Tag Archives: Vatican Observatory

Specola Guestbook | January 8, 1915: Giovanni Boccardi

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This entry is part 50 of 50 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 8, 1915, when Giovanni Boccardi made a visit. Next to his name, Fr. Giovanni Boccardi C.M. (1859-1936) wrote, “Direttore R. Osservatorio Pino Torinese” (Director of the Royal Observatory Pino Torinese).  He was an astronomer and a Lazzarist priest. (The Lazzarists, or the Congregation of Mission, are a Catholic religious congregation.) In the late 1890’s, while working at the observatory of the Collegio Romano, he calculated the orbit of an asteroid for which he successfully proposed the name 416 Vaticana. For the period of ca. 1899-1903, he was a professor at the University of Catania, where he was engaged in the work of the Carte du Ciel project. He catalogued over 3000 stars. He became director of the observatory at the University … Continue reading →

ⓜ A familiar tale for a new audience

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This entry is part 10 of 28 in the series And Then I Wrote

And then I wrote: As I mentioned last week, 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.  Recall, the days of the week in 2009 match those of 2020 (after this year’s leap day) and the liturgical calendar also matches; thus, both in 2009 and 2020, the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time falls on 12 July. Here’s what I wrote for the second reflection… it’s a new retelling of a tale familiar to most of our readers.  Since most of the text material is familiar, I am appending at the end a number of historical images from our archives that you may not have seen before… Studying creation is a time-honored way of coming closer to God. In the opening chapter of his Letter to the Romans, St. Paul points out that, since the beginning of … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook | July 15, 1914: Caroline Furness

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This entry is part 49 of 50 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 July 15, 1914, when Caroline Furness made a visit. Next to her name, Caroline Ellen Furness (1869-1936) wrote, “Vassar College Observatory, N.Y.”  She was an astronomer who directed the Vassar observatory. She was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1896. She studied there under Harold Jacoby. At Vassar, she taught the first course on variable stars offered in any American university. She literally wrote the book on the subject, with her 1915 tome, Introduction to the Study of Variable Stars. In 1910, she became acting director of the Vassar observatory while the previous director, Mary Whitney, was on medical leave.  After Whitney’s retirement in 1915, Furness formally took the director’s title. She would hold the post until … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook | July 4, 1914: William Wallace Campbell

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This entry is part 48 of 50 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 July 4, 1914, when William Campbell made a visit. Next to his name, William Wallace Campbell (1862-1938) wrote, “Lick Observatory, Calif.”  He was director of the Lick Observatory from 1901 to 1930. Why did he pass through the doors of the Vatican Observatory in the summer of 1914?  He was on his way to Russia, where he and a collaborator from the Berlin Observatory planned to photograph an eclipse to test Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity.  Alas, politics intervened. World War I broke out, with Germany and Russia on opposite sides. Campbell’s collaborator Erwin Freundlich was detained and his equipment confiscated. Campbell (an American) was permitted to continue his work, but with makeshift equipment.  Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and … Continue reading →

Asteroids Named for Jesuits: An Update

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Two years ago, I wrote my first blog entry, entitled “Asteroids Named for Jesuits.”  It’s time for an update. What prompts this update is the news that the Vatican Observatory’s own Fr. Christopher Corbally has been honored with the naming of asteroid 119248 Corbally.  There are now six asteroids named for members of the Vatican Observatory. For those who don’t know him, Fr. Corbally is a member of the English Jesuit province. He joined the Vatican Observatory in 1983, and has played an important role in the research activities of our Tucson half of the Observatory. His astronomical studies include multiple star systems, spectral classification of stars, 𝜆-Boötis stars, and more. He has also studied human sentience in an evolutionary context, recently co-authoring a book on the subject: The Emergence of Religion in Human Evolution. He has served as vice director of the Vatican Observatory Research Group in Tucson. He is president of National Committee for Astronomy in the Vatican … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook | May 23, 1914: Giovanni Silva

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This entry is part 47 of 50 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 May 23, 1914, when Giovanni Silva made a visit. Next to his name, Giovanni Silva (1882-1957) wrote, “R. Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova” (“Royal Astronomical Observatory of Padua”). He was an astronomer who would direct several observatories during his career. From 1911-1921, he was an astronomer at the observatory in Padua, which was associated with the University of Padua. In 1921, he became chair of geodesy at the University of Turin and in 1923 would become director of the Pino Torinese astronomical observatory. In 1926 he returned to Padua to become director of the observatory there, as well as take a chair in astronomy at the university.  He would remain in Padua the remainder of his life. In 1934, he envisioned a new … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook | A few reflections

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This entry is part 46 of 50 in the series Specola Guestbook

