• Log In
↓
 

Sacred Space Astronomy

Blog of the Vatican Observatory Foundation

Sacred Space Astronomy
  • VOF / VO Sites
    • VOF Home Page
    • VOF Sacred Space Astronomy Site
    • VOF Faith and Science Archive
    • Vatican Observatory Home Page
    • Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope
    • Specola Vaticana
  • Author Posts
    • Posts by Brother Guy Consolmagno
    • Posts by Fr. James Kurzynski
    • Posts by Christopher M. Graney
    • Posts by Bob Trembley
    • Posts by Deirdre Kelleghan
    • Posts by Richard Hill
    • Posts by Brother Bob Macke
    • Posts by Larry Lebofsky
    • Posts by Nancy Lebofsky
    • Posts by Father Paul Gabor
    • Posts by Dr. Michelle Francl
    • Posts by Dr. Brenda Frye
    • Posts by Chris Olsen
    • Posts by Bill Higgins
  • Calendar
  • Image Gallery
  • Support Us
  • Log In

Tag Archives: Magnificent Universe

Across the Universe: Stellar Round Up

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on October 17, 2019 by Br. Guy ConsolmagnoSeptember 28, 2019
This entry is part 93 of 191 in the series Across the Universe

This column first appeared in The Tablet in October 2008; we first ran it here in 2016 Black Mesa, Oklahoma sounds like the setting for a Hollywood Western. It looks like one, too. Every year at the Okie-Tex Star Party, three hundred amateur astronomers camp out for a week with their telescopes there, in hopes of dark dry skies. Some of their “amateur” instruments are larger in aperture than the telescopes of the Vatican Observatory in Castel Gandolfo. The miracle of computerized fabrication and the modern Dobsonian mount (a way of holding a telescope in place that replaces complex hardware with simple Teflon pads) has brought the cost of quality optics to the point where the price of a large telescope can be less than that of a small automobile. My GPS unit directed me as far as Boise City, two hours north of Amarillo, Texas; after that, I was following roads too small for most maps. I was there … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Education, Light Pollution, Meteorites, Outreach | Tagged amateur astronomy, light pollution, Magnificent Universe | Leave a reply

Does Studying the Universe Change Your Perspective of the Environment Around You?

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on May 25, 2018 by Bob TrembleyMay 26, 2018

An 8th grader doing a research project on astronomy recently emailed the Warren Astronomical Society asking “Does studying the universe change your perspective of the environment around you?” In this post, I expand upon the response I wrote back to that student.   Absolutely it does! Astronomy and cosmology are enormously wide fields of study, encompassing everything from quantum mechanics down at the sub-atomic level, to the interactions of (as of yet) unseen dark matter on the large-scale structure of the universe. Climate studies Studying how gases in Earth’s atmosphere and liquid in the oceans reflect and adsorb light, and radiate heat is but a small part of understanding how Earth’s climate functions and can change over time. The same principles used to study the Earth’s atmosphere can be applied to the atmospheres of other worlds; Venus is an example of a “runaway greenhouse effect,” and should be viewed as a cautionary tale for Earth’s ever increasing CO2 level (410.31 parts per … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Commentary, Outreach, Science | Tagged COSMOS, Earth, Earth Systems, Enceladus, Europa, Hydrothermal, Life, Magnificent Universe, Mars2020, planetary science, TESS, Universe | 2 Replies

Across the Universe: Techie Dreams

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on May 24, 2018 by Br. Guy ConsolmagnoMay 30, 2018
This entry is part 178 of 191 in the series Across the Universe

This column first appeared in The Tablet in May, 2008, under the title “The Magic is Real” We ran it again here in 2015. It’s hard to believe but the Iron Man movie. credited with launching the current Marvel Universe franchise, is now ten years old… I have a friend who has found a new drug: it can keep him awake and programming at his computer for 36 hours straight, without too many bad side effects… or so he claims. I think he’s nuts; aside from the obvious dangers of self-prescribing anything, I happen myself to find sleeping to be a beautifully spiritual experience. (At least, that’s what I tell the homilist after Mass.) But I was struck mostly by the motivation behind my friend’s drug abuse. He is so passionately in love with being alive and doing his work that he resents having to waste eight hours sleeping every night.   That passion is one of the great things … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Popular Culture | Tagged Beauty, Magnificent Universe, Makers | 1 Reply

On the immensity of space

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on October 18, 2017 by Dr. Michelle FranclOctober 17, 2017

The Total Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017 – fly along with the shadow! from Eclipse2017.org on Vimeo. Not quite two months ago I spent a late morning and early afternoon watching the moon slide across the sun, turning midday Philadelphia into twilight and back again. I stashed the eclipse filters for the occasional look at the sun, and dove into the semester. But each time I head out for a late evening walk and see the moon hanging over the neighborhood school’s field, I think about it coming between the earth and the sun. I tend to think of the moon and sun as large objects ponderously processing through space, from my perspective taking ten or a dozen hours to creak ’round the sky. Their movements mark out days, months and years, not so much minutes and seconds. So I was struck on the animations of the August 2017 eclipse by how fast the moon’s shadow moved across the … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Religion | Tagged 2017Eclipse, Beauty, Magnificent Universe, Moon | Leave a reply

