CURRENT CONSERVATION PROJECTS

CONSERVATION WORK ON THE RODELLA CLOCK
2015-2016
Conservation work carried out on a pendulum clock donated to the department in 2007. The mechanism was crafted by Giuseppe Steffani between 1834 and 1842, while the face is the work of Giambattista Rodella. Alongside the conservation work on the object itself, a museum display was produced, complete with stand, so that it may be exhibited.

DONATIONS

2012-2015
THE “BERETTA” TELESCOPE
This telescope was put together by the engineer Giuseppe Beretta, who was an enthusiastic frequenter of the Asiago Astrophysics Observatory in the 1950s and 60s. Beretta fashioned the mechanical components himself, although the optical elements were purchased.
The design adopts the English model, much like the observatory’s own “Galileo” telescope, with a pedestal, a rotation axis and a declination axis with the telescope at one end and a counterweight at the other.
It is built entirely in stainless steel and all the components are fully functioning, and in excellent condition. The Beretta telescope has been installed in the specially refurbished former Schmidt pavilion at the Asiago Observatory. The telescope is available for use by visitors to the museum, and has even been set up to allow observations of the sun.

CURRENT PROJECTS

CONSERVATION WORK ON THE OPTICS LABORATORY AND THE MUSEUM INTERIOR
2006-2008-2016
The “Galileo” telescope once had its own optics laboratory with optical tables designed and manufactured by the Officine Galileo company in Florence. Construction of the laboratory was completed in the 1940s, but with the demise of prism spectroscopy, it was not kept in use. The project involved improvements to the general environment and the furniture of the laboratory. A storage area for instruments from the museum’s collection not kept on display was also set up next to the laboratory.