Tag Archives: Vatican Observatory

Religious Scientists – An Introduction

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This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Religious Scientists of the Catholic Church

As this is a new column for the blog, it might be appropriate to begin with a small introduction. In the motu proprio “Ut Mysticam”—the document establishing the Vatican Observatory in 1891—Pope Leo XIII wrote that the reason for creating such an institution in the Vatican was “…that everyone might see clearly that the Church and her Pastors are not opposed to true and solid science, whether human or divine, but that they embrace it, encourage it, and promote it with the fullest possible dedication.” Primarily, the Vatican Observatory addresses this mission through its scientific endeavors. We are all vowed religious members of the Catholic Church who are respected scientists making valuable contributions in our fields. Through this we are a sign to the world of the compatibility of faith and science through the example of our own lives. It would be a mistake to think that the Vatican Observatory serves as the only such example of science performed in … Continue reading →

In the Meteorite Laboratory: New 3d Printer

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Tucked away in one part of the Vatican Observatory is the meteorite laboratory, where the Vatican meteorite collection of 1200 specimens resides.  The lab specializes in the measurement of physical properties such as density, porosity, magnetic susceptibilty, and heat capacity.  That is where I spend a good deal of my time. In order to do all this research, the lab contains several instruments and miscellaneous apparatus spread across the bench tops.  This include ideal-gas pycnometers, a 3d laser scanner, a liquid nitrogen apparatus for measuring heat capacity, a vacuum chamber, and more. I will probably devote another blog post to describe the research we do with these instruments. Occasionally, the meteorite laboratory acquires a piece of equipment that is a little unusual. One such very recent acquisition is a 3D printer: a Prusa i3 MK3*. For those unfamiliar with the concept of 3D printing, the device extrudes melted plastic through a heated print head, similar to the way a hot-glue … Continue reading →

A Saint, a Telescope, and a Man on the Moon

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Regular readers of The Catholic Astronomer are familiar with this photograph, found at the top of the blog’s home page. But who is the Pope in this photo, and why is he looking through a telescope? It is Pope Paul VI, canonized a saint today along with Archbishop Oscar Romero and four others.  In his time as the Supreme Pontiff, he oversaw the completion of the Second Vatican Council, and he was the first Pope in modern times to travel abroad from the Vatican when addressed the United Nations assembly in New York in 1965. The photo was taken on July 20, 1969 (technically, the morning of July 21 in Italy) at one of the telescope domes of the Vatican Observatory, located at the Pontifical villas in Castel Gandolfo.  The other man in the photo is Fr. Daniel O’Connell SJ,  the director of the Vatican Observatory at that time.  The telescope is a Schmidt with 98-cm primary mirror and a … Continue reading →

Vatican Observatory to Host First Ever Workshop on Meteorite Curation

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(Press Release from the Vatican Observatory) The Vatican Observatory will host the first ever workshop on the Curation of Meteorites and Extraterrestrial Samples at its headquarters in the Papal gardens of Castel Gandolfo.  Held from September 10-13, the meeting will bring together an international group of meteorite and extraterrestrial sample curators to exchange ideas, discuss best practices, and to explore ways to better serve the scientific community. Thirty curators and collections managers will be at this meeting, representing 27 scientific institutions from around the world. These include museums, universities, and institutions throughout Europe, the United States, Canada, Russia, Morocco, and Japan.  The curators not only care for meteorite collections, but also specimens gathered from space missions, such as the NASA Apollo moon rocks and the specimens from the Hayabusa mission to the asteroid 25143 Itokawa. “The community of curators has been trying to organize itself for many years,” says Br. Robert Macke, S.J., the curator of the Vatican meteorite collection … Continue reading →

Please Welcome our new Blogger: Brother Bob Macke SJ

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Br. Bob Macke joined the Vatican Observatory in July 2013, where he studies meteorite physical properties in the observatory’s meteorite laboratory. In August 2014, Br. Bob became the curator of the Vatican collection of 1200 meteorite specimens. Br. Bob is a member of the U.S. Central and Southern Province of the Society of Jesus. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1974. After studying physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Washington University in St. Louis, he taught astronomy for a few years at Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, Ohio) before entering the Society of Jesus in 2001. As a Jesuit, he studied philosophy at St. Louis University. He then taught physics, astronomy, and mathematics at Rockhurst University (Kansas City, Missouri) for one year, and then began a doctoral program studying meteorite physical properties at University of Central Florida. His dissertation, Survey of Meteorite Physical Properties: Density, Porosity and Magnetic Susceptibility, detailed measurements on more than … Continue reading →

Happy Birthday to the Father of Astrophysics!

