Vil·la Urània: Casa-Observatori de Josep Comas i Solà

Grubb Telescope used by Comas i Solà in the Fabra Observatory.

Introduction:

Within the limits of Gràcia we find the house where the known astronomer and scientist Josep Comas i Solà lived and worked. From the observatory located on the roof of this Vil·la Urània, Comas i Solà discovered asteroids, variable stars and comets. He was the first director of the Fabra Observatory and worked hard to publicize astronomy among the general public. At this stop we will also see a current version of the vindictive spirit of Gràcia.

Content:

Comas i Solà studied physics and mathematics at the University of Barcelona and then began a brilliant career as an astronomer which led him to become the first director of the Fabra Observatory of the Barcelona Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 1905, on a mission to Vinaròs to observe a solar eclipse, he became the first person to record on film the solar chromosphere, only visible during this phenomenon. He also discovered 12 asteroids or small planets, named by him Barcelona, Hispania, Alphonsina, in honor of king Alfonso XIII, and Amelia, dedicated to his second wife, and two periodic comets, one of which bears his name. His observatory in Vil·la Urània, from which he made some of these discoveries, was one of the most advanced of Spanish observatories. Comas i Solà was also known for his contributions to popular science, which led him to write a weekly column in La Vanguardia and several successful books. He was so popular that his funeral in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War and he being republican, was crowded. In his will, Comas i Solà gave Barcelona his house with the desire that it become a "popular observatory, for school groups or a cultural institution". It seems that, in a way, until recently, the astronomers desire had been fulfilled, as the Vil·la Urania was a kindergarten. But in May 2012, the city Council seemed determined to demolish the house and erect a new building. An important scientific heritage of the city was about to disappear. Again, the machinery of neighbourhood protests was launched and after weeks of protests at the doors of the Vil·la, complaints in letters to the editor and articles in various newspapers, blogs and television, the demolition was stopped. The Council has begun a process of negotiation in order to convert the house in a facility for the neighbourhood.

Més Informació:

Antoni Roca-Rosell (Coordinador) "Josep Comas i Solà. Astrònom i Divulgador". Ajuntament de Barcelona, 2005. [in Catalan]

Rutes científiques de Barcelona