334
Armellini had been an expert of celestial mechanics, and his scientific activity
was mainly devoted to this topic, obtaining and publishing important results in the
field. And clearly, he was a good organizer and manager.
Massimo Cimino took on the role of directing an observatory with three different
sites: Montemario, Monte Porzio Catone, and Campo Imperatore. He worked hard
to make all sites operational: he obtained funds for finishing the building at Monte
Porzio and initiated new research on the ionosphere there. At Monte Porzio he also
created a workshop for the restoration of historical instrumentation, and he stored
part of the collection of the museum there. Cimino made an agreement with the
Royal Observatory of Edinburgh to install and operate a 16/24-inch (0.4/0.6 m)
Schmidt camera – matching the one in Edinburgh – in one of the small domes at
Monte Porzio Catone. He also completed the installation of scientific equipment in
the solar tower at Montemario and designed and installed a new instrument on equatorial mounting for the Sun Patrol camera which would monitor the Sun with a
movie camera (Cimino 1967). The new instruments complemented the older (but
still in operation) Askania telescope.
Taking into account the research on the ionosphere carried out at Monte Porzio,
solar research was the most important activity at Astronomical Observatory of
Rome in those years still in the path initiated by Fr. Secchi. Nevertheless, astrophysical research in Rome had a new renaissance not at the observatory but in the
Department of Physics of La Sapienza. In those years, Edoardo Amaldi (1908–1989)
was working hard to rebuild physics research in Rome, and in 1960 he invited Livio
Gratton to come back to Italy to become full professor of astrophysics at La
Sapienza. Gratton was very active, and, in about 20 years, he both created the Space
Laboratories and assembled a group of bright astrophysicists (e.g., Vittorio
Castellani (1937–2006), Vittoria Caloi, Alfonso Cavaliere, Francesca D’Antona,
Marcello Fulchignoni, Paolo Maffei, Italo Mazzitelli, Antonella Natta, Roberto
Nesci, Franco Occhionero, Franco Pacini (1939–2012), Andrea Preite Martinez,
Alvio Renzini, Duccio Macchetto, Nino Panagia, Giancarlo Setti, Gianfranco
Spada, Roberto Viotti, and many others) who brought Italian astrophysics to the
highest level of international astrophysical research.
Cimino retired in 1978 and Pietro Giannone (1937–2016) became the new director of the Astronomical Observatory of Rome. Giannone was the last director who
was also full professor of Astronomy at La Sapienza, going back to Scarpellini. In
1982, a new reform of the astronomical observatories in Italy made them independent from local universities. The reform also created the Council for Astronomical
Research (CRA), chaired by the Ministry of Public Instruction, and it provided
astronomical observatories with funds and the opportunity to create several positions for the new generation of Italian astronomers.
Giannone served as director of the Astronomical Observatory of Rome until
1986, when Alfonso Cavaliere was appointed director. Giannone was a close collaborator of both Cimino and Gratton, and an expert on stellar evolution. Cavaliere
studied with Gratton and was considered worldwide as a pioneer in the research on
active galactic nuclei, clusters of galaxies, and observational cosmology. Cavaliere
remained director until 1992, when Roberto Buonanno became the new director.
L. A. Antonelli
Armellini had been an expert of celestial mechanics, and his scientific activity
was mainly devoted to this topic, obtaining and publishing important results in the
field. And clearly, he was a good organizer and manager.
Massimo Cimino took on the role of directing an observatory with three different
sites: Montemario, Monte Porzio Catone, and Campo Imperatore. He worked hard
to make all sites operational: he obtained funds for finishing the building at Monte
Porzio and initiated new research on the ionosphere there. At Monte Porzio he also
created a workshop for the restoration of historical instrumentation, and he stored
part of the collection of the museum there. Cimino made an agreement with the
Royal Observatory of Edinburgh to install and operate a 16/24-inch (0.4/0.6 m)
Schmidt camera – matching the one in Edinburgh – in one of the small domes at
Monte Porzio Catone. He also completed the installation of scientific equipment in
the solar tower at Montemario and designed and installed a new instrument on equatorial mounting for the Sun Patrol camera which would monitor the Sun with a
movie camera (Cimino 1967). The new instruments complemented the older (but
still in operation) Askania telescope.
Taking into account the research on the ionosphere carried out at Monte Porzio,
solar research was the most important activity at Astronomical Observatory of
Rome in those years still in the path initiated by Fr. Secchi. Nevertheless, astrophysical research in Rome had a new renaissance not at the observatory but in the
Department of Physics of La Sapienza. In those years, Edoardo Amaldi (1908–1989)
was working hard to rebuild physics research in Rome, and in 1960 he invited Livio
Gratton to come back to Italy to become full professor of astrophysics at La
Sapienza. Gratton was very active, and, in about 20 years, he both created the Space
Laboratories and assembled a group of bright astrophysicists (e.g., Vittorio
Castellani (1937–2006), Vittoria Caloi, Alfonso Cavaliere, Francesca D’Antona,
Marcello Fulchignoni, Paolo Maffei, Italo Mazzitelli, Antonella Natta, Roberto
Nesci, Franco Occhionero, Franco Pacini (1939–2012), Andrea Preite Martinez,
Alvio Renzini, Duccio Macchetto, Nino Panagia, Giancarlo Setti, Gianfranco
Spada, Roberto Viotti, and many others) who brought Italian astrophysics to the
highest level of international astrophysical research.
Cimino retired in 1978 and Pietro Giannone (1937–2016) became the new director of the Astronomical Observatory of Rome. Giannone was the last director who
was also full professor of Astronomy at La Sapienza, going back to Scarpellini. In
1982, a new reform of the astronomical observatories in Italy made them independent from local universities. The reform also created the Council for Astronomical
Research (CRA), chaired by the Ministry of Public Instruction, and it provided
astronomical observatories with funds and the opportunity to create several positions for the new generation of Italian astronomers.
Giannone served as director of the Astronomical Observatory of Rome until
1986, when Alfonso Cavaliere was appointed director. Giannone was a close collaborator of both Cimino and Gratton, and an expert on stellar evolution. Cavaliere
studied with Gratton and was considered worldwide as a pioneer in the research on
active galactic nuclei, clusters of galaxies, and observational cosmology. Cavaliere
remained director until 1992, when Roberto Buonanno became the new director.
L. A. Antonelli