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Father Angelo Secchi, sometimes called the Father of Astrophysics, was born 200 years ago on this day (June 28). [Note that many sources get his birthday wrong, thinking it was the 29th. He was born on the 28th, baptized on the 29th, according to his biographer Dr. Ileana Chinnici, who’s seen the documents in question. Also many sources think that he had a first name beginning with a P, often listed as Pietro, because he was often referred to as “P. Angelo Secchi” but in fact the P there stands for Padre, signifying that he was a priest.] Secchi’s work at the Roman College attracted great positive attention the science and the Church at a time when both were under attack… and probably led to the foundation of the Vatican Observatory a few years after his death in 1879. Father Chris Corbally has written a short piece about him which is running in the American Astronomical Society’s This Month in … Continue reading →

From the Tablet: Galilean Entanglements

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This entry is part 154 of 181 in the series Across the Universe

This article first appeared in The Tablet in January, 2016 From a Special Injunction of the Roman Inquisition, 26 February 1616: “At the palace of the usual residence of the said Most Illustrious Lord Cardinal Bellarmine… the Reverend Father Michelangelo Segizzi of Lodi, O.P. and Commissary General of the Holy Office… in the name of His Holiness the Pope and the whole Congregation of the Holy Office, ordered and enjoined the said Galileo, who was himself still present, to abandon completely the above-mentioned opinion that the sun stands still at the center of the world and the earth moves, and henceforth not to hold, teach, or defend it in any way whatever… The same Galileo acquiesced in this injunction and promised to obey.” The year 2016 marked three hundred years since Galileo’s first trial. But concerns about Church and science exist today. At a recent dinner where I was speaking for the Vatican Observatory Foundation, the wife of a wealthy … Continue reading →

Across the Universe: Reaching out

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This entry is part 138 of 181 in the series Across the Universe

This column first ran in The Tablet in September 2015 Eighty years ago, on September 29, 1935, Pope Pius XI dedicated new quarters and telescopes of the Vatican Observatory in his summer palace in Castel Gandolfo. To celebrate the anniversary,in September 2015 we held a symposium in Castel Gandolfo, including a visit to the old domes that Pius XI had dedicated. The party ended in a private audience in Rome with Pope Francis (less than 24 hours before he left for Cuba and the US). After giving us a short address, the Pope looked up and caught my eye. He smiled, and said, “Ah! The New Director!” It’s true. As of that day, I became the new director of the Vatican Observatory. (I actually didn’t completely believe it until I heard him say it.) Would I continue to write articles like these (for the Tablet)? Yes, as long as there’s a place for me. It’s not only because I love being … Continue reading →

A V.O. Conference on Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, and Spacetime Singularities

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Do you recall the post from a while back that focused on the research being done by Vatican Observatory scientists? This is another “Science at the V.O.” post. From the evening of Monday May 8 through the morning of Friday May 12 the V.O. hosted a conference entitled “Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, and Spacetime Singularities”. The conference was organized by Dr. Gabriele Gionti, S. J. When I was visiting the V.O. in March I had the pleasure of meeting, talking with, and even hanging out at an Albano Laziale coffee shop expounding upon Kentucky community college life to, Fr. Gionti. Gionti is a native of Italy who earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in physics in the 1990’s, joined the Jesuits in 2000, was assigned to the V.O. in 2004, and ordained a priest in 2010. Since joining the Jesuits he has picked up several more degrees, in philosophy and theology. Gionti is a very educated man, but if you … Continue reading →

Happy Birthday to Us!

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It was exactly 125 years ago today that Pope Leo XIII promulgated the “Motu Proprio” that re-established the Vatican Observatory. The Vatican Observatory web page has a number of historical images and an English translation of the document where he explains why the Vatican has an observatory. As we describe in the book The Heavens Proclaim (alas, out of print, though there are copies available if you become a premium supporter of Sacred Space!) his reasons were primarily apologetic. In those days, folks in the Church thought of the observatory as a way of supporting the Church itself. Around the time of Pope Pius XII, the emphasis changed to a recognition that astronomy was a Good Thing in its own right, as a way of coming closer to the Creator. One of my favorite quotes from Pius XII (from an address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 1939) is, “Man ascents to God by climbing the ladder of the … Continue reading →