Category Archives: Uncategorized

A Sinus condition

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This entry is part 42 of 42 in the series Lunarcy

North and east of the great crater Theophilus (diam. 104km) is Sinus Asperitatis (“Bay of roughness”) that opens towards Mare Tranquilitatis to the north. Right in the middle of the sinus is the pear-shaped crater Torricelli (roughly 20x30km) sitting off center in the ruins of an ancient unnamed crater about 90km diameter. Torricelli is undoubtedly the product of a two crater merger. The U-shaped feature at the top middle of this image is the crater Hypatia (43km) an old partially ruined crater. Of course the “elephant in the room” is Theophilus catching the first rays of the morning sunlight with its central peaks casting shadows across the floor of the crater. The low sun angle displays details in the ejecta blanket to the right of the crater down to Madler (29km) below Theophilus with a little dorsum for a tail. To the left of Theophilus is a similar sized, impressive crater, Cyrillus (100km). With Theophilus on top of Cyrillus it’s … Continue reading →

Citizen Science And The Mars Perseverance Rover: What Could You Discover On The Red Planet?

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Well, the red planet is back in the News again! And when looking at some of the initial video and images of the mission, there is much to get excited about! Mars Missions have always had a special place in my love of science. As I’ve mentioned in the past, the Pathfinder mission was my “Apollo” moment, following the mission closely in my final year of college and first year of graduate school. While acquainting myself with the Perseverance rover, my interest in our distant neighbor has been reignited. Whether it be the open source images provided by NASA (thank you!!!) or the fun binary code Easter egg in Perseverance’s parachute exclaiming “dare mighty things,” my attention has been turned to the rusty red dot in night sky! When I combine Perseverance with my love of photography, I find a rare opportunity to possibly do some real science with this Mars mission. Since NASA has open sourced Perseverance’s images, anyone … Continue reading →

Arrival: Mars Takes Center Stage As Probes Arrive At The Red Planet!

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These past couple of weeks have greeted us with exciting news from Mars! First, the United Arab Emirates mission to place a weather satellite named Al-Amal into orbit around the red planet was a success! One of the main goals of the “hope probe” is to understand the red planet’s atmosphere. This work will be essential to help solve the mystery of why Mars has lost so much of its original atmosphere. For those interested in following the UAE’s mission, I invite you to visit their website: https://www.emiratesmarsmission.ae/ar. Another bit of exciting news is that NASA’s latest Mars rover and “helicopter” have also arrived at Mars! The Perseverance Rover has an ambitious mission of drilling samples on the red planet to be sent back to Earth by a future mission being planned by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). If successful, the future launch of Perseverance’s samples back to Earth will be the first time humans have launched a … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook | September 16, 1934: Pope Pius XI

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This entry is part 82 of 84 in the series Specola Guestbook

Since its founding in 1891, many people have passed through the doors of the Vatican Observatory.  A quick perusal of our guestbook reveals several Names, including Popes, Nobel laureates, astronauts, actors, and saints. Today’s guestbook entry is not technically from the guest book.  It is from a separate parchment reserved for Popes on their first official visit to the Specola. This tradition was begun when the Vatican Observatory was relocated from within Vatican City out to the Pontifical summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, about 25 km outside of Rome. On September 16, 1934, Pope Pius XI made a visit. Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (1857-1939) was elected Pope in 1922 and took the name Pius.  Prior to his elevation to the Papacy, he was the cardinal archbishop of Milan. In 1929, he and the Italian leader Benito Mussolini signed the Lateran Treaty, in which the nation of Italy formally recognized the Vatican as an independent sovereignty.  As part of this act, … Continue reading →

Rheita trench

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This entry is part 41 of 42 in the series Lunarcy

The area on either side of the crater Metius (90km diameter) seen near center in this image, is complex and fascinating. To the right is the obvious Vallis Rheita, formed when ejecta from the Mare Nectaris impact created a line of over a dozen craters. The crater Rheita (71km) itself can be seen at the top of this line in the image with it’s little central peak. Some lunar researchers see Vallis Rheita as two separate but overlapping troughs as evidenced by the bend in the middle with the farther portion coming from the impact of Nectaris that it points back to, while the western portion (nearer the terminator) points south of the Mare on a line with Fracastorius and Theophilus. Before we move on, notice the odd crater to the right of Rheita, Rheita E, obviously formed from 4 or 5 craters being merged. To the immediate left of Metius is a slightly smaller crater Fabricius (80km) known for … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook | January 15, 1925: Luigi Carnera

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This entry is part 81 of 84 in the series Specola Guestbook

Since its founding in 1891, many people have passed through the doors of the Vatican Observatory.  A quick perusal of our guestbook reveals several Names, including Popes, Nobel laureates, astronauts, actors, and saints. Today’s guestbook entry is from January 15, 1925, when Luigi Carnera made a visit. Next to his name, Luigi Carnera (1875-1962) wrote, “Trieste – R. Osservatorio astronomico” He was accompanied on the visit by Vincenzo Cerulli, Azeglio Bemporad, and Emilio Bianchi, all of whom made at least one previous visit. [Note: Curiously, Bianchi was the first person to sign the book after a gap between 1915-1920. Here, he is the last person to sign the book before another mysterious gap between 1925 and 1934.] Carnera was the director of the Trieste Observatory from 1919 until 1932. He then was named director of the Capodimonte Observatory, a post he held until 1950. Much of Carnera’s astronomical involved the discovery of asteroids.  He discovered 16 of them. The asteroid … Continue reading →

Polar Vortex, Snowy Owls, Puffins, and Answering the Question: Fr. James, If Global Warming Is Real, Why Am I So Cold?

