The Vatican Observatory sponsors a number of workshops in Castel Gandolfo and one that might be of particular interest to graduate students studying astrophysics and those studying the history of astronomy will be held from September 28 to October 3 at our headquarters south of Rome, Italy. The topic is “Astrophysics in the Light of History” — the workshop will focus on the history of stellar astrophysics and the interstellar medium, and feature a number of noted historians in the field, headed up by Dr. John Hearnshaw who literally “wrote the book” about the history of spectroscopy.
The application deadline is coming soon — February 10. Click HERE for more information and to get to the on-line application form.
Fr. Angelo Secchi SJ was the first person to classify stars by their spectra… a novel idea scorned by many of his contemporaries. This plate is from his c.1870 book.