From the V.O. Faith and Science Pages: Astronomy and the Catholic Church – Stanley L. Jaki

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Today’s featured entry from the Vatican Observatory Faith and Science pages: “Astronomy and the Catholic Church – Stanley L. Jaki” (click here for it) An article by Fr. Stanley L. Jaki for History of Astronomy: An Encyclopedia edited by John Lankford and published in 1996 by Routledge. Routledge describes the book as an encyclopedia that “traces the history of the oldest science from the ancient world to the space age in over 300 entries by leading experts”. [click here to continue] The Faith and Science pages (F&S) are a unique resource on the web. The material in F&S is stuff that you will find nowhere else (or at least not without a lot of digging). Featured areas on F&S include “History of Church and Science”; “Church and Science Today”; “Science and Scripture”; “Science, Religion & Society”; “Life in the Universe”; “Cosmology”; and more. The level of the F&S material ranges from being accessible to all audiences, with even some material … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – February 16, 2021

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This entry is part 183 of 184 in the series In the Sky This Week

NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover lands on Thursday Feb. 18th, and NASA is inviting the public to take part in virtual activities and events as the rover nears entry, descent, and landing. Touchdown on Mars is scheduled for approximately 3:55 p.m. EST Thursday! This will be the second landing on Mars using the sky crane maneuver to lower the heavy rover down to the surface. The waxing crescent Moon appears high in the west-southwestern sky after sunset on Feb. 16th. The Moon appears near Mars high in the southern sky after sunset on Feb. 18th, then by the star Aldebaran on Feb. 19th and 20th. Mercury and Saturn appear low above the east-southeastern horizon before dawn this week; by early next week those two planets will be a bit higher above the horizon, and Jupiter will join them. In a previous post, I wondered if a space telescope observing the Sun would catch a glimpse of these planets… sure did! … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook | January 15, 1925: Luigi Carnera

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This entry is part 81 of 82 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 →

Want Diversity in Astronomy?  Try a Culture Change

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If you subscribe to Sky & Telescope magazine you will have noticed that half its issues over the past six months featured discussions of diversity in astronomy.  The October 2020 issue had a “Spectrum” editorial by The Staff titled “Amateur Astronomy for All”.  The December issue featured a “Focal Point” column by Dara Norman called “Time to Get Serious”.  The letters section of the February 2021 issue was dedicated to reader responses to the October editorial and to the general lack of diversity in astronomy. Apparently, no progress has been made in regard to diversity in astronomy, ever.  Norman points out that— while the total number of physics and astronomy professors increased from 2008 to 2016… the number of Black and Hispanic professors remained at the same tiny percentage of the academic work force —namely 0.6%, combined.*  In other words, there are effectively zero Black and Hispanic professors.  That is truly remarkable.  Note again that the number of professors has … Continue reading →

On the Richness of the Lunar Surface

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Richness There is an exquisite richness in the play of light on the lunar surface. The deepest blacks and brightest whites develop as the sun withdraws  or pours its light as the moon orbits around the Earth. Shadows both deep and subtle entice curiosity about their origins against a continually changing vista. While observing some years ago, I wandered into the visually rich lunar landscape near the Hyginus rille. This area was close to the terminator near the South West region of Mare Serenitiatis. The lunar terrain had a lot of linear features and subtle shadows. These wrapped around well-defined craters like Manilius (South-West part of Mare Serenitatis) Agrippa and Godin, (East of Mare Tranquillitatis region). In my field of view, that evening was the not so clear Boscovich that looked broken and messed up toward its western wall. On the terminator, lovely black finger-like shadows were cast onto the lunar surface. They seemed to be  clawing for a grip … Continue reading →

ⓜ The Grateful Astronomer

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This entry is part 58 of 60 in the series And Then I Wrote

