Just Look Up - Sacred Space Astronomy

In the Sky This Week – January 22, 2019

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Bob TrembleyJanuary 22, 2019

This entry is part 79 of 141 in the series In the Sky This Week

Back in Michigan and recovered from my trip to Tucson to help with Vatican Observatory Foundation’s 2019 Faith and Astronomy Workshop (#FAWVOF), only to be thrust into face-biting arctic-like conditions for the total lunar eclipse on Jan. 20th. The shape of the weeks-long conjunction of Jupiter, Venus and the star Antares in the southeastern predawn changes drastically this week, as Venus moves away from Jupiter and Antares. Venus appears to move away from Jupiter, and Saturn appears a little higher each morning. Venus was simply brilliant all week at the FAW! You may note how it’s getting just a little brighter each morning at 7:00 AM; this fact is not missed by my parrots – who scream for attention at the first hint of morning’s light. A waning gibbous Moon appears near the star Regulus in the predawn sky on Jan. 22nd and 23rd. An almost third quarter moon appears near the star Spica high in the southwestern predawn sky on Jan. 26th. … Continue reading →

Br. Guy Consolmagno March 24, 2020 at 8:01 am on Remembering Bill Stoeger: New VideosSister Margaret Duffy, an old friend of Bill's from England, wrote me after seeing this post: "What a delight to be able to see Bill talking in his imitable way. I recall walking with him in the early 70's when he was a guest of my then community. It was...
Deirdre Kelleghan March 24, 2020 at 4:19 am on Buzz AldrinThank you for your comment Fernando. I will check out the book you mention there :-)
Deirdre Kelleghan March 24, 2020 at 4:16 am on On Peace Stars and RainbowsHi Bob thanks for your comment , and how lucky are you to have seen two moonbows !! Here in Ireland its showery with clear spells all the time but I have not been so lucky.
Bob Prokop March 20, 2020 at 6:13 am on On Peace Stars and RainbowsI have twice seen a moonbow, both times in England where the description "showery with clear spells" pretty much describes the weather there all the time. A moonbow is pure magic - much dimmer than a rainbow, but alive with a silvery (dare I say "elvish"?) shimmer. Observing a moonbow...
Fr. James Kurzynski March 16, 2020 at 4:46 pm on Sabbatical Journal 2: Corona Virus – When The Unthinkable Becomes Reality.Take the passion and hope of our faith and apply the mind God gave us scientifically to continue the healing ministry of Christ? Sounds "faith and sciencey" to me! :)
Gary Niziolek March 16, 2020 at 2:57 pm on Sabbatical Journal 2: Corona Virus – When The Unthinkable Becomes Reality.Father Jim, Thank you for your inspiring words. Maybe this is where faith and science come together. We need the faith that Our Lord will give the people of science the inspiration to find the cure for this virus. Maybe this will bring more people back to the faith in...
Jim Cook March 9, 2020 at 9:55 am on The Science of the VATTIn case anyone, like me, would like to download the flyer as a PDF, I found it at: https://www.vofoundation.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/VATT-Flyer.pdf
Bob Prokop March 7, 2020 at 5:46 am on Science and the Smell of the VioletI like to think of science and religion as the right and left wheels on a cart. Lose either one, and you can drive into a ditch. Religion without science runs the risk of being superstition. Science without religion can all too easily lead to Hiroshima, Auschwitz, and the Gulag....
Richard Saam February 23, 2020 at 10:59 am on Reflections on the passing of Fr. George CoyneFr Coyne's reference to Romans 8, 18-27 and its logical development by Fr. Teilhard de Chardin are very inspirational.
Joseph Listerman February 12, 2020 at 6:45 am on In the Sky This Week – February 12, 2020Huge congrats to you and your family! I did get a chuckle at "under the full Moon." My first two girls both born at 95%-100% full moon. The people on the birthing wing will swear it's a thing, always busy on a full moon. Hope everything else goes smoothly and...
Christopher M. Graney February 8, 2020 at 11:17 am on ⓜ Editing the Copernican RevolutionI decided to post this because I think readers will find it interesting to see how the process works. But I will point out one editorial change that bugs me. You tell me whether it was good or bad. After all, the fact that the change bugs *me* does not...
Jim Cook February 8, 2020 at 10:33 am on Truth and Trolls: Betelgeuse Going Boom?Were Betelgeuse to go boom in the near future, I suspect with today's technology, it could be put back — at least visually. Perhaps we could put a highly reflective gold/orange coated mirror far enough out into space, in just the right location, to produce a reflection that, when seen...
Ed Yepez February 8, 2020 at 9:49 am on ⓜ Editing the Copernican RevolutionDo you feel your message/intent was changed? Or hopefully applied (correctly) beyond your original intent? At the beginning of this article you give and expect a lot of lee-way to editors. Could you say this is how information "evolves" thru dissemination? I need to read all the article/versions and see...
Margaret Bumby February 6, 2020 at 8:41 am on ⓜ The Impact of a GiantThanks for another good read. I remember some of these stories, but not all of them.
Br. Guy Consolmagno February 3, 2020 at 5:09 pm on After the drive: Diary of 3 February, 2020Go for it! Definitely, spread the word... thanks!
Franca Gallucci February 3, 2020 at 9:54 am on After the drive: Diary of 3 February, 2020I hope to borrow parts of today’s post for my intro to our parishioners at a future presentation about the existence of the VOF. Ok or scary?
Christopher M. Graney January 31, 2020 at 8:39 am on Stupid Astronomer Tricks #19: Wheel goes roundBut the most incredible of these stories you've told has to be the one about the cyanide...
Christopher M. Graney January 31, 2020 at 8:36 am on Stupid Astronomer Tricks #19: Wheel goes roundHoo boy. And a quick search (https://web.mit.edu/wallace/) tells me that Wallace Observatory was established in 1971, so you were tearing up everyone's new stuff. This story reminds me of a physics lab class that I was in at the U of Dayton. This was an advanced lab, and we were...
Fr. James Kurzynski January 28, 2020 at 1:32 pm on Truth and Trolls: Betelgeuse Going Boom?Part of me says, "Let it go boom!" Then I think... wait... would that obliterate a world with life on it... then I start feeling guilty. So... I guess I'm okay with leaving the star as is!
Fr. James Kurzynski January 28, 2020 at 1:25 pm on Truth and Trolls: Betelgeuse Going Boom?Oops, my apologies. So... I misunderstood your comment about the misspelling of a star with an already complicated identity crisis because of how the word sounds... got it! :) And no trolling intended... just kinda happened... man this social media stuff is a real pain sometimes!

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