Category Archives: Diary

ⓜ Signs in the sky… Diary of 12 July, 2019

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This entry is part of 43 in the series Diary

The photos below show three views taken over a period of seven minutes from the hermitage at the Desert House of Prayer north of Tucson where I did my annual eight day retreat the end of last month. Can you see what’s changing in the sky? I’ll explain it… but you’ll have to be a subscriber to find out what it’s all about! Our stats: As of today, we have 138 paid subscribers (seven new subscribers since last month — thanks and welcome!) and 8776 people (seventy five new ones!) who get notified of new postings. We continue to grow, but not nearly fast enough to keep us in business. Please tell more people about our site; and if you can, please subscribe at a rate of $10 a month (that’s coming up on burger-and-fries money, and less fattening) or $100 per year. And tell your friends about the site; this month we added one new donor for each ten new … Continue reading →

ⓜ Why Br Guy is home in bed, exhausted… Diary of 15 June, 2019

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This entry is part 42 of 43 in the series Diary

It’s no joke, alas; I am under doctor’s orders to stay home, and go to bed when I am tired (which is most of the time), after having cancelled half of my events scheduled for June. That, under the orders of several friends who are doctors and several other friends who are genuine and certified Jewish Mothers! First, the business: I did a brief update in May showing 129 subscribers and on April 16 we had a reach of 8465 readers. Well, as of today, we have 131 paid subscribers and 8701 people who get notified of new postings. We continue to grow, but not nearly fast enough to keep us in business. Please tell more people about our site; and if you can, please subscribe at a rate of $10 a month (that’s two visits to Dunkin Donuts for me) or $100 per year. That’s also no joke. As for the exhaustion… read on! Let’s just outline what I’ll … Continue reading →

Five updates for one low price, May 20

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This entry is part 41 of 43 in the series Diary

It’s been well over a month since I last updated you on where we stand with the membership of this site… since then I had a wonderful trip to New Zealand (and Australia), where I gathered many memories… and, on the plane home, a nasty cold. Once I am over that I’ll post a longer (members only) diary. But for now, just to let you know… We launched our new site name and design; I hope you like it! As part of the design we don’t list the total “reach” anymore, but I know that continues to grow. As part of the new launch we mentioned that there is a donor willing to match new subscription and other donations up to $50,000 this year! And to that end, we have added five new donors, so thanks! We are up to 129 subscribers. (We can do more, of course; there must be a few more folks out there who will support … Continue reading →

ⓜ Adventures in traveling by train… Diary of 16 April, 2019

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This entry is part 40 of 43 in the series Diary

Travel news! I am in Tucson today; Here is where I have been, and where I will be going… More Stats: Since April 2 we’ve added 60 more people signed up to get notifications of these posts either via Twitter, Facebook, or directly asking for email updates here. And we’ve added two more paid subscribers, now up to 124. Thanks, and welcome! If we could double the size of the readership, would we double the number of supporters? It’s probably not that simple… but it would certainly help. More travels: I finished out my month in Italy with a trip to Padua, where I got to visit the historic astronomy tower of the University of Padua and the telescopes at the Asiago Observatory. But then, following a wonderful night train from Padua to Paris and the a high speed train to Brussels, I got to attend the historic unveiling of the first image of a Black Hole and celebration of the 100th … Continue reading →

ⓜ Diary of April 2, 2019

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This entry is part 39 of 43 in the series Diary

I really wanted to post more often here, but life got in the way… Some Stats: Here’s our latest monthly summary of statistics. As of this writing we have 8,405 people signed up to get notifications of these posts either via Twitter, Facebook, or directly asking for email updates here. As of a bit later in the month, last month, we had 8,336. And back then we had 120 paying members; we’ve added two more, and it nows stands at 122. Thanks, and welcome! If we could double the size of the readership, would we double the number of supporters? It’s probably not that simple… but it would certainly help. And what’s new: My travels first brought me to Rome for a month, where I immediately got on a train to a little village of Sarno, in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius, where I got an award and gave a talk supporting the Specola’s work in Faith and Science. I … Continue reading →

ⓜ Diary of March 8, 2019

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This entry is part 38 of 43 in the series Diary

It’s an amazing morning; for the first time in about three weeks I don’t have some deadline that has to be met by today, and I can actually catch my breath! Some Stats: But first, my monthly (a bit late this month!) summary of statistics. As of this writing we have 8,336 people signed up to get notifications of these posts either via Twitter, Facebook, or directly asking for email updates here. That’s not quite a hundred more than last month, when we had 8242. And we’re up to 120 subscribers, an addition of 4 new members. Thanks, and welcome! If we could double the size of the readership, would we double the number of supporters? It’s probably not that simple… but it would certainly help. And what’s new: So what is it that has kept me so busy? Travel to Kentucky and Ohio (including in Wapakoneta, the home of Neil Armstrong);  the Tucson Festival of Books; and talks to … Continue reading →