And then I wrote… in 2013 I was invited to give a talk at the Jesuit parish in central London, and then the British online site Thinking Faith invited me to adapt it for one of their postings. They wanted a shorter version to fit their format; here is the original text, about twice as long, divided into two bits for this week and next. I wound up reusing a lot of this stuff in later things I wrote… I once caused a stir in a church in Hawaii by announcing that I was “an observer from the Vatican.” But it’s true; I was in Hawaii to use the telescopes there, just as I also observe with the Vatican’s own telescope in Arizona. That’s my job with the Vatican Observatory.  Why does the Vatican have an observatory? Its history actually goes back to the reform of the calendar in the 1580s, even before Galileo.  People often think that after the … 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 →

In the Sky This Week – February 9, 2021

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This entry is part 182 of 184 in the series In the Sky This Week

The waxing crescent Moon appears in the southwestern sky around sunset on Feb. 13th. Mars appears high in the southern sky after sunset, near the constellation Taurus and the Pleiades star cluster; the constellations Orion and Canis Major appear to the east of Mars in the southeastern sky. The Orion nebula makes a great observing and astrophotography target after sunset till about 1:00 AM. This week, the bright star Capella appears low above the north-northwestern horizon before dawn. The Moon is a waning crescent – visible low to the east before sunrise. The new Moon occurs on Feb.11th – deep sky astrophotographers rejoice as the Moon will not be visible. After Feb. 11th, the Moon will be a waxing crescent – visible to the southwest in the early evening. If you click on the Moon image above, or click this link, you will go to NASA’s Moon Phase and Libration, 2021 page – it will show you what the Moon … Continue reading →

A telescope made by an Angel…

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Happy 80th birthday, Roger Angel! The story we tell is that our Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope mirror, the Pope’s scope, was made by an Angel in a synagogue. The synagogue was the old home of the Jewish community on the campus of the University of Arizona, which had become available when Hillel moved into new quarters. The mirror was the first to be made with the technique of melting glass in a spinning oven, allowing it to flow into a perfect parabola while flowing over a set of ceramic blocks to give it a thin but strong honeycomb structure underneath the reflective surface. And the angel, of course, was Roger Angel. The story I’ve heard is that back in the 1980s, Peter Strittmatter, then director of Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona, Roger Angel, and George Coyne, then director of the Vatican Observatory, used to go out to lunch all the time. (Remember going out to lunch?) So it … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook | December 17, 1924: Elizabeth Wight

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This entry is part 80 of 82 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 →

How a Jesuit Astronomer and His Student beat Isaac Newton to a Key Idea by more than 50 Years (re-run)

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This is a “re-run” of a post that originally ran on May 25, 2019. I am rerunning it because the Journal for the History of Astronomy, which in February 2019 published the research that this post is based on, has made the published research available, free of charge.  So CLICK HERE and then download a PDF of the original paper.  You will see that it is pretty similar to this post. In 1614, well before Isaac Newton was even born, a German Jesuit astronomer named Christoph Scheiner and his student, Johann Georg Locher, developed an explanation for how the Earth could orbit the sun.  Earth, they said, was like a massive ball, perpetually falling toward the sun.  They discussed this in their 1614 book Disquisitiones Mathematicae de Controversiis et Novitatibus Astronomicis, or Mathematical Disquisitions Concerning Astronomical Controversies and Novelties (recently translated by yours truly, and published by the University of Notre Dame Press—click here).  This was Locher’s thesis for his degree … Continue reading →

Remembering ALCON 2009 New York

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Heading to New York When viewed from 37.000 feet, the landscape of Canada was laced with thousands of steel blue pools. Meandering river channels etched life into a combat green background. Shoals of puffy cumulus raced beneath me in several layers, of white and grey. The Air Lingus shamrock tipped wing sliced through the atmosphere toward a New York landing. I was on my way to Hofstra University to take part in ALCON 2009. The Astronomical Leagues Convention was organised by the Amateur Observers Society of New York. This week some images popped up in my memories on Facebook. I don’t seem to have written much about it before, it was I guess before blogs were popular. The trip was one of the highlights of my life a real full-on fun experience. Talks and Drawing I was invited to do three things, my workshop called Deadly Moons for local children. Another was a talk on the subject of Astronomical Sketching. … Continue reading →