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Tag Archives: Big Bang

ⓜ Beyond the end of time

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on August 13, 2020 by Br. Guy ConsolmagnoJuly 10, 2020
This entry is part 20 of 60 in the series And Then I Wrote

And then I wrote: As I have mentioned, in 2009 the Redemptorist Press invited me to write a series of reflections on issues of religion and science for the Sunday bulletins that are distributed in churches throughout the United Kingdom. The Feast of the Assumption is August 15, but in the UK it is celebrated on the following Sunday, 16 August. This is the final reflection that I wrote for that series. One of the great successes of modern science is the Big Bang theory. This idea that the universe is expanding from a single point was originally invented to explain what stops the stars and galaxies from all collapsing together due to the warping of space-time proposed by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. But the thought that the universe began from a single point at a certain fixed time (currently estimated at 13.7 billion years ago) was strongly resisted by many astronomers at first. They felt more comfortable with a universe that was … Continue reading →

Posted in And Then I Wrote | Tagged Big Bang, Future, Lemaitre | Leave a reply

Religious Scientists: Msgr. Georges Lemaître (1894-1966), Father of the Big Bang

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on May 26, 2019 by Robert MackeMay 23, 2019
This entry is part 4 of 15 in the series Religious Scientists of the Catholic Church

Many thanks to Dominique Lambert, who provided me with several articles and a full biography that were used to create this post. Georges Lemaître was a priest of the diocese of Louvain, in Belgium.  The proposer of what would become known as the Big Bang Theory was one of the more influential astrophysicists of his lifetime.  Albert Einstein even once skipped one of his own public appearances in order to converse with Lemaître over deep cosmological problems. Biographical Sketch: Georges Lemaître was born July 17, 1894 in the mining town of Charleroi, Belgium.  He studied at the Jesuit school Collège du Sacre Coeur, and then prepared to study mining engineering, as was typical of bright students in the area. With the advent of World War I, he enlisted and served with the artillery, where he received a formal reprimand for correcting an error in the artillery manual. After his discharge, he decided to study physics and mathematics. In 1920 he … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, History, Priests and Religious of Science, Religion, Science | Tagged Big Bang, Lemaitre, Pontifical Academy of the Sciences, Religious Scientists | 1 Reply

What do the Kentucky Ark and Soviet Scientists have in common? Opposition to the Big Bang Theory! (re-run)

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on August 11, 2018 by Christopher M. GraneyAugust 11, 2018

This is a re-run of a post that I originally wrote for October 5, 2016. I think it goes well with the posts on the expanding universe from two weeks ago and last week. Last week [in 2016], in a post about discussing theories like the Big Bang theory with those who hold traditional views of the age of the universe (such as the folks who built the Kentucky Ark), I mentioned how Arthur Eddington and Edwin Hubble expressed opposition to the idea of a finite age to the universe, and how the name “Big Bang” was a derisive joke-name given to it by Fred Hoyle. Guess who else disliked the Big Bang Theory?  Soviet scientists.  Yes, in 1949 Soviet astronomers pledged to fight against the theory of the “widening of the Universe” and declared that, in order to counterbalance this pro-religious “bourgeois” idea …Soviet science must intensify its work on regions beyond our galaxy, to give a materialistic explanation of … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged Big Bang, Expanding Universe | 1 Reply

Across the Universe: Perturbing the Universe

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on April 20, 2017 by Br. Guy ConsolmagnoMay 30, 2018
This entry is part 121 of 191 in the series Across the Universe

  This column first ran in The Tablet in April 2014 A member of our Vatican Observatory community, Fr. Bill Stoeger, died of cancer last month [2014]. I could say that Bill was both the smartest man and the holiest man I have known; but he would have rejected that characterization out of hand. So I will only say that his goodness and his genius never ceased to move me. He’s the only person I know who could work the mathematics of the Big Bang, and also direct retreats for religious women. Bill’s religious faith did not control the science he did, but how he did it. For example, more often than not he collaborated with scientists from the developing world – South Africa and Brazil in particular. And he showed a special patience with those members of our scientific community who could be brilliant but eccentric and sometimes hard to deal with. His scientific output was astonishing. At Cambridge … Continue reading →

Posted in Priests and Religious of Science, Science | Tagged Big Bang, Cosmology, Stoeger | Leave a reply

A Few Minutes after the Big Bang

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on March 8, 2015 by Dr. Brenda FryeMarch 18, 2015

Within the first few minutes following the Big Bang, all of the building blocks of matter in the universe had been made. Fortunately, enough matter was produced to give us the 100 billion galaxies with their requisite 100 billion stars each, the planets, comets and asteroids and so on, because no additional matter was made since this special epoch in cosmic history. We think the universe arose from what we call the Big Bang. This was a special kind of explosion. If you could magically be there at that time hoping to witness the fireworks and remark on the shape of it (like a mushroom cloud?) you would have been disappointed. This is because the explosion was so large that it incorporated all of space simultaneously. There would be no vantage point clear of the heart of the blast. In the first thousandth of a second following the Big Bang, the temperatures were so high, about 100 billion degrees, that … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged Big Bang | 3 Replies
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Recent Posts

