part of a group of top astronomy institutions from around the world which worked together to create a photographic "Celestial Map" ("Carte du Ciel") and an "astrographic" catalog pinpointing the stars' positions. Italian astronomer Father Francesco Denza led the Vatican's contribution to the project until his death in 1894. In the early twentieth-century Father John Hagen took over the project and recruited a group of nuns from the Sisters of the Holy Child Mary to work on the necessary recording and calculations. The sisters were Sisters Emilia Ponzoni, Regina Colombo, Concetta Finardi and Luigia Panceri. By the 1930s, the smoke and sky-glow of the city had made it impossible to conduct useful observations in Rome. Pope Pius XI relocated the Observatory to Castel Gandolfo, which is southeast of Rome. By 1961, the same problems with light pollution made observing difficult at Castel Gandolfo. The Observatory then established the Vatican Observatory Research Group (VORG), with offices at the Steward Observatory of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. D.K.J. O'Connell produced the first color photographs of a green flash at sunset in 1960. In 1993, VORG completed construction of the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope, which is at Mount Graham near Safford, Arizona. The Observatory's headquarters remain in Italy at Castel Gandolfo. In early 2008, the Vatican announced that the Observatory would be relocated to a former convent a mile away from the castle as part of a general reconstruction of the Papal residence. Its former space would be used to provide more room for the reception of diplomatic visitors. The old quarters in the castle were cramped and very poorly laid out for the Observatory's use. VORG research activities in Arizona continued unaffected. Leadership George Coyne (1978 – 19 August 2006) José Gabriel Funes (19 August 2006 – 18 September 2015) Guy Consolmagno (18 September 2015 – present) See also Archaeoastronomy Catholic Church and science#Vatican Observatory Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope List of astronomical observatories List of Jesuit sites Notes References Sabino Maffeo: The Vatican Observatory. In the Service of Nine Popes, Vatican Observatory Publications, 2001. External links Astronomical observatories in Italy Holy See Catholic Church and science