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Sabbatical Journal 4: Finding Comfort In Isolation.

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I wish to begin by extending a sincere word of support for any readers of Sacred Space Astronomy that have been impacted by Coronavirus or has a loved one who is suffering with or has died from this virus. I know that Sacred Space Astronomy is read by people that are Catholic, Non-Catholic, and those whose life journey has led them to question God. As a Catholic Priest, I feel inclined to focus this post with a prayer. The Redemporist Order, the Order that runs the center where I am on sabbatical, has a unique devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The Catholic tradition of asking the Saints for prayers evokes the intuitive act many of us have of asking good friends and family to pray for us in our need. We don’t pray to Mary as a deity, but ask that her motherly love wrap us with her prayers as any loving mother would. In that spirit: Mary, … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook: July 4, 1913 – Curvin Gingrich

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This entry is part 37 of 37 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 July 4, 1913, when Curvin H. Gingrich made a visit. Next to his name, Curvin Henry Gingrich (1880-1951) wrote, “Popular Astronomy, Goodsell Obsy. Northfield, Minn.” He was the third editor of the magazine Popular Astronomy. From 1909 until his death in 1951, he was on the faculty at Carleton College in Northfield, MN. His research involved the measurement of positions and proper motions of stars, and later photometry. He joined the editorial staff of Popular Astronomy in 1910, and became its editor in 1926. Under his leadership, the magazine developed a close relationship with the American Astronomical Society.  Unfortunately, the magazine died shortly after Gingrich in 1951. … Continue reading →

Religious Scientists: One Year In

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This entry is part 14 of 14 in the series Religious Scientists of the Catholic Church

Wow, it has already been a year since the first post on this series about religious scientists.  In that year, we’ve looked at men and women who have contributed to astronomy and astrophysics, biology, chemistry, paleontology, computer science, meteoritics,  medicine, and more. My goal in starting the column was to highlight people who had religious vocations (priests, monks, sisters, brothers, etc.) who at the same time contributed to our scientific understanding of the natural world. These people serve as a sign to the world of the compatibility of faith and science. I thought I would celebrate the completion of this year by taking a brief pause and looking back at the people discussed in previous posts. This also serves as an opportunity for you the reader to catch up on anyone that you may have missed. Fr. Angelo Secchi S.J.:  Jesuit priest. He is one of the pioneers of astrophysics. He developed a spectral classification system for stars and was … Continue reading →

Space Race Mathematician

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Katherine Johnson died last month, at the age of 101.  If her name does not ring a bell then you probably never read the book Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race, and you probably never saw the movie Hidden Figures.  Both book and movie are about a group of mathematicians who worked at NASA Langley during the “Space Race”, when the United States was in competition with the Soviet Union over prowess in space.  The mathematicians in Hidden Figures were all women, and all African American.  They worked at Langley, in Virginia in the U.S.A., at a time when the state of Virginia was fiercely devoted to racial segregation. All the Langley women were talented, but Katherine Johnson seems to have been particularly brilliant, and she has been particularly honored over time.  NASA has a Katherine Johnson computing facility.  Johnson was awarded the Presidential Medal of … Continue reading →

Sabbatical Journal 3: The Coronavirus Crisis Deepens – What Do I Do If Mass Is Not Celebrated?

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Last week I reflected on the unthinkable becoming reality. It turns out there were more unthinkable moments ahead. It truly shows how serious this crisis is when my post last week is woefully out of date. This week, I want to share with you what I shared with my parish. This is a Pastor’s response to his people. Parishioners of mine have lost their jobs, fear how they are going to feed their children, and today it was announced the state of Wisconsin is moving to home confinement to flatten the curve of the spread of this virus. I wish I could wax eloquently today with you on the questions of faith and astronomy. Instead, I simply offer the following resources and message I have shared with my parishioners: God will see us through this crisis. Just to clarify, the resources below in no way reflect anything official from the Vatican. Writing for Sacred Space Astronomy, people sometimes presume that … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook: March 26, 1913 – Georges Lecointe

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This entry is part 36 of 37 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 March 26, 1913, when Georges Lecointe made a visit.   Next to his name, Georges Lecointe (1869-1929) wrote, “Directeur à l-observatoire royal de Belgique, à Uccle” (“Director  of the Royal Observatory of Belgium, in Uccle.”) He was scientific director of the observatory from 1900-1914, and director of the observatory from 1914-1925. He was also a Belgian Naval officer, captaining the research ship Belgica from 1897-1901. During this period, he was second in command of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition.  This was the first expedition that stayed overwinter in Antarctica. The crew of the expedition also included Roald Amundsen, who would lead the first expedition to reach the South Pole in 1911. He was founder of the International Polar Organization. He was a founding … Continue reading →

Sabbatical Journal 2: Corona Virus – When The Unthinkable Becomes Reality.

