entries: 2002, 2003, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2022
The following six items appeared at the dates indicated on different pages in the original version of the Around Naples Encyclopedia. They have been consolidated here onto a single page.
1.
entry
Dec. 2002
astronomy
I tried to see the Leonid meteor showers a couple of
weeks ago from my balcony. It was raining. And yesterday
morning I got up quite early because of the spectacular
sight promised me by the astronomy newsletter I subscribe
to:
| There's quite a sight in the southeastern sky before and during dawn! The waning crescent moon is closely paired with the brilliant "morning star," Venus, while faint Mars joins in to make it a triplet. The blue-white star Regulus is a little to their upper right. Arcturus is far off to their upper left. The best views will be an hour or more before sunrise. |
There was
also going to be "earthshine," also known poetically as
"ashen light"—when, close to the new moon, the reflected
light of Earth is reflected onto the moon, enabling the
whole lunar disk, even the part normally dark, to become
visible and you see "the old moon in the new moon's arms"
(that's pretty poetic for a Facts on File Dictionary of
Astronomy!).
Anyway, it was cloudy and I missed the whole show. Most of the time, however, I have quite a view to the southeast; the whole Sorrentine peninsula is a silhouette. I often think that if I could live 5,000 years—10,000, max—in my house and watch the yearly procession of the sun as it moves from left to right, dawnstep by dawnstep, and then back—why, I could reinvent astronomy! I have part of it figured out already. In the summer, the sun rises behind Vesuvius. That makes sense. Vesuvius is a volcano. That gives the sun heat and causes summer. As the sun moves further out away from the volcano towards Sorrento, it gets cooler.
Gotta check my
newsletter. Maybe I'm missing something.
2.
entry
Aug. 2003
astronomy
Sea-level astronomy is hampered by
general atmospheric haze and, especially in or near a big
city such as Naples, light pollution. Having said that, I
am still tempted to run up to the new store on Vomero,
where they sell digital cameras, computers, digital
cameras, computers, and digital cameras and computers. I
think I saw a small telescope on a shelf a few weeks ago.
I can't miss this chance to see Mars as it—in the words of
the great astronomer, Percival Lowell—"blazes forth
against the dark background of space with a splendor that
outshines Sirius and rivals the giant Jupiter himself."
Mars is at "perihelic opposition" and has not been this
close to Earth for 50,000 years. I recall working on a
particularly good drawing of a bison for the Lascaux
Municipal Museum at the time.
I thought I might be
able to get something Neapolitan out of Mars — Marte,
in Italian. Maybe a good Neapolitan noodle—say, martellini.
("Man, that's some fine plate of martellini! Think
I might get the recipe?") If only…if only. Alas, martellino
means "little hammer". It is also a regional name of the
bird called, scientifically, the cisticola juncidis,
the Fan-tailed Warbler. At least, I think that's the
English name, and if you had a fan-tail, wouldn't you
warble? I rest my case. I thought, too, that perhaps
Giovanni Schiaparelli (1835-1910) the astronomer who
started us looking for "canals" on Mars, might have been
from Naples, but, no, he had to come from Savigliano, not
far from Cuneo, a town way up there west of Genoa. Cuneo
has a folk-reputation for turning out slow-witted people,
of whom Schiaparelli was definitely not one.
In any event, most serious
star-gazing in these parts operates out of the observatory
in the Apennines near Castelgrande (see #4, below) well
east of Salerno. It is one of the most important
observatories in Europe and is run by the Naples
observatory. The Naples observatory, itself (photo,
right), is located on the Capodimonte hill and has its
roots in the — if not infinite, at least benevolently
despotic — wisdom of Charles III
of Bourbon; he endowed a Chair of Navigation and
Astronomy at the University of Naples in 1735. Actual
construction of an observatory, however, had to wait a
while. During the French decade in Naples, Murat approved the plan, and
construction was started in 1812. The observatory was
completed after the Bourbon restoration and conducted its
first measurements in 1820.
The Naples observatory
has a 40 cm main telescope that, on occasion, is open to
the public. There is also a good library and museum of
astronomical artifacts. I see that on September 2 they
will have a "Mars Party." They will have missed the close
encounter by a few days. (Gods of War may come and Gods of
War may go, but August vacation runs through the 31st.)
