The two domes of Carte du Ciel & the Schmidt Telescope

At Villa Barberini, there is a section of the Vatican Observatory consisting of two domes. The first dome (in the rigth on the photo), built in 1941, houses the telescope that contributed to the Carte du Ciel project, aimed at completely mapping the sky. It features a 13’’ objective lens with a focal length of 343cm, along with an 8’’ refracting telescope with a focal length of 360 cm.

The second dome (in the left on the photo) was built in 1954 for a 65 cm reflecting type Schmidt telescope.

Vatican Observatory 2025.09.27