Faith and Science (Fiction), but Different

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on February 27, 2021 by Christopher M. GraneyFebruary 22, 2021

The Vatican Observatory Faith and Science web resource contains hundreds of entries on the broad topic of faith and science.  I am Editor of this resource, and my more recent efforts in this regard have tended toward trying to find a wide variety of different material to add to the … Continue reading…

Posted in Extraterrestrial, Popular Culture, Religion | Leave a reply

Grand Finale Painting inspired by the Cassini Mission

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on February 26, 2021 by Deirdre KelleghanFebruary 26, 2021

Cassini Mission This blog was first published in March 2016, slightly updated here. I am fascinated by the surfaces of other worlds. The images taken by the robotic explorers are very inspiring. Canvases emerge directly from my observations of a tiny fraction of an image or are influenced by an … Continue reading…

Posted in Astronomy, Education, Space Exploration | Tagged Cassini, Grand Finale, Painting, Saturn Observation Campaign | Leave a reply

ⓜ Believing in things…

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on February 25, 2021 by Br. Guy ConsolmagnoFebruary 24, 2021
This entry is part of 60 in the series And Then I Wrote

And then I wrote… in 2014, the national Catholic newspaper Our Sunday Visitor invited me to submit a few words about science and faith…  as anyone who reads these pages knows, it’s hard to shut me up on the topic! This covers familiar ground; but it does it in a … Continue reading…

Posted in And Then I Wrote | Tagged faith and science | Leave a reply

In the Sky This Week – February 23, 2021

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on February 23, 2021 by Bob TrembleyFebruary 24, 2021
This entry is part 184 of 184 in the series In the Sky This Week

Millions of people around the planet have seen NASA’s Perseverance Rover descent and touchdown video – I’ve watched it over and over! I tweeted that this landing made me feel like a kid during the Apollo era again! Cameras were not part of the rover’s initial design – and were … Continue reading…

Posted in Astronomy, Outreach | Tagged Dyson Sphere Program, Jupiter, Mars, Mars Perseverance Rover, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Sun, Supernova 1987A, Uranus | 1 Reply

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

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on February 22, 2021 by Fr. James KurzynskiFebruary 24, 2021

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 … Continue reading…

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a reply

ⓜ Full Moon-th Meetup: 28 February, 2021

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on February 21, 2021 by Br. Guy ConsolmagnoFebruary 24, 2021

Featuring Dr. Robert Janusz, and the latest news of the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope! Just for our paying members: on the next Full Moon (actually, the day after full Moon, this month), Sunday, February 28, we’ll be holding our regular on-line meetup where we get to know and chat with … Continue reading…

Posted in Announcement | Tagged Meetup | Leave a reply
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Recent Comments