Nevertheless, it will still be a good glance through the
telescope.
3.
March
2010
New Planetarium
Most research in astronomy
in the Campania region now goes on elsewhere, at the
observatory in the Apennines near Castelgrande, east of
Salerno (see item 4). The smaller facility, however, at
Capodimonte in Naples, is more than just an historically
important curiosity. It continues to provide local
enthusiasts and schools with solid astronomy exhibits. The
ability to do that will take a big step forward next week
with the opening of a new planetarium with a state-of-the
art digital projector. The new facility seats 50 patrons,
and the overhead dome is 7 meters (21 feet) in diameter.
The planetarium was financed by the Campania Regional
Council for Culture and the National Institute of
Astrophysics. The opening program will combine projected
displays and the opportunity for patrons
to spend a few minutes star-gazing through the observatory
telescope.
4.
added Oct.
2012
The
Castelgrande Observatory
Toppo
Telescope 1
The largest
astronomical observatory in Europe is on Mt. Toppo
near the town of Castelgrande in the Basilicata province
of Italy about 100 km east of Naples. The site is now the
home of SINGAO (the Southern Italy Neutrino and Gamma
Observatory), the first international center in Italy for
experimental astrophysics. The observatory hosts an
altazimuth mount telescope with a 160 cm (63 inches)
mirror with adaptive optics. The telescope is designated
as TT1 (Toppo Telescope 1) The site is managed by the
astronomical observatory of Capodimonte in Naples and the
I.N.A.F. (National Institute for Astrophysics).
The town of
Castelgrande is at 950 meters a.s.l and the telescope on
Mt. Toppo above the town is at 1250 meters. The conditions
for stargazing are ideal since the area is relatively free
of haze and atmospheric and light pollution. The
initiative for building the Mt. Toppo observatory goes
back to the mid-1960s. A preliminary prefabricated site
was built in 1971 and functioned in a limited capacity
beginning in that year. The observatory in its present
configuration was built between 1989-93 under the auspices
of the Capodimonte observatory in Naples and with funding
from POP-FESR (Provincial Operating Plan - European Fund
for Regional Development).
5. added
December 2015
The History
of the OAC
The Astronomical
Observatory of Capodimonte [Ital. acronym=OAC] is one of
the 12 observatories that, together with four institutes
of astrophysics, make up the National Institute of
Astrophysics [INAF], the main Italian agency for
astronomy and astrophysics. Construction of the OAC was
begun in 1812 and completed in 1819. The first director
was Carlo Brioschi. Currently the OAC has about 70
on-site personnel among researchers, students and
contract employees; additionally there are about 40
technicians and administrators.
Early History
In 1735 Naples had once again become an independent
kingdom after two centuries as a Spanish vice-realm. The new
young Bourbon monarch, Charles
III, approved a series of reforms proposed by
Celestino Galiani, among which was a reorganization of
university departments, including the opening of a new
department for astronomy and nautical science. (The
connection between the two disciplines was obvious and
crucial to the development of accurate navigation,
important for a seafaring state such as the kingdom of
Naples.) The first head of that new department was
mathematician Pietro De Martino (1707-1746). Instruction
was very theoretical, however, since neither De Martino
nor his two immediate successors, Felice Sabatelli
(1714-1786) and Ferdinando Messia da Prado (?-1810) had
access to a working observatory. This was unacceptable
for a state that aspired to being a sea power with a
great capital but well behind capitals such as London,
Paris and Berlin, all of which had such facilities in
their long traditions of scientific research. At the
most in the city of Naples, there were some private
observatories as well as some in the hands of religious
orders.
The first project was finally put into action by
Giuseppe Cassella (1755-1808), a student of Sabatelli.
He was a mathematician in Padua who then came to Naples
to be the astronomy professor at the Royal Naval
Academy. He and Lord Acton,
Minister of the Royal Navy, finally convinced Ferdinand
IV to underwrite the foundation of an astronomical
observatory in 1791. The first choice for a location was
the north-east section of the Royal Museum (today, the National Archaeological Museum).
The architect was Pompeo
Schiantarelli (1746-1802/05).
