Rome and Venus Transit Itinerary Page 1

Rome and Venus Transit Itinerary Page 1

	Students at Vassar College acquired this image of the transit of Venus on December 6, 1882. Small specks on the Sun’s face are photographic flaws, not sunspots.



	UNLIKE the sudden darkness of a total eclipse of the Sun, which lasts only a few minutes, transits of Venus typically play out slowly over several hours. On June 8, 2004, the planet’s ink-black silhouette will edge onto the solar disk over about 20 minutes and, after a 5 1/2-hour march across the disk, will take another 20 minutes to slide off. The planet’s graceful transit will be appreciated best when viewed through a large telescope with a safe solar filter, and Vatican Observatory is well equipped in this regard. The facility’s two principal instruments are a 16-inch f/15 Zeiss refractor (for visual observing) and a double astrograph (photographic telescope) with 16- and 24-inch apertures. The Vatican maintains a staff of full-time astronomers, some of whom will be on hand to show us exquisite views not only of the transit but also of the night sky the previous evening.

Day 1 Sunday, June 6, 2004 Dinner
Arrive in Italy
Arrive in Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci (Fiumicino) Airport according to your own air schedule. After clearing Customs, you will be met and transferred to the village of Frascati and the nearby Hotel Villa Vecchia, our home for the next 3 nights. This masterfully converted convent is now a 4-star hotel, offering incredible views of the countryside’s occasional castles, towering cypress trees, and the lights of Rome in the distance. In the evening we’ll gather in the hotel’s private grove of olive trees for a get-acquainted reception, followed by a traditional barbeque served with famous locally made Frascati wines.
Overnight: Hotel Villa Vecchia (3 nights)

Day 2 Mon, June 7 Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
Frascati, Grottoferrata, Castel Gandolfo

After breakfast we will visit the village of Frascati, highlighted by the Cathedral of St. Peter and the Terrazze de Frascati. Romans today escape to Frascati to wander its cobblestone streets and to sample its wines, cheeses, meats, and baked goods.
We’ll then journey 20 minutes up the road to the village of Grottoferrata, where each morning groups of men and women mingle in the main piazza as they have done for hundreds of years. We’ll stop for a leisurely lunch at a family-run winery overlooking the vineyards, after which you may tour the winery or walk through the vineyards below. This evening, we’ll travel to the beautiful village of Castel Gandolfo, located above the west bank of Lake Albano. Declared the exclusive property of the Roman Catholic Church in the 17th century, today it is a picturesque village. Overlooking its large piazza is the imposing Vatican Observatory. We will enjoy a walking tour of the village, stopping for dinner at a local restaurant before joining Vatican astronomers for a private tour of the nighttime sky. Those with telescopes may set up tripods and mounts for tomorrow morning’s transit of Venus.

Day 3 Tues, June 8 Breakfast / Lunch
Transit of Venus at Vatican Observatory

We will rise early in the morning for the 30-minute drive to Vatican Observatory, arriving in plenty of time to see the transit’s first contact at 7:20 a.m. (see details at right). Breakfast and lunch will be served on the Observatory grounds. Throughout the day, you will be able to spend time in Castel Gandolfo, returning to the Observatory at your leisure. After the transit concludes at 1:24 p.m., we’ll return to our hotel. The remainder of the afternoon and evening is yours to relax at the hotel or explore the village of Frascati.

Colorized Version of 1882 Original Image at top right

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Revised: October 25, 2005.
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