The Scale of the Universe

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on November 11, 2015 by Bob TrembleyAugust 11, 2018

Arguably, one of the most important concepts one learns from studying astronomy, is the astounding vastness of the cosmos. This vastness extends not only out to the very VERY large and far away – it extends down to the very VERY small. The human mind is ill-equipped to grasp the scale of the universe – but we can sure give it a try! Over the last few decades, several videos have been made showing the scale of the Universe. 1977: The iconic Powers of Ten video – remember: this was made before computer graphics: 1980: Cosmos: “The Edge of Forever” – Carl Sagan discusses the origins and structure of the Universe, and gives us the quote: “We are made of star stuff; we are a way for the Cosmos to know itself.” Here is the intro to the episode: 1996: IMAX movie Cosmic Voyage – narrated by Morgan Freeman. An updated version of Powers of Ten, with some nice computer … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Education, Science | Tagged COSMOS, Expanding Universe, Magnificent Universe, Scale, Size | 1 Reply

2016 Calendars are available!

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on July 29, 2015 by Br. Guy ConsolmagnoJuly 29, 2015
This entry is part 17 of 64 in the series Diary

  Every year, the Vatican Observatory Foundation publishes a calendar featuring fantastic astronomical images from amateurs around the world… and noting dates of particular interest to astronomers. They can be purchased online here… This year’s calendar is out, and it looks great. (OK, so as proofreader I missed a couple of glitches, which immediately made themselves obvious as soon as I opened up the printed version. Nothing as bad as a couple years ago when we got Galileo’s birthday wrong!) On the back, I always write a pithy little paragraph or two that nobody reads. As a freebie for readers of The Catholic Astronomer, here’s what I put there this year: A few years ago, a couple of cosmologists who styled themselves as atheists attempted to show that there was “no need for God” to start the universe, at the moment popularly known as the Big Bang. They proposed thatthat a quantum fluctuation in the zero-energy vacuum field of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Announcement, Astronomy, Education | Tagged amateur astronomy, Calendar, Magnificent Universe | Leave a reply

Open Thread 3: Dark Vermillion Skies

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on April 11, 2015 by Br. Guy ConsolmagnoApril 11, 2015

The effects of our Faith and Astronomy Workshop continue to echo. From Fr. Timothy Sauppé I received the following announcement  that he recently issued in his area: Formation of a Local Chapter of International Dark-Sky Association “Attention lovers of nature! Pollution comes in many forms! We can see the litter on the ground and smell the fouling of our air. Our ears become offended by unnecessary blaring car speakers in traffic. But most people don’t consider the most neglected of all forms of pollution…. the wasteful or unthoughtful night lighting otherwise known as light pollution. “Yes, at night we need to be able to see and to be safe, but with the growth of population, comes the ever increasing night lighting with no thought to its effects on people, the environment, and wildlife. If changes are not initiated, we will no longer be able to see nature’s greatest gift, the stars. Every new night light adds to the increasing glow … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Commentary, Light Pollution | Tagged Astronomy activism, Dark Skies, Magnificent Universe | 1 Reply

Encore: The Deepest Picture Ever

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on April 8, 2015 by Fr. Paul GaborApril 8, 2015
This entry is part of 7 in the series Encore

Encore: on Wednesdays, we repost the best posts from previous months. To comment, please see the original post. My favorite astronomy picture is the Hubble Ultra Deep Field image (HUDF). NASA has released its ultimate version, called XDF, a couple of years ago. Whether it is the original version of the HUDF or the XDF version, I find both absolutely breathtaking. Let me explain a little bit to help you appreciate them. The field of view is tiny: if you wanted to cover the whole sky with a grid of similar images you would have to make 16 million of them! It would not be very practical because the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) had enough trouble taking this one picture. It took it about a month of accumulated gazing at one spot in the sky to obtain just one image. Not in a million years (literally) could the HST cover the whole sky with such images! What was the point … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Science | Tagged Encore, Hubble, Magnificent Universe

Open Thread #2: The Messier Marathon

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on March 19, 2015 by Br. Guy ConsolmagnoMarch 19, 2015

Lisa Tobias, who also provided our first open thread, expands further on the Messier Marathon that she mentioned there. I know a lot of amateur astronomers and a few professional ones. When you ask, they almost always they’ll you how they have loved the stars since they were kids and how they were so excited when they opened their first telescope box (probably a Wal-Mart special with more power than Galileo ever hoped for). That wasn’t me. I always enjoyed looking at the stars, but that’s all I did. Walking in and out to the car or sitting by the fire at camp; that was enough. I just looked up and imagined. Maybe it was Halley’s Comet that ruined it for me. I was only about 9 when the comet came through, but my school (which was located in the country surrounded by horse farms and corn fields) made a big event to go out and observe the comet. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Beauty, Comet, Magnificent Universe, observing | Leave a reply

“We’re a part of all this!”