Work was begun but never finished. Revolution, war and
politics intervened. By 1806, the French (under Joseph
Bonaparte) were on the throne of Naples. Cassella
continued his appeals to the new rulers and they agreed
to the construction of the observatory at the monastery
of San Gaudioso on the Sant'Agnello hill, near the
ancient acropolis of Greek Naples and the point where
Acton had had his own personal observatory. Casella died
in 1808 and plans for the conversion of that facility to
a royal observatory were suspended. The French rulers of
Naples, however, were very interested in improving the
scientific profile of their new property. They built the
Botanical Gardens and in 1812, Joseph Bonaparte's
successor, Gioacchino Murat,
declared the foundation of a Zoological Museum and an
astronomical observatory.
From the Beginnings
until 1860
The initial
planning of the observatory was meticulous. In 1809,
thinking ahead, the French rulers of Naples decided on
the first director, Federico Zuccari (1784-1817). He was
a promising young astronomer who was already teaching
Mathematical Geography at the military academy. He was
sent to the Milanese Observatory in Brera for training.
Upon his return to Naples, he first set up his equipment
(brought from Milan) at the earlier premises of the San
Gaudioso observatory. That proved impractical for
various reasons: there was too much ambient light from
the city and the subsoil was unstable. Zuccari looked
for a new site and decided on what is now the current
location, the Miradois hill, a height near the then new
Bourbon Palace of Capodimonte. The observatory building
itself was designed by Zuccari and architect, Stefano
Gasse. The entire process of building the main structure
as well as outbuildings and dwellings and then ordering
and installing astronomical equipment from abroad was
slow, complicated and often interrupted. Furthermore,
during the period of construction, the Napoleonic Wars
had ended; the French were deposed as the rulers of the
kingdom of Naples and the Bourbon court was restored.
The returning monarch, Ferdinand IV (renamed Ferdinand I
of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies), decided to go ahead
with the observatory and it was completed and dedicated. Zuccari had
died in 1818, so the first director was Carlo Brioschi
(1781-1833). He remained director until his death. He
was succeeded by Ernesto Capocci (1798-1864). He was a
multifaceted person, also interested in literature and
politics. He was, in fact, decidedly anti-Bourbon and
was thus removed from his position at the observatory in
1850. He was replaced by Leopoldo Del Re, who stayed
until 1860, the year of the unification of Italy;
Capocci then returned as director until his death in
1864.
From 1860 to the present
Just before the unification of Italy, Annibale de
Gasparis (1819-1889) appeared on the scene at
Capodimonte. He would then be director from 1864 until
his death. He was to be the most outstanding astronomer
at the observatory for the rest of the 19th century.
[trans. note: de Gasparis was an astronomer of
international renown. He won the Gold Medal of the Royal
Astronomical Society in 1851 and was awarded the Lalande
Prize from the French Academy in 1851 and 1852. The
asteroid 4279 De Gasparis as well as the lunar crater De
Gasparis and the Rimae de Gasparis (a 93 km long
fracture near the crater) are named in his honor.
Between 1849 and 1865 he discovered nine asteroids.]
It is fair to say that the observatory, by the
mid-to-late 1800s was already somewhat behind the times,
operating perhaps as a “quaint” research station from
earlier in the century. It paid more attention to the
practical, daily research of keeping exact time and
watching weather patterns than to the newer and more
exacting requirements that sought to integrate the
mathematics of earlier astronomy with chemistry and
physics, which would then lead to the new discipline of
astrophysics. The Capodimonte conservatory managed to
insert itself into this newer international level of
astronomy only thanks to some outstanding personalities.
Such a one was Arminio Nobile (1838-1897), the first to
hypothesize the phenomenon of short-term latitude
variation. His collaborators at the observatory in those
years were Faustino Brioschi, Francesco Contarino and
Filippo Angelitti. In 1893 and 1894 they and the
director of the observatory, Emanuele Fergola, carried
out daily experiments together with the Columbia College
Observatory of New York to determine variations in the
latitude of Naples. Fergola was the first in Italy to
use the telegraph to transmit data, this on the occasion
of research on the longitudes of Naples and Rome. The
group also did significant work on the movement of the
poles.
That was the situation until 1912, when director (1912-1932)
Azeglio Bemporad started to develop interest at the
observatory in astrophysics. The effects of the First
World on the observatory were noticeably negative.