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I am not an expert on the Corona Virus. I have tried to keep up with developments while on sabbatical and learn what I can. The only thing I have learned is that once I think I understand what is happening, things change rapidly. At the Redemptorist Renewal Center, our group has felt as if we have been living in a bubble, distant from Corona hysteria. That ended this morning when, during the petitions at Mass, it was made known that a parishioner’s brother died from complications of this virus. Even in the safety of the Saguaro Desert, this pandemic continues to be indiscriminate in its impact. At my home Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, measures are being taken to limit the spread of this virus. All programming and events have been canceled. The obligation to attend Sunday Mass has been lifted. To put it another way, what was once unthinkable just weeks ago is now our reality. The sober … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook: March 25, 1913 – Jens Schroeter

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This entry is part 35 of 37 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 March 25, 1913, when Jens F. Schroeter made a visit. Next to his name, Jens Fredrick Wilhelm Schroeter (1857-1927) wrote, “Observator an der Sternwarte in Kristiania” (“Observator at the observatory in Kristiania.”) He was an astronomer of the Observatory of Royal Frederick University in Oslo, Norway. He would become the director of the observatory in 1919. [n.b. “Kristiania” was the official name of Oslo from 1877-1925.] Schroeter also edited the Nordic Astronomical Journal.   … Continue reading →

ⓜ The Observer’s Guide to Astronomy

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This entry is part 7 of 14 in the series And Then I Wrote

(And Then I Wrote…) In order to let my backlog of “Across the Universe” columns build up a bit, I am republishing a selection of other articles that I have written and published in various places…  Keeping up my pattern this month of book reviews, I include here a review of a The Observer’s Guide to Astronomy, Volume I. edited by Patrick Martinez in the late 1980s; translated by Storm Dunlop into English in 1994. My review ran in Icarus volume 117, pp. 216–217, in 1995. So why bother reading about a book that is now more than thirty years old? As I argue at the end of the review, “This book, written for the amateur today, may find its greatest long-term professional importance in the future as a lucid and detailed record of how astronomy used to be done, way back in the 20th century.” It also shows my typical style of book reviewing. All book reviews are personal opinions; and so I am not … Continue reading →

The Science of the VATT

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The Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) has been in regular operation for twenty five years now, and it is a mainstay of our scientific efforts. There are two questions I get about it all the time. What good is a relatively small (1.8 meter aperture) telescope in the days of giant telescopes and space telescopes? And, related to that question… what actually has the VATT accomplished? The answer to the first is simple. Discoveries are made with small telescopes, and then confirmed or studied in depth with big telescopes. If you think about it, that shouldn’t be surprising. Rarely can you afford to “take a chance” with a big telescope on observing something that may or may not turn out to be interesting, because there is so much competition for observing time on those telescopes. Astronomers have to write up detailed proposals well in advance of when they want to use those telescopes. A committee will go over all of … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook: March 24, 1913 – Fernand Jacobs

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This entry is part 34 of 37 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 March 24, 1913, when Fernand Jacobs made a visit. Next to his name, Fernand Jacobs (1870-1926) wrote, “President de la S’té Belge d’astronomie Bruxelles” (“President of the Belgian Astronomical Society, Brussels”) He was the founding president of the Belgian Astronomical Society. He was also the founding president of the Aeronautics Club of Belgium and the founding vice-president of the International Aeronautic Federation (FAI, for Federation Aeronautique Internationale).   … Continue reading →

Sabbatical Journal: Entry One – Gear, Subject, and Ansel Adams

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I am a week away from starting my sabbatical! Many have asked, “Father, are you excited to go to Arizona?” I must admit that it is an odd question to answer. I know that I need a sabbatical and that this time of rest will be very good for me. Still, I’m feeling the tug to stay at the parish, experiencing feelings of missing my family, both my parish and on the farm, before departure. In those times of mixed emotions, I have reminded myself of what our Vicar of Clergy told me is the first lesson of sabbatical – “James, the parish will be fine without you.” One of the aspects of sabbatical I am greatly looking forward to is having the weekends to myself. One of my goals for these weekends is to do some astrophotography along with other “shutter bug” projects. To have ten weekends to shoot the stars in one of the best places on Earth … Continue reading →