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on March 3, 2015 by Br. Guy ConsolmagnoMarch 5, 2015

My friend Grace Wolf-Chase at the Adler Planetarium was featured on the Oprah Network with this “Super Soul Short”: http://www.oprah.com/own-super-soul-sunday/Super-Soul-Original-Short-How-Science-and-Spirituality-Meet-Video  

Continue reading →
Posted in Commentary, Outreach, Popular Culture, Religion, Science | Tagged Beauty, Magnificent Universe, Religion

Terrifying Silence or Wondrous Generosity?

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on December 5, 2014 by Fr. Paul GaborMarch 21, 2015

In my previous entry I explained about the HUDF/XDF image, urging everybody to take a good look at it. Apart from the fact that it is always good to contemplate Beauty (and it this case there is both visual or intellectual beauty), I must confess that I had another had a hidden agenda. When I give talks to the general public, I try to illustrate the immensity of the Universe and of the “astronomical” numbers by showing a succession of images. First, I show the Sun and how enormous it is compared to the Earth. Then I point out that the Sun is of of the stars of our Milky Way Galaxy which comprises about 300 billion stars.     The number is so large that I need to go back and show pictures of Omega Centauri, a globular cluster with a mere 10 million stars (30,000-times fewer than the Galaxy). Then I return to the Milky Way and illustrate what it generally looks like … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged Magnificent Universe | Leave a reply

The Deepest Picture Ever

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on December 5, 2014 by Fr. Paul GaborMarch 21, 2015

My favorite astronomy picture is the Hubble Ultra Deep Field image (HUDF). NASA has released its ultimate version, called XDF, a couple of years ago.  Whether it is the original version of the HUDF or the XDF version, I find both absolutely breathtaking. Let me explain a little bit to help you appreciate them. The field of view is tiny: if you wanted to cover the whole sky with a grid of similar images you would have to make 16 million of them! It would not be very practical because the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) had enough trouble taking this one picture. It took it about a month of accumulated gazing at one spot in the sky to obtain just one image. Not in a million years (literally) could the HST cover the whole sky with such images! What was the point in having one of the world’s most famous and most expensive scientific instruments dedicate so much of its time to a single spot in the sky? … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged Magnificent Universe | Leave a reply
Vatican Observatory 2020 Wall Calendar Online Version
Fr. George Coyne Memorial Fund

On Being
Podcast with Fr. Coyne and Br. Guy
Asteroids, Stars, and the Love of God
In a conversation filled with laughter, we experience the spacious way Fr. Coyne and Br. Guy approached life, faith, and the universe.
Listen to the Podcast

Subscribe! Faith and Science VOF Newsletter

Recent Posts

ⓜ 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

Specola Guestbook | September 16, 1934: Pope Pius XI

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on February 21, 2021 by Robert MackeFebruary 21, 2021
This entry is part 82 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 not technically from the guest book.  It is from a separate parchment reserved … Continue reading…

Posted in Astronomy, History, Uncategorized | Tagged Castel Gandolfo, Pius XI, Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Specola Guestbook, Vatican Observatory | Leave a reply

The Sun Rules!

Sacred Space Astronomy avatarPosted on February 20, 2021 by Christopher M. GraneyFebruary 2, 2021

If they [the stars] are suns having the same nature as our sun, why do not these suns collectively outdistance our sun in brilliance? Why do they all together transmit so dim a light…? When sunlight bursts into a sealed room through a hole made with a tiny pin point, … Continue reading…

Posted in Astronomy, History | 1 Reply
1 2 3 … 328 Next »

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

  • ⓜ Believing in things...
    ⓜ Believing in things...
  • In the Sky This Week – February 23, 2021
    In the Sky This Week – February 23, 2021
  • In the Sky This Week – February 25, 2020
    In the Sky This Week – February 25, 2020
  • Looking for Wormwood
    Looking for Wormwood
  • Biblical Signs in the Sky? September 23, 2017
    Biblical Signs in the Sky? September 23, 2017
  • When the Heavens and Earth Were Sacred: Recapturing a Sacramental Worldview.
    When the Heavens and Earth Were Sacred: Recapturing a Sacramental Worldview.
  • In the Sky This Week – February 16, 2021
    In the Sky This Week – February 16, 2021
  • ⓜ Full Moon-th Meetup: 28 February, 2021
    ⓜ Full Moon-th Meetup: 28 February, 2021
  • The Scale of the Universe
    The Scale of the Universe
  • History of Light Pollution
    History of Light Pollution

Upcoming Events


Who’s Visited Our Site

VOF Blog on Twitter

My Tweets
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Privacy Policy

Sign up

Join 17,792 other subscribers

VOF Home Page
Faith and Science
Donate to the VOF
Newsletter
© 2018 Vatican Observatory Foundation. The Vatican Observatory Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation -- State Registration Disclosure Statement -- Privacy Policy -- Terms of Use Privacy Policy
↑