Born from a deep passion for Astronomy, the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Siena was established in 2004. Located within the university complex of Porta Romana, it brings together the instruments and the people who, back in the 1990s, founded in the Chianti area the first observational facility of the University.
This is a place to observe, study, and reflect on the mysteries of deep space — often hidden from the human eye but revealed through the right instruments.
Thanks to the generous support of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena Foundation, the Observatory’s equipment underwent a major renewal between 2010 and 2012.
Today, the Observatory serves as a laboratory where university students — and high school students involved in outreach and orientation programs — learn to explore the sky, operate instruments, and use advanced technologies for remote observation control and for the acquisition and analysis of astronomical images.
These skills enable them to carry out small-scale research projects in areas such as asteroids, variable stars, and exoplanets.
The dome housing the Observatory is a spherical structure with a diameter of 3 meters which, despite being close to the city, benefits from a good night sky visibility from East to West.
The main telescope is a Maksutov-Cassegrain by Costruzioni Ottiche Zen (D=32 cm, F=1650 mm), mounted on a German equatorial mount Comec 10micron GM2000-QCI.
For image acquisition, the Observatory uses an Sbig STL-6303 CCD camera (with a KAF-6303E sensor of 3072 x 2048 pixels), equipped with a filter wheel, photometric and astro-imaging filters by Custom Scientific, an Optec TCF-S focuser, and an Optec Pyxis field rotator.
The dome and all the instruments can be fully operated remotely.
The Astronomical Observatory is located in the southern area of Siena, within the University complex of Porta Romana (the former psychiatric hospital), with access from Via Roma 56.
Geographical coordinates (Latitude, Longitude):
43°18'45" N 11°20'12" E
(43.3125 N, 11.3367 E)