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104:, and the first dome was built. It was Piazzi's determination that allowed the precious English instrument to arrive in Sicily: the astronomer had to go personally to prod the builder and, later, also cope with all the bureaucratic difficulties that arose: the British government was reluctant to allow the export of a uniquely capable instrument (a status which remained for many years, a fundamental aspect of the observatory's early value). Thanks to the new equipment, and in particular to the Palermo Circle, as it became known in English-speaking world (or the Circle of Ramsden in Italian), this was Ramsden's most celebrated achievement. In 1801 Piazzi discovered and identified the first
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to a simple astronomical cabinet, and it was hit by a serious decline, with a reduction of personnel and scarcity of funds for the conduct of observations and for technological adaptation. The problems became acute during and after the Second World War, when the observatory was close to closure, deprived of some premises, after having also been deprived, in 1939, of the only modern observation instrument it was equipped with, a model of zenith telescope developed by Julius
Wanschaff in Berlin.
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142:. Cacciatore was succeeded, in 1841, by his son Gaetano; however, in 1848, he was removed for political reasons, having taken part in the revolutionary anti-Bourbon movements. The management of the Palermo observatory was then entrusted to Domenico Ragona, who succeeded in obtaining from the Two Sicilies government the necessary funds to purchase new instruments, including a 25 cm aperture Merz equatorial telescope, delivered in 1859.
100:, a middle-aged mathematician, who before had not particularly distinguished himself in astronomy. The new director immediately dealt with the purchase of the most modern astronomical instruments of the time to make the observatory compete at European level: among other things, a surveying instrument of five-foot diameter to work in conjunction with telescopes to document the position of stars was purchased, made by English manufacturer
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The three domes originally placed on the roof of the building were replaced in the fifties with others in iron, which were later removed because they were too heavy and dangerous for the structure; later, lighter copper domes of the previous design were installed. It is named after
Giuseppe Salvatore
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From 1931 to 1936 its director was
Corradino Mineo, an academician of the Lincei, who had a second term from 1938 to 1948, after the directorship of Francesco Zagar. They were years characterized by great difficulties of the institution, which had already seen, in the reform of 1923, declassification
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The departure of
Tacchini for Rome in 1879 began a difficult phase; Annibale Riccò, the Deputy (i.e. "Adjunct") Astronomer, managed to keep the quality of research high until he took over the direction of the Catania observatory in 1890; then, the political and military events – and the consequent
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in 1860, the situation was reversed: Gaetano
Cacciatore's directorship was reinstated and Ragona removed, without being able to install the Merz telescope. Pietro Tacchini, appointed Deputy Astronomer in 1863, installed and commissioned the equatorial telescope in 1865, using it for solar physics
243:
The Museum of the
Specola, located at the top of the leaning tower of the Norman palace, is mainly composed of 18th- and 19th-century instruments, among which are achromatic telescopes, a sextant, some barometers and thermometers, as well as two main items earlier mentioned: the Palermo Circle
234:
The observatory has a laboratory for the development and testing of scientific instrumentation for x-ray band telescopes (X-ray
Astronomy Calibration and Testing Facility, XACT) in a separate building, a high-tech computing center, carries out iterations and error-testing of numerical models
235:
collating observations and measurements in astrophysics (System of
Calculation for Numerical Astrophysics, SCAN) and the Museum of the Specola, which contains a vast collection of astronomical instruments belonging to the Observatory.
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to endow the
Sicilian city with an element of prestige as an astronomical observatory. It was hard to find an expert astronomer who would agree to work in such a peripheral location at the time. In the end the choice fell on
150:
research which would make the
Palermo Observatory famous in the second half of the nineteenth century and lead to the foundation of the Society of Italian Spectroscopists (1871), whose Memoirs (
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set in Sicily and of King Ferdinand; thanks to this discovery, he was awarded a gold medal which he refused instead donating its worth to the purchase of other instruments, including a
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financial difficulties of the Government – severely compromised the observatory, which in 1923 was downgraded to the university's Cabinet of Astronomy.