Equipment aged and general interest and financial
resources faded. That period of lessened activity lasted
for years; it has only been since the 1970s that the
Capodimonte observatory has managed to reclaim a
position as an active and prestigious scientific
institution. Since April 2010, Prof. Massimo Della Valle
has been the director of the observatory.
[miscellaneous
items from Feb 2016, here.
6. added
August 2022
When I look at the stars I feel at
home
W.John Weilgart
If
these "... stars make-a you drool just-a like pasta
e fasul’ ”) * Then congratulations, you're
looking at the Cartwheel Galaxy, the spectacular photo
just in from the James Webb telescope. What you're
seeing took its sweet time getting here. 500 million
years. At the speed of light, about 300 thousand km per
second. That's really pick'em up and lay'em down.
Our earth formed 4500 million years. In the
U.S. we call that 4.5 billion years ago. So that light
left the Cartwheel Galaxy at about the time of our
Cambrian explosion, after which came molluscs, then
dinosaurs, then mammals, then lions and tigers and
bears, oh my, then us (including James Webb). If we get
quantum entangled telegraphy going, we may get a Q&A
session going. It's a great photo.
* lyrics from That's
Amore, music Harry Warren, lyrics by
Jack Brooks for the film The
Caddy (1953). See this link.
The Cartwheel Galaxy (aka ESO 350-40 or PGC 2248) is a
lenticular (biconvex; bulging on both sides) galaxy and
ring galaxy about 500 million light-years away in the
constellation Sculptor. It was discovered by Fritz
Zwicky in 1941. Zwicky said his discovery was "one of
the most complicated structures awaiting explanation by
stellar dynamics." They estimate the galaxy spans
150,000 light years, a bit smaller than the Andromeda
Galaxy. The large Cartwheel galaxy is the dominant
member of the Cartwheel galaxy group, four
physically similar spiral galaxies. Cartwheel was once a
normal spiral galaxy before it collided head-on with a
smaller companion. The force of the collision caused a
powerful gravitational shock wave to expand through the
galaxy, creating a starburst around the galaxy's center.
The galaxy is beginning to retake the form of a normal
spiral galaxy, with arms spreading out from a central
core. These are called the cartwheel's “spokes”. Some
friends say the image looks like a jelly-fish. They need
help. I will say that the image looks a little
like a jelly-fish but only because jam-fish don't shake
like that. One lady said, "a poached
egg."
Everyone's a
comedian
insert
added Aug 6, 2022. A French scientist has
apologized after tweeting a photo of a slice of
chorizo (spicey Spanish sausage), saying it was an image taken by
the James Webb Space Telescope of Proxima
Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun, located
4.2 light years away.
Funny-boy was Étienne Klein, of France's Atomic
Energy Commission. After a backlash
from the online community, he wrote: "I feel obliged to
specify that the alleged picture of Proxima Centauri
was a joke." He added, just
to show how funny he really is, "According to
contemporary cosmology, no
object related to Spanish cuisine exists
anywhere else other than on Earth (...)
Let's learn to be wary of arguments
from positions of authority as much as the spontaneous
eloquence of certain images." His intention was
"to urge caution regarding images that seem to speak for
themselves." OK. I guess.
Closer to home is this
partial view of the Gulf of Naples from the
International Space Station, 400 km up. It shows Mt.
Vesuvius, (the dark patch at bottom-right), then the
mass of lights that is Naples (the main port is clear,
then Cape Posillipo, the peninsula that splits the gulf
into its two bays, Naples and Pozzuoli (home of the
Campi Flegrei/Flegrean Fields). This partial view does
not show the island of Capri (30 km/19 m out from the
coast at Vesuvius nor the islands of Ischia and Procida
just off the image at the end of the bay of Pozzuoli
(cnt-left). The tip sticking out at cnt-lft is Mt.
Procida. It's 27 km/16 m from that point back to the
cone of Vesuvius. Also missing is the Sorrentine
peninsula. It defines the eastern end of the Gulf. It
runs along below the entire bottom of the image. I think... I
think I turned off the porch light. That's the one you
can't see.
This photo
appeared in la Repubblica on 2 August 2022.
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