Category Archives: Priests and Religious of Science

Religious Scientists: Fr. Angelo Secchi S.J. (1818-1878), Pioneer of Astrophysics

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This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series Religious Scientists of the Catholic Church

(This is the first article in the column “Religious Scientists of the Catholic Church” which looks at the lives and contributions of prominent vowed religious scientists.) The year 2018 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Fr. Angelo Secchi SJ, and so there have already been several articles on Fr. Secchi in this blog.  An interested reader could review any of these articles: “Ghost of elements, spectres of the universe: Angelo Secchi SJ” by Michelle Francl, Aug 8, 2018. “Solar Prominences and a Prominent Jesuit Astronomer” by Robert Macke, Oct 23, 2018. “Happy Birthday to the Father of Astrophysics!” by Guy Consolmagno, June 28, 2018. And outside the blog, here’s another article I wrote about Secchi’s oceanographic studies: “Fr. Angelo Secchi, S.J. and the Voyage of the Immacolata Concezione” by Robert Macke, International Society of Limnology webpage For the YouTube generation, here is a video to watch: Why begin this series with a scientist for whom so much has already … Continue reading →

Religious Scientists – An Introduction

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This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Religious Scientists of the Catholic Church

As this is a new column for the blog, it might be appropriate to begin with a small introduction. In the motu proprio “Ut Mysticam”—the document establishing the Vatican Observatory in 1891—Pope Leo XIII wrote that the reason for creating such an institution in the Vatican was “…that everyone might see clearly that the Church and her Pastors are not opposed to true and solid science, whether human or divine, but that they embrace it, encourage it, and promote it with the fullest possible dedication.” Primarily, the Vatican Observatory addresses this mission through its scientific endeavors. We are all vowed religious members of the Catholic Church who are respected scientists making valuable contributions in our fields. Through this we are a sign to the world of the compatibility of faith and science through the example of our own lives. It would be a mistake to think that the Vatican Observatory serves as the only such example of science performed in … Continue reading →

Tombs of the Unknown Scientists

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On Cemetery Hill in Springfield, Kentucky, in the “Holy Land” of Kentucky, stands a monument “dedicated to those who lost their lives in the Cholera epidemics of 1833 and 1854, and to Louis Sansbury, a black man who cared for and buried the victims in these approximately 106 unmarked graves”. The “Holy Land” in central Kentucky is home to much U.S. Catholic history. Here is where Catholicism first took root away from the coasts as the United States expanded westward. The first diocese in the U.S. was established in Baltimore, Maryland in 1789, but in 1808 four new dioceses were established in the U.S.: the diocese of Boston, the diocese of New York, the diocese of Philadelphia, and the diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky (which later became the Archdiocese of Louisville). Thus Bardstown is home to St. Joseph’s proto-cathedral. The “Holy Land” is also home to numerous churches, many dating back into the late eighteenth century, including the oldest Dominican church … Continue reading →

July 1922 – The Pope Views the Planets

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The planets are going away. As we head into winter, that glorious chain of planets that has been strung across the evening sky for months is disappearing into the sunset. Back in August you could just walk outside and see Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars (and often the moon) lined up from west to east across the zodiac constellations. Now we are down to just Mars and Saturn, and soon enough it will just be Mars, and then none. Back in 1922 the planets were lined up in the summer sky much like they were this summer, and Pope Pius XI, who liked astronomy and was very involved with the Vatican Observatory, got a look at them through one of the V.O. telescopes. The V.O. telescopes were at that time on the grounds of the Vatican itself, mounted along one of the walls, right by St. Peter’s, as can been seen in this cool photo from that era. According to … Continue reading →

IAU Adds Lemaître’s Name to Hubble Law

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This year marked my first opportunity to attend a general assembly of the International Astronomical Union.  It was an exciting two weeks in which scientists from all branches of astronomy and space physics gathered in beautiful Vienna, Austria to discuss their research and to do the work of the IAU.  Walking around the meeting venue, one could see astronomers of all stripes, from all over the world, and occasionally one could catch a glimpse of one of the “Big Names” in astronomy wandering about, usually in heated discussion with others about some important topic or other. What makes the IAU different from other scientific meetings is that it serves as the governing body for those aspects of astronomy that require universal agreement, such as the naming of stars and asteroids or of features on planets and moons.  It was the IAU that famously voted in 2006 to change the definition of a planet, which resulted in the “demotion” of Pluto … Continue reading →

St. Macrina’s Discourse on Science and Technology

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St. Macrina the Younger has a fascinating fourth-century discourse on science and technology. Macrina, who lived from 330 to 379 A.D., was the sister of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nyssa, and the daughter of St. Emmelia, and the granddaughter of St. Macrina the Elder (saints run thick in that family). Her discourse on science and technology was recorded by St. Gregory: it was part of their dialogue that became Gregory’s On the Soul and the Resurrection. Macrina discusses how we know more than just what our eyes show us, because through our minds we take what our eyes see and we reason and we calculate; and we come to know, for example, that the sun is far larger than the Earth (science), and how to create machinery that can even imitate human actions (technology). Check out what St. Macrina the Younger has to say—her discourse is available on the Vatican Observatory Faith and Science pages: CLICK … Continue reading →