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248:'s equatorial telescope. It hosts other contemporary instruments and a series of oil paintings that portray personalities from the scientific world.
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Anita, McConnell (2013). "Jesse Ramsden: the Craftsman who Believed that Big was Beautiful".
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91:, at the suggestion of some intellectuals of the time, including the then Sicilian viceroy
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314:"Mummies in Palermo: a criminal biologist pictures in the darkest places in the world"
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369:(2009). "The Relationship Between the Ramsden Circles at Palermo and Dunsink".
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equatorial telescope that he placed in the second dome of the observatory.
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111:. He named this object which became classified in the 21st century a
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427:"OAPa INAF Osservatorio Astronomico – "Giuseppe Salvatore Vaiana""
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L'Osservatorio astronomico di Palermo: la storia e gli strumenti
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http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news-detail.html?id=4824
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to measure apparent positions of astronomical objects.
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79:The 5-foot diameter Palermo circle manufactured by
413:Ceres: Keeping Well-Guarded Secrets for 215 Years
16:Astronomical observatory in Palermo, Sicily, Italy
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636:Santa Lucia Stroncone Astronomical Observatory
51:. It is one of the research facilities of the
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811:1790 establishments in the Kingdom of Sicily
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166:Vaiana, who directed it from 1976 to 1991.
33:Giuseppe S. Vaiana Astronomical Observatory
796:Buildings and structures completed in 1790
621:Pistoia Mountains Astronomical Observatory
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63:(including the birth of stars) and of the
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93:Francesco d'Aquino, Prince of Caramanico
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566:Helmut Ullrich Astronomical Observatory
541:Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte
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372:Journal for the History of Astronomy
345:Society for the History of Astronomy
136:Capodimonte Astronomical Observatory
801:Astronomical observatories in Italy
651:Astronomical Observatory of Trieste
506:Astronomical observatories in Italy
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571:International Latitude Observatory
561:European Gravitational Observatory
258:List of astronomical observatories
134:to complete the setting up of the
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393:10.1177/002182860904000304
336:The Antiquarian Astronomer
147:Expedition of the Thousand
87:It was founded in 1790 by
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216:Giuseppe Salvatore Vaiana
601:Orioloromano Observatory
244:(circle by Ramsden) and
130:In 1817 Piazzi moved to
37:astronomical observatory
631:San Vittore Observatory
591:Monte Mario Observatory
284:FoderĂ Serio, Giorgia;
27:hosting the observatory
606:Osservatorio Ximeniano
596:Noto Radio Observatory
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59:and stellar coronas,
25:Palace of the Normans
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806:Palazzo dei Normanni
656:Observatory of Turin
536:Cagliari Observatory
49:Palazzo dei Normanni
661:Vatican Observatory
616:Panzano Observatory
516:Arcetri Observatory
455:38.1122°N 13.3561°E
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385:2009JHA....40..321C
353:2013AntAs...7...41M
292:. Flaccovio, 1997.
222:Salvatore Sciortino
181:Gaetano Cacciatore
178:Niccolò Cacciatore
140:Niccolò Cacciatore
117:Cerere Ferdinandea
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65:supernova remnants
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225:Giuseppina Micela
198:Filippo Angelitti
61:stellar evolution
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288:(January 1997).
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207:Corradino Mineo
204:Francesco Zagar
201:Corradino Mineo
194:Temistocle Zona
187:Pietro Tacchini
184:Domenico Ragona
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39:located in
790:Categories
446:13°21′22″E
443:38°06′44″N
319:2017-06-12
299:8878041440
264:References
230:Activities
768:Education
708:Astronomy
401:120879418
347:: 41–53.
170:Directors
145:With the
125:Troughton
252:See also
106:asteroid
780:Science
694:Portals
381:Bibcode
349:Bibcode
152:Memorie
71:History
41:Palermo
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296:
239:Museum
132:Naples
45:Sicily
35:is an
720:Stars
397:S2CID
121:Ceres
109:Ceres
57:solar
294:ISBN
31:The
389:doi
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377:40
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272:^
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