It might surprise you to learn that Mt. Graham, near Safford, is home to a telescope operated by the Vatican. Not only that, Tucson is home to an official 'seat of the Vatican,' where those researchers live and work.
TUCSON, Ariz. — It might surprise you to learn that Mt. Graham, near Safford, is home to a telescope operated by the Vatican—and that Tucson is home to an official"seat of the Vatican," where those researchers live and work."Officially I think it falls under the category of miscellaneous 'foreign government office.' So, right in Tucson, you have a miscellaneous foreign government office," said Fr. Paul Gabor, Vice Director of the Vatican Observatory.
While they live in Tucson, and spend time doing research and teaching at the U of A, they travel to Mt. Graham to do their observations at the VATT: the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope.First, you have to understand why the Catholic Church is interested in astronomy.That's the mission statement put forth in 1891 by Pope Leo XIII. That's also when the Vatican established an observatory to show the world how the Church supports science.
That's how the Vatican Observatory Foundation established a presence east of Tucson on Mt. Graham. By 1993, the Vatican had a telescope of its own, thanks to the U of A's Mirror Lab and a new process of spin casting. "We hope that not only now, but also in the future, we'll be able to conduct astronomical observations from the site here, and won't need to move somewhere else again," said Gabor.
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