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If you live in the United States, you might be a bit on the chilly side this week. Last Sunday morning, I looked at a reputable weather forecast website to figure out what I needed to wear outside. The forecasted low for the day was -9 degrees Fahrenheit (-22 Celsius). What was the actual temperature at the airport down the street from my rectory? A balmy -18 degrees Fahrenheit (-27 Celsius). That was the raw temperature… let’s not talk about the wind chill levels. Days like last Sunday (and today) often bring about an ongoing debate with some parishioners: Fr. James, I read what you write about climate change and I’m confused – If global warming is real, why is it so cold right now? My gut tells me I wont get this question as much this year since we have had a very mild winter. Still, as Chris Graney and I explored in past posts, temperatures in my home … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook | December 17, 1924: Elizabeth Wight

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This entry is part 80 of 84 in the series Specola Guestbook

Since its founding in 1891, many people have passed through the doors of the Vatican Observatory.  A quick perusal of our guestbook reveals several Names, including Popes, Nobel laureates, astronauts, actors, and saints. Today’s guestbook entry is from December 17, 1924, when Elizabeth Wight made a visit. Next to her name, Elizabeth von Bescoten Wight (1894-1958) wrote, “Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A. (Yerkes Observatory)” It is not clear what her connection to Yerkes Observatory might have been at the time of her visit in 1924. She was a law librarian in Milwaukee and avid amateur astronomer. She was a founding member of the Milwaukee Astronomical Society, and served as the first vice-president in 1932, and again ca. 1939-1941. She served as president of the Milwaukee Astronomical Society ca. 1941-1942. To date, she is the only woman to have held that position. She remained active in the organization until at least 1956. She also was editor of the journal Amateur Astronomy, published by … Continue reading →

Space Exploration As An Act Of Interfaith Dialogue.

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In the past, I offered a reflection on what it means to bring humanity to space. In that reflection, I teased the idea that space travel needs to be more than just scientific exploration. Don’t get me wrong, the science of space travel is central for many obvious reasons. At the same time, if we really want to bring humanity into space it requires us to explore science, philosophy, culture, humanities, and faith. The human person is not a one dimensional species. We are a complexity of biology, psychology, and religiosity that creates both the beauty of the human experience and the tragedy of what can happen when the fragility of our human nature fails.  I was reminded of this while penning my reflection, Space Missions in 2021: What Are You Most Excited To See In This New Year? In particular, I was quite moved by the United Arab Emirates Mars probe mission, Al Amal. Enjoy this beautiful video as … Continue reading →

From The Backyard: Covid-19 Vaccines, Cultural Trauma, and the Orion Nebula

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It’s been a long, long time since I offered a “From the backyard” reflection. Part of the reason for this delay is the occupational hazard of all astro-buffs: Clouds! I can’t speak for other parts of the United States, but the cloud cover over Wisconsin has been epic. Clouds at this time of year are common for the badger state, but the transition from 2020 to 2021 has been a challenge for night sky lovers. Thankfully, the clouds broke the last couple nights and I finally was able to capture first light with my new duo-band filter (H-Alpha/OIII). As with all things, time will help me improve my images, but, for a first attempt, I’m pretty happy with the results! Something I’ve come to quickly love about duo-band astrophotography is that you can still image deep sky images in a city that boasts a bortle class 6 sky (in other other words, we don’t see too many stars over head) … Continue reading →

THE EASTERN TRIO

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This entry is part 39 of 42 in the series Lunarcy

The moon is just a thin crescent in the bright twilight sky as this trio of craters creep out from the lunar night. The large one on the right is Endymion (129km dia.) an ancient walled plain that was formed about 4 billion years ago (b.y.) . It’s accompanied by the younger Atlas (90km) below center with it’s contained system of Rimae Atlas a mere 3.2-3.8 b.y. old. It has a impressive ejecta blanket to the east and south where the material was piled up outside the crater wall. Atlas is followed by the shadow filled Hercules (71km) to the west, the youngest of the trio at 1.1-3.2 b.y. old. Above Atlas is a very young crater Keldysh (34km) and between them the totally ruined crater Atlas E. It’s obviously older than Atlas since the ejecta from the Atlas impact is splattered across the whole width of Atlas E. To the east (right) of Atlas is a large flat area. … Continue reading →

Space Missions In 2021: What Are You Most Excited To See In This New Year?

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Now that the Christmas season is done, I can return to reflecting on astronomy! As I shared with you in the past, I plan on doing a couple more pieces on the forthcoming Artemis Missions. I also thought it would be fun to reflect on space missions slated for 2021. For understandable reasons, Covid-19 has often forced us to reflect on hard things that can lead to an emotional weightiness. Let’s take a little time to focus on the positives. Literally, let’s allow our minds to drift into space today! While poking around on EarthSky, I found a piece titled, “6 space missions to look forward to in 2021.” Below are the missions. I want to get your feedback on which missions interest you the most and, of those missions, which ones would you like me to write about. With that, let’s dream!  Mars Missions Though these probes are already on the way to Mars, a host of technologies will … Continue reading →