ⓜ Diary for February 25, 2019

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This entry is part 37 of 43 in the series Diary

(ⓜ = members only!) Back home in Tucson (and about to leave for another trip!)… The usual daily task is answering emails. But my emails tend to lead me down interesting rabbit holes: Giordano Bruno (I got two questions about him this week), what it’s like to attend a science fiction convention, and updates on book chapters both newly published and overdue… Two emails about book chapters, in fact: On behalf of Joseph W. Koterski, S.J. and Graham Oppy, I am pleased to announce the publication of Theism and Atheism: Opposing Arguments in Philosophyin both print and as an eBook. Citation information for the title is as follows: Joseph W. Koterski, S.J. and Graham Oppy, eds. Theism and Atheism: Opposing Arguments in Philosophy. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2019. I finally got to read the atheists’ arguments based on science. Um… I’m not convinced. At the same time I got another email reminding me that back in 2017 I had promised a … Continue reading →

ⓜ Diary for February 11, 2019

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This entry is part 36 of 43 in the series Diary

(ⓜ = members only!) This week… a trip to Boston, with my immediate schedule, and a sneak peek of a coming big deal, for members only…   I am on the train from Boston to Philadelphia as I write this. On Monday afternoon I am speaking at Bodek Lounge, Houston Hall, University of Pennsylvania (free admission but register online), then Tuesday I head back to Boston for talks at Harvard on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday finds me at the great Boston science fiction convention, Boskone:   My Schedule for Boskone 56: My Favorite World 15 Feb 2019, Friday 18:00 – 18:50, Burroughs (Westin) What fictional (or nonfictional) world would you most like to visit? Or inhabit? What makes it particularly attractive to you? Our panelists join in a lively, fun discussion of what it takes to become a preferred planet — and whether or not we need an escape plan to get back. Why do/don’t all our choices measure up? … Continue reading →

ⓜ Last (two) weeks at the Specola: February 2, 2019

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This entry is part 35 of 43 in the series Diary

(ⓜ = members only!) This week… a trip to Oral Roberts University, an interview in our chapel, and a surprise treat for our annual board dinner…   I get to travel to a lot of places that you wouldn’t expect a Vatican official to go. Among them have been Goshen College (run by the Mennonites), Brigham Young University (the Mormons, of course), and this month, Oral Roberts University. We really do…   In order to read the rest of this post, you have to be a paid-up member of Sacred Space, and logged in as such!   … Continue reading →

ⓜ This week at the Specola (ⓜ = members only!)

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This entry is part 33 of 43 in the series Diary

We’ve been wondering how to get more Sacred Space members, and more members logging in… and one suggestion was to have “subscribers-only” posts available. But what to put in those posts? Over the next couple of months we’ll try out various kinds of content, to see which ones are most popular with our members. One genre which I will have here are “Diary” posts – “inside baseball” accounts of what’s happening at the Specola. This is my first attempt at such a post. In order to read the rest of this post, you have to be a paid-up member of Sacred Space, and logged in as such! … Continue reading →

Across the Universe: Looking overhead

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This entry is part 183 of 185 in the series Across the Universe

This column first ran in The Tablet in January 2018 “What do you see when you look at the stars? Science, heaven, God?” the Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire asked me in 2018. Does the sky look any different to a professional astronomer who is also a person of faith? The first thing I see when I look up at night is the beauty of the stars… just like anyone who can see the night sky.  But I do see more. My father, a US Army Air Corps navigator who once guided a wing of American bombers across the Atlantic to England in 1942, taught me the brighter navigation stars when I was a child. I’d also been given a wonderful book by the children’s writer H. A. Rey (better known for Curious George) that taught the constellations by turning the stars into connect-the-dot puzzles. Even today, whenever I see the stars I immediately start to identify old friends by name. … Continue reading →

Diary: Happy Birthday Katie!

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This entry is part 32 of 43 in the series Diary

Something I have come to understand, slowly but inevitably, is that astronomy is not about stars and planets; it is about people and how they (we) study those stars and planets. After all, one cannot understand the science of Galileo without knowing Galileo the person. He only was able to recognize what he saw in his telescope (he wasn’t the first to look) because he had an interest and training in art; he was only able to communicate it to the point that it led to a change in how humanity understood the situation (he wasn’t the first to try) because he had a passion for the Italian language and literature. If he had been a different person, our science would have had a different history… perhaps asking different questions, and accepting different answers as satisfactory. This blog has always been about people. And so I want to highlight someone here whose wonderful personality has been crucial to our success. … Continue reading →