Father Francesco de Vico (also known as de Vigo, De Vico and even DeVico; 19 May 1805 in

Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza ri ...

– 15 November 1848 in London) was an Italian

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

and a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest.

Biography

He was educated at the college of

Urbino Urbino ( ; ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of ...

, and became in 1835 assistant superintendent, and in 1839 director of the

Vatican Observatory The Vatican Observatory () is an astronomical research and educational institution supported by the Holy See. Originally based in the Roman College of Rome, the Observatory is now headquartered in Castel Gandolfo, Italy and operates a telescope a ...

The Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states The 1848 Revolutions in the Italian states, part of the wider Revolutions of 1848 in Europe, were organized revolts in the states of the Italian peninsula and Sicily, led by intellectuals and agitators who desired a liberal government. As Italia ...

cut short his observing career, as he was forced into exile, touring Paris, London, and the United States, where he was received by the President. He was pleased with his reception in the U.S. and wished to settle there at

Georgetown College Georgetown College is a private Christian college in Georgetown, Kentucky. Chartered in 1829, Georgetown was the first Baptist college west of the Appalachian Mountains. The college offers 38 undergraduate degrees and a Master of Arts in educat ...

, but first returned to Europe to try to recruit some colleagues to join him and purchase instruments for an observatory to be erected under his direction in New York. Unfortunately, worn out from the travel, he died in London in November of that same year

Work

He found a remarkable number of

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

s in a relatively short time, including periodic comets 54P/de Vico-Swift-NEAT and 122P/de Vico. He also independently discovered the comet ( C/1847 T1) that brought fame to

Maria Mitchell Maria Mitchell ( /məˈraɪə/; August 1, 1818 – June 28, 1889) was an American astronomer, librarian, naturalist, and educator. In 1847, she discovered a comet named 1847 VI (modern designation C/1847 T1) that was later known as " Miss Mi ...

as " Miss Mitchell's Comet", two days after she did. The news did not reach Europe before Father De Vico announced his observation, so it was initially named for him. He received the award from the

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king, who had offered a prize for the first comet discovered through a

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...

(prior to this time, all comet discoveries were ones that could be seen by the unaided eye). Mitchell was later recognized and awarded a medal as well. He also made observations of

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

and the gaps in its rings (he was the first to see the narrow division in the

rings of Saturn The rings of Saturn are the most extensive ring system of any planet in the Solar System. They consist of countless small particles, ranging in size from micrometers to meters, that orbit around Saturn. The ring particles are made almost entirel ...

now known as the Keeler Gap after

James Keeler James Edward Keeler (September 10, 1857 – August 12, 1900) was an American astronomer. He was an early observer of galaxies using photography, as well as the first to show observationally that the rings of Saturn do not rotate as a solid body. ...

). He was noted for his studies of spots on

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

, and unsuccessfully attempted to determine its rotation period. He began an ambitious project to compile an atlas of stars down to 11th

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

. He was also a composer of church music. The

lunar crater Lunar craters are impact craters on Earth's Moon. The Moon's surface has many craters, all of which were formed by impacts. The International Astronomical Union currently recognizes 9,137 craters, of which 1,675 have been dated. History The wor ...

De Vico Vico or de Vico may refer to: People * Prefetti di Vico, a 10th- to 15th-century Italian noble family Surname * Enea Vico (1523–1567), Italian engraver * Francesco de Vico (1805–1848), Italian astronomer * Francesco Vico (fl. 17th century), ...

and the asteroid 20103 de Vico are named after him.

Obituary

MNRAS 9 (1849) 65

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vico, Francesco De 19th-century Italian astronomers 19th-century Italian Jesuits Discoverers of comets 1805 births 1848 deaths Jesuit scientists Recipients of the Lalande Prize

Biography

Work

Obituary

See also

References