In 1872 the Observatory left its seat in the centre of Florence to transfer to the hill of Arcetri, situated just outside the city walls, near the villa “Il Gioiello”, where Galileo had passed the last years of his life. It was sought to re-qualify astronomic research through a designated and equipped new building also immersed in a darker sky, distant from civic lights. Yet the premature death of Donati had left the Observatory without direction for a decade leading to a state of deterioration. Only at the end of the century, the arrival from Padua of a dynamic astronomer Antonio Abetti (1846-1928) enabled the rebirth of Florentine astronomy. First of all he occupied himself with the restoration and improvement of the existing instruments, favouring the development of private technical and scientific competence, in the field of precision optics and mechanics. Abetti directed the research toward the observation of asteroids, and the study of solar phenomena, focusing on the eclipses of the Sun. It is noteworthy to mention the contacts with the international community which Abetti cultivated from the onset of his career.
Reflecting Telescope,
Tito Gonnella; first half of the 19th C.; wood, brass, iron
The instrument was presented by Gonnella to the Third Congress of Italian Scientist (Florence, 1841) to test the superiority of reflecting telescopes. To the same congress, Amici demonstrated the objective lens of “Amici I” to test the superiority of refracting telescopes.