Varese - Campo dei Fiori Observatory among the world's best for asteroids - - Varese News

For the second time, the “GV Schiaparelli” Astronomical Observatory in Campo dei Fiori is among the winners of the “Shoemaker NEO Grant” , the prestigious prize awarded by the American Planetary Society to observatories that distinguish themselves in the monitoring of near-Earth asteroids (NEOs, Near Earth Objects).

The contribution received this year amounts to 8,000 dollars and will be used to purchase a new high-sensitivity digital camera for the “Ferrante” telescope, which will be operational from 2022 under the pristine skies of Namibia.

An award that comes from across the ocean

The Shoemaker NEO Grant is one of the premier awards for amateur observers working in astronomy. The prize is awarded biennially by the Planetary Society, an organization founded by Carl Sagan and now led by science communicator Bill Nye.

The Schiaparelli Observatory had already been awarded a $10,000 grant in 2015, used to complete the technical equipment of the large 84-cm telescope installed in Campo dei Fiori: a CCD camera, an optical corrector and a focusing system, still in use today.

The Ferrante telescope under the southern hemisphere sky

The new funding will instead support the activities of the "Ferrante" telescope, installed in Namibia in 2022 and named after Piergiorgio Ferrante, a member of the observatory who passed away prematurely in 2021.

"Piergiorgio was delighted to learn that his telescope would be used at a highly valuable astronomical site in the Southern Hemisphere," the members say, "even though unfortunately he didn't have time to see it in operation."

The telescope is operated remotely and used both for scientific purposes, such as asteroid monitoring, and for astrophotography of galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters in the southern sky.

Recognition also from the European Space Agency

2024 marked another step forward for the Varese observatory: the data collected from both Campo dei Fiori and Namibia attracted the interest of the European Space Agency (ESA), which signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the observatory through the NEO Coordination Center in Frascati. The award also includes annual financial support.

Thanks to the new camera, it will be possible to identify even fainter and more distant asteroids, maximizing the potential of the African telescope.

This result confirms the value of the work carried out by Luca Buzzi and his team, who for years have been among the world's leading amateur observers in the surveillance of potentially hazardous asteroids.