This book presents contributions from an internal symposium organized to celebrate the 80th
anniversary of the Specola Vaticana or Vatican Observatory in the Papal Palace of Castel
Gandolfo. The aim is to provide an overview of the scientific and cultural work being
undertaken at the Observatory today and to describe the outcomes of important recent
investigations. The contents cover interesting topics in a variety of areas including
planetary science and instrumentation stellar evolution and stars galaxies cosmology
quantum gravity the history of astronomy and interactions between science philosophy and
theology. On September 29 1935 Pope Pius XI officially inaugurated the new headquarters of
the Specola Vaticana at Castel Gandolfo. With new telescopes a new astrophysical laboratory
for spectrochemical analysis and a young staff comprising Jesuit scientists this inauguration
marked the beginning of an intense period of scientific achievements at the Observatory. This
anniversary book featuring contributions from members of the current Observatory staff and
adjunct scholars will appeal to all with an interest in the history of the Specola Vaticana
and its significance for astronomy.