At this point, the column Specola Guestbook has been going for more than a year, so I thought I would take a moment to reflect on it. First, a little background:  The guestbook is not just one book; there are several. The most recent sits on a table at our entrance where new visitors can sign in. (Unfortunately, that book shall remain untouched for the duration of the coronavirus shutdown, as we are not receiving visitors.)  The one beginning in 1907 sits in a nearby display cabinet, opened to a page that changes regularly.  I do not know if there is a separate book covering 1891-1907, the period of the directorship of Francesco Denza C.R.S.P. (a Barnabite). It was after Denza’s death in 1907 that the Observatory was restructured and entrusted to the Jesuits. The cabinet containing the book sits right outside my office. I spent many hours leafing through its pages, and was amazed at the names I came … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook | May 18, 1914: Walter F. Gale

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This entry is part 45 of 50 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 May 18, 1914, when Walter Gale made a visit. Next to his name, Walter Frederick Gale (1865-1945) wrote, “Sydney, Australia.” He was an Australian banker and astronomer. His banking career eventually culminated in becoming manager and chief inspector at the head office of the Bank of New South Wales. On the side, he developed an avid interest in astronomy after the appearance of a comet in 1882. Technically an amateur astronomer, he was founder and organizing secretary (and eventually president) of the New South Wales branch of the British Astronomical Association. He built an observatory in Sydney, which he used every clear night to search for comets. He discovered seven, of which three bear his name. He also discovered a ring nebula … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook | March 27, 1914: Radó von Kövesligethy

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This entry is part 44 of 50 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 March 27, 1914, when Radó von Kövesligethy made a visit. Next to his name, Prof. Radó von Kövesligethy (1862-1934) wrote simply, “Budapest.”  He was a Hungarian astronomer, physicist, and geophysicist. This was the first of at least two visits to the Specola. He made a return visit ten years later, on May 27, 1924. He is most notable for his work in blackbody radiation. He formulated a theory of blackbody radiation in 1886,  15 years before Max Planck. He also formulated a theory of the inverse relationship between the luminosity of a source and the peak wavelength in its blackbody spectrum (known as Wien’s Law). This was done in 1885, 8 years before Wilhelm Wien. Wien received a Nobel prize in 1911, … Continue reading →

In Isolation at the Vatican Observatory

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Before I start this entry, I should reassure any concerned readers out there: everybody at the Vatican Observatory is in good health. Quarantine Log, Day 7: The same walls. I have eaten half a colomba by myself. The Fanta supply is running low (but miraculously new cans appear). Thankfully there’s still about 100 coffee packets. That should last a couple more days. Toilet paper supply is sufficient. Is there anybody out there? Just kidding. (Sort of.)   But let’s go back to the beginning…. This past year, I was away from the Specola Vaticana, doing the last stage of Jesuit formation called “Tertianship.” I spent several months with ten other Jesuit Tertians from around the world, each quite accomplished in their own areas of work.  The program revisits many of the things Jesuits do at the very beginning of formation in the novitiate. We repeated the 30-day silent retreat known as the Spiritual Exercises. We studied the Jesuit Constitutions and … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook: January 19, 1914 – Frank Bigelow

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This entry is part 43 of 50 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 19, 1914, when Frank H. Bigelow made a visit. Next to his name, Frank Hagar Bigelow (1851-1924) wrote, “Oficina Meteorologica Argentina, Cordoba, Argentina” (Argentine Office of Meteorology, Cordoba, Argentina). He was a meteorologist and astronomer, as well as an Episcopal minister. He had served in the United States Weather Bureau before moving to Argentina to work in the office of meteorology there. In 1915, he became director of the Solar Physics and Magnetic Observatory in Cordoba. He was the editor of the Monthly Weather Review from 1909-1910. His astronomical research included studying transits of stars as well as the connection between magnetic phenomena on the Sun (in particular its corona) with variations of the Earth’s magnetic field and aurorae.    

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Specola Guestbook: November 29, 1913 – John Parkhurst

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This entry is part 42 of 50 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 November 29, 1913, when John Parkhurst made a visit. Next to his name, John Adelbert Parkhurst FRAS (1861-1925) wrote, “Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay Wis. U.S.A.”  He was an astronomer who had been at Yerkes Observatory since 1898. Parkhurst’s astronomical specialty was stellar photometry. Bear in mind that this was an era before C.C.D.’s or even photomultiplier tubes–you had to determine brightness based on the image of a star on a photographic plate. He published more than 100 papers over his career. In 1912, he published the “Yerkes Actinometry” in the Astrophysical Journal. This was a catalog of the magnitudes, color indices, and spectral classification of every star brighter than magnitude 7.5 between declination 73 degrees and the celestial north pole. [Author’s note: … Continue reading →