Solar Prominences and a Prominent Jesuit Astronomer

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Fr. Angelo Secchi, S.J. was the director of the observatory of the Pontifical Roman College from 1848 until his death in 1878.  During that time, he made important contributions in many areas of astronomy and terrestrial physics, including stellar spectroscopy, terrestrial magnetism, oceanography, meteorology, geodesy and cartography, and more. He can rightly be considered a founder of astrophysics, as he was one of the first astronomers to attempt to study the physics of stars, using the new technique of stellar spectroscopy to classify and study about 4000 stars.  In honor of Solar Week, this post will focus on his contributions to solar astronomy and solar physics, and in particular to one study among many: the study of solar prominences.   Secchi was interested in all aspects of solar physics. He took spectra of the solar atmosphere and the solar corona. He made many studies of sunspots and solar rotation. He even set up a terrestrial magnetism laboratory in his observatory facility … Continue reading →

Expanding Universe? Hogwash!(?)

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In my last post we discussed why astronomers say “The universe is expanding.” But there is something important that we did not discuss in the last post. And that is this: We do not actually see the universe expanding. What do I mean by this? As stated in the previous post, when astronomers say the universe is expanding, they do not mean that everything is expanding. For example, the Earth, your hand, and the distance between Venus and the sun are all not expanding. What is expanding is the distance between galaxies. Galaxies are moving away from each other. Or so we think. The problem is, galaxies move so slowly, compared to their size. A galaxy can measure 100,000 light years across—in other words, a galaxy can be so large that a beam of light would require roughly 100,000 years to travel from one side of it to the other. But this also means that a galaxy is so large … Continue reading →

Asteroids Named for Jesuits

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These ten asteroids were all named after Jesuits.  I should note that the list is not exhaustive; there may be other asteroids that are named for Jesuits, but this is what I came up with after a couple hours’ search of the IAU minor planet center database.   3562 Ignatius e 0.1546 a 2.3387 AU i 5.7256 deg P 1306.358 days St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) was the founder of the Jesuit order. The name of the asteroid was given to Ignatius in 1991 in honor of the 500th anniversary of his birth. (Ref: Minor Planet Circular 17028)           3727 Maxhell e 0.1500 a 3.318 AU i 5.377 deg P 2207.577 days (Minor Planet Circular 26424): Named in memory of Maximilian Hell (1720-1792), famous for his determination of the solar parallax from his observations of the transit of Venus in 1769. Appointed director of the imperial observatory in Vienna in 1755, he prepared and published an important … Continue reading →

An Airplane and the Vatican Observatory

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This is just a fun little post to show off some pretty scenery.  The video below was taken by yours truly, from atop the papal palace at Castel Gandolfo, site of one of the telescopes of the Vatican Observatory.  Castel Gandolfo overlooks Lago Albano, a volcanic lake.  A firefighting plane just happened to be practicing on the lake at the time, making an already spectacular scene just all the more interesting.  (That’s Br. Guy talking about the plane in the first part of the video; I was shooting the video for my students, so you will hear me addressing them, too.)  Scroll down below the video for a nice still shot of the plane. Pretty cool stuff, huh?     … Continue reading →

The Vatican Observatory, when it was in Vatican City

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Readers of The Catholic Astronomer, check out this wonderful bit of 1929 silent newsreel on the Vatican Observatory. This was produced by Pathé Pictorial and features telescopes, Vatican Observatory personnel, all “in action”.  It also shows some pretty cool photos taken through Vatican Observatory telescopes. The video is also available via the British Pathé website. The shot of a dome, rotating atop a tower on the Vatican City wall, is perhaps my favorite.  Does anyone know the identities of the various people seen in the film?  Br. Guy? This video is also featured on the Vatican Observatory’s Faith and Science library.   … Continue reading →

That remarkable Pi

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Wednesday, March 14, is Pi Day. If you are not familiar with Pi Day, here is the story:  March 14 is called Pi Day because it is 3/14, and of course 3.14 is Pi rounded to two digits (Pi being 3.1415926535897932384626433832795…).  It has been celebrated in various forms for thirty years.  Google did a Pi Day Doodle in 2010. Pi is fascinating.  It is infinite, but it is not repeating and it is not ‘random’.  It means something—namely the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.  Within its infinity are many interesting things.  Its infinity of digits contain all sorts of numbers; you can explore what is in the first two billion digits using the SubIdiom Pi calculator (click here for the calculator).  Try it out.  Put in some digits.  See if those digits can be found in the first two billion digits of Pi. For example, how about the numbers 1-9 in ascending order?  SubIdiom says … Continue reading →