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Specola Guestbook | Feb 24, 1922: Mentore Maggini

By Br. Robert Macke  |  23 Aug 2020

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This entry is part 56 of 100 in the series Specola Guestbook

Since its founding in 1891, many people have passed through the doors of the Vatican Observatory.  A quick perusal of our guestbook reveals several Names, including Popes, nobel laureates, astronauts, actors, and saints. Today’s guestbook entry is from February 24, 1922, when Mentore Maggini made a visit.

Next to his name, Mentore Maggini (1890-1941) wrote, “R. Osservatorio Astrofisico – Catania.” (Royal Astrophysical Observatory, Catania). He was an astronomer who studied binary stars and the Martian surface.

In 1926, he would be named director of the Observatory of Collurania (in Teramo), where he would remain until his death in 1941.

In his research on Mars, he focused on Martian cartography. Among his work, he studied the psycho-optic theory of Martian canals (i.e. the tendency of the eye to create connections between nearby points) at a time when most people thought the canals were real.

He was among the first to do photometry using photoelectric cells, which he applied to the study of variable stars.

He wrote a popular children’s book on astronomy, Il Libro di Urania, which was published posthumously in 1943.

The crater Maggini on Mars is named in his honor.

 

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More Posts in this Series:
"Specola Guestbook"

78  |  What Do We Lose When We Sacrifice Science?

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  27 May 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

69  |  To err is human… to admit it, is science

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  25 Mar 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

55  |  Specola Guestbook | Oct 18, 1921: William Pickering

By Br. Robert Macke  |  16 Aug 2020

57  |  Specola Guestbook | March 28, 1922: Raymond Archibald

By Br. Robert Macke  |  30 Aug 2020

58  |  Specola Guestbook | April 13-28, 1922: IAU 1st General Assembly part 1 – Aitken, Curtis, van Steenwijk, Cortie, and Stein

By Br. Robert Macke  |  6 Sep 2020

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