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 50th Anniversary of the Transfer of Vatican Observatory to Castel Gandolfo Vatican City Aerogramme, 1986 The Vatican Observatory at Castel Gandolfo has been in the news quite a bit over the last month. With Pope Leo XIV resuming the practice of summer rest periods at the summer papal residence, his stay coincided with some events tied to the Observatory. On July 20, he helped commemorate the 56th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing in two ways. He held a video conference with Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the moon (following Neil Armstrong) and last surviving astronaut from the Apollo 11 crew. The pope also visited the Vatican Observatory and peered through the telescope to the heavens, an appropriate task for the pope who leans towards science and whose undergraduate degree was in mathematics from Villanova University. On July 21, Pope Leo XIV met with participants in the Vatican Observatory’s Summer School program. The pope observed that the new tools used to explore the universe, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), “fill us with wonder, and indeed a mysterious joy”. He urged attendees to “[explore] the cosmos and to contribute to a more peaceful and just world through the pursuit of knowledge”. Following his return to Rome, on July 31 the pope announced the appointment of Father Richard Anthony D’Souza, S.J., as Director of the Vatican Observatory. The appointment completes the succession process begun prior to the death of Pope Francis. Father D’Souza holds a doctorate in astronomy and has been a staff member at the Observatory since 2016. He succeeds Brother Guy Consolmagno, S.J., whose ten-year mandate as Director expires in September. He will remain on the Observatory staff and will serve as the President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation, headquartered at the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) at Mount Graham, outside Tucson, Arizona.  Pontifical Palace and Vatican Observatory at Castel Gandolfo Photo by H. Raab From Wikimedia Commons, used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license The roots of the Vatican Observatory date to 1578, during the pontificate of Pope Gregory XIII. It was formally created in 1891 by Pope Leo XIII. The Vatican State reference below provides links to extended articles on the events presented in this piece, as well as a history and virtual tour of the Vatican Observatory. In addition to the aerogramme shown at the top of this email, the Vatican Observatory has been presented on many stamps issued by Vatican City:  Vatican Scientific and Cultural Institutions Scott 736 (1984) 
 First Centenary of the Foundation of the Vatican Observatory Scott 885-887 (1991) 
 80th Anniversary of the Vatican Observatory at Castel Gandolfo Scott 1606-1607 (2015)  Europa 2017: Castles Scott 1655 (2017) REFERENCE: |