  • Fr. Bruce Wilkinson February 23, 2021 at 4:05 pm on In the Sky This Week – February 23, 2021I completely agree with you that putting cameras on EVERY space mission - without question and without fail. The ability to see the accomplishments of the various robotic missions have inspired future generations to want to become part of the space exploration crowd
  • Ed Yepez February 20, 2021 at 7:51 am on The Sun Rules!Excellent! Thank you very much for presenting this in such an understandable form. Also let me appreciate the math.(a lot of which I had forgotten) With Kepler, how you can make the correct observations, yet still come to an erroneous conclusion? But the observations remain correct, even useful for further...
  • Bob Trembley February 19, 2021 at 5:16 am on In the Sky This Week – February 16, 2021I joined a NASA Night Sky Network Zoom Watch Party - it was pretty cool! When I joined, an engineer was talking about his work on the helicopter - those wings are HUGE! I watched the the landing with my in-laws; it was cool to see the same image up...
  • Richard Hill February 19, 2021 at 12:54 am on Skyward by David Levy: February 2021Very nice meteor photo! Reminds me of one Geminid I saw as I was walking to night lunch on Kitt Peak. It passed right through Orion. Burned a memory in my brain.
  • Benjamin Goodison February 18, 2021 at 5:26 pm on In the Sky This Week – February 16, 2021... and three days later, Perseverance finally touched down successfully and is snapping its first images!I'm sure there were more than a few spontaneous prayers in the NASA control room in those last few minutes... there certainly were at my end :) Really looking forward to the wealth of new...
  • Bob Trembley February 16, 2021 at 8:31 am on In the Sky This Week – February 16, 2021Oh my goodness! Thank you SO MUCH for the kind replies!
  • Joseph O'Donnell February 16, 2021 at 8:00 am on In the Sky This Week – February 16, 2021Thank you for this. Always so helpful and enlightening.
  • Stan Sienkiewicz February 16, 2021 at 7:47 am on In the Sky This Week – February 16, 2021Bob, another great post. Wonderful way to start the day. Thanks for putting in the time to create these posts. Educational, beautiful, and awe inspiring. I really appreciate seeing these each week. Thank you, Stan
  • Fr. James Kurzynski February 12, 2021 at 10:40 pm on Space Exploration As An Act Of Interfaith Dialogue.Thanks Joel! I greatly appreciate your insight and encouragement!
  • Fr. James Kurzynski February 10, 2021 at 10:46 am on Polar Vortex, Snowy Owls, Puffins, and Answering the Question: Fr. James, If Global Warming Is Real, Why Am I So Cold?Thanks for you response! My apologies if it came across that Wisconsin was the southernmost Snowy Owls travel. That was not my intent. In my prep, I saw articles of sightings as south as Texas. The point being that some birds go south, others don't, and its a bit of...
  • Jim Cook February 10, 2021 at 8:05 am on Polar Vortex, Snowy Owls, Puffins, and Answering the Question: Fr. James, If Global Warming Is Real, Why Am I So Cold?Wisconsin is actually NOT very far south to find Snowy Owls in winter, as you can see from its eBird range map: https://ebird.org/science/status-and-trends/snoowl1/range-map I've subscribed to eBird's Snowy Owl reports list for almost 10 years now and while some years have seen more reports of sightings than others, they typically...
  • Fr. Timothy Sauppé February 8, 2021 at 8:38 am on A telescope made by an Angel…Br. Guy: This would make a great beginning to your opening address to the Solar Eclipse Retreat in 2024 for Bishops/Priests. I am going to save this. Fr. Timothy Sauppé
  • Richard Saam February 7, 2021 at 10:20 am on JWST update – Hexagons in SpaceI want to make an additional point on hexagons: In the realm of crystallography as described in solid state physics, there is an equivalence between real(energy) and reciprocal(momentum) hexagonal space. This was mathematically presented in Charles Kittel's (recently deceased) text "Introduction to Solid State Physics". And then something to ponder:...
  • Joel Hopko February 1, 2021 at 11:23 am on Space Exploration As An Act Of Interfaith Dialogue.Fr. Kurzynski -- I too was very moved by the Emirates and the other national efforts (Japanese, Indian etc.) Like you I found in them an expression of the human spirit and even the religious wellsprings that can inspire us toward a shared destiny beyond our fear and confusion. Thanks...
  • Richard Saam February 1, 2021 at 10:33 am on JWST update – Hexagons in SpaceAdding to Fernando's comments 'hexagons are pretty much everywhere in the universe': It can be argued that universal space time can be expressed as oscillating virtual hexagonal (~50 cm, ~8 hr) lattice units conforming to the conservation of energy and momentum and the universe vacuum energy density. There is some...
  • Christopher M. Graney January 27, 2021 at 9:05 am on Faith, Science and Astronomy TextbooksGood! Glad to hear it. As for myself I still think they need more on Kepler, at least if they are going to throw in bits of history with any religion content. It would help with those many students who are afraid that science is all about being non-theistic.
  • Joel Hopko January 24, 2021 at 12:24 pm on Faith, Science and Astronomy TextbooksProfessor Graney -- Call me easily placated, but I was actually somewhat relieved that most of the texts reviewed at least attempted to provide some nuance to the Galileo narrative. Certainly an improvement over the "martyr for science" trope so frequently dispensed over popular media. Obviously much work remains, but...
  • Fr. James Kurzynski January 20, 2021 at 6:48 am on Space Missions In 2021: What Are You Most Excited To See In This New Year?Thanks Janine! I love your reflection on the Al Amal mission! I was so impressed with the video they produced and, yes, I can't wait to see the United Arab Emirates contribution to science! It's something that isn't mentioned much, but should be mentioned more: True science, by its very...
  • Janine Samz January 19, 2021 at 9:37 am on Space Missions In 2021: What Are You Most Excited To See In This New Year?Thank you, Father. Let's see. I am drawn to three! The Emirates one is interesting because of the extent of what they are looking for and from history I know the Arab culture used to be a leader in science. It would be interesting to see them at work again...
  • Christopher M. Graney January 19, 2021 at 8:59 am on “Cosmos: Possible Worlds”, 10-13: Goodbye to a Losing SeasonMy experience with students and the general public is that a reasonable number of people will be amazed by the real universe. For example, people who saw the conjunction on the 21st were generally amazed. But certainly Cosmos seems to think that stuff has to be over the top.

Top Posts

  • Grand Finale Painting inspired by the Cassini Mission
    Grand Finale Painting inspired by the Cassini Mission
  • Looking for Wormwood
    Looking for Wormwood
  • In the Sky This Week – February 25, 2020
    In the Sky This Week – February 25, 2020
  • Biblical Signs in the Sky? September 23, 2017
    Biblical Signs in the Sky? September 23, 2017
  • ⓜ Believing in things...
    ⓜ Believing in things...
  • Faith and Science (Fiction), but Different
    Faith and Science (Fiction), but Different
  • The Sun Rules!
    The Sun Rules!
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    History of Light Pollution
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    Active Region 2781
  • In the Sky This Week – February 26, 2019
    In the Sky This Week – February 26, 2019

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