke strongly against this project and
against Armellini himself (Buonanno 2008). The Campidoglio Observatory was
L. A. Antonelli