The Sky at Night - Season 2017 - Eps 4: Inside God's Observatory
This edition comes from the heart of one of the most influential - and surprising - organisations in the history of astronomy. Maggie and Chris have been granted rare access to the Vatican and its little-known observatory, the Specola Vaticana, perched on a hilltop 30km outside Rome. -- There they explore its rich history and contemporary cutting-edge science, going inside the Vatican walls to visit the Tower of the Winds, a secret antique sundial that revolutionised the length of the year; the remains of a nest of telescopes atop an old medieval church where the science of spectroscopy was born; and the modern labs, manned by priest scientists who study a range of contemporary astronomical problems, from meteorites to binary stars to the birth of the universe itself.
About The Sky at Night

Title: The Sky at Night
First Air Date: 1957-04-24
Last Air Date: 2024-11-11
Status: Returning Series
Rating: 8.417/10 (from 12 votes)
Language: EN
Seasons: 44
Total Episodes: 273
Network: BBC Four
Genres: Documentary, News
Production Companies: Unknown
Synopsis
Your monthly journey through the fascinating world of space and astronomy with the latest thinking on what's out there in space and what you can see in the night sky.