Tag Archives: Vatican Observatory

Diary of the Specola: Astronomy under lock-down

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This entry is part 52 of 53 in the series Diary

Half of the astronomers from the Vatican Observatory work out of Castel Gandolfo, Italy, and the other half in Tucson. Italy has been under a strict lock-down for several weeks, while the University of Arizona is also closed and members of staff are strongly urged to stay home. In particular, all the telescopes at the Mount Graham International Observatory, including the Vatican’s Advanced Technology Telescope (the VATT), have been shut down in order to allow the day staff to stay down the mountain, closer to home and family (and, should it be necessary, medical care.) But our “commute” in Castel Gandolfo is just walking downstairs from the community living quarters to the Specola offices. And our home in Tucson is well served by the internet. (In fact, my own office as president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation is just a room in our house here in Tucson.) Still, I was curious to find out what people have been up to. … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook: March 26, 1913 – Georges Lecointe

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This entry is part 36 of 36 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 26, 1913, when Georges Lecointe made a visit.   Next to his name, Georges Lecointe (1869-1929) wrote, “Directeur à l-observatoire royal de Belgique, à Uccle” (“Director  of the Royal Observatory of Belgium, in Uccle.”) He was scientific director of the observatory from 1900-1914, and director of the observatory from 1914-1925. He was also a Belgian Naval officer, captaining the research ship Belgica from 1897-1901. During this period, he was second in command of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition.  This was the first expedition that stayed overwinter in Antarctica. The crew of the expedition also included Roald Amundsen, who would lead the first expedition to reach the South Pole in 1911. He was founder of the International Polar Organization. He was a founding … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook: March 25, 1913 – Jens Schroeter

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This entry is part 35 of 36 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 25, 1913, when Jens F. Schroeter made a visit. Next to his name, Jens Fredrick Wilhelm Schroeter (1857-1927) wrote, “Observator an der Sternwarte in Kristiania” (“Observator at the observatory in Kristiania.”) He was an astronomer of the Observatory of Royal Frederick University in Oslo, Norway. He would become the director of the observatory in 1919. [n.b. “Kristiania” was the official name of Oslo from 1877-1925.] Schroeter also edited the Nordic Astronomical Journal.   … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook: March 24, 1913 – Fernand Jacobs

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This entry is part 34 of 36 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 24, 1913, when Fernand Jacobs made a visit. Next to his name, Fernand Jacobs (1870-1926) wrote, “President de la S’té Belge d’astronomie Bruxelles” (“President of the Belgian Astronomical Society, Brussels”) He was the founding president of the Belgian Astronomical Society. He was also the founding president of the Aeronautics Club of Belgium and the founding vice-president of the International Aeronautic Federation (FAI, for Federation Aeronautique Internationale).   … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook: March 14, 1913 – Francesco Porro de Somenzi

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This entry is part 33 of 36 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 14, 1913, when Francesco Porro made a visit. Next to his name, Francesco Porro de’ Somenzi (1861-1937) wrote, “Professore di Astronomia nella R. Università di Genova” (“Professor of astronomy at the Royal University of Genoa”) From 1886 until 1902, he was director of the observatory in Turin, Italy, and oversaw its relocation as the Pino Torinese observatory. He moved to Genoa from 1902-1905. From 1905-1910 he was director of the National Observatory of La Plata, Argentina, after which he returned to the University of Genoa as professor of astronomy, geography, theoretical geodesy, and meteorology. He is most known for having done the data reductions of stellar field observations made by Giuseppe Piazzi (discoverer of Ceres) at the Palermo observatory.     … Continue reading →

Trinity of Videos about the Vatican Observatory

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A trinity of new videos about the Vatican Observatory is available on YouTube! In these videos produced by Brady Haran and James Hennessy, Brother Guy Consolmagno shows you some of the Vatican Observatory’s more notable meteorites, various items in the Vatican Observatory’s Museum, and gives you a tour of the Vatican Observatory’s historic telescopes. In an interview, Br. Guy answers numerous questions about faith and science, and discusses the role of the Vatican Observatory. The Pope’s Space Rocks (YouTube:Objectivity #221 – 10:55) Brother Guy Consolmagno gives Brady Haran a tour of the Vatican Observatory; he shows meteorites from the Vatican Observatory’s collection, and tells some interesting stories behind a few of them. He shows a remarkable antique clock from the end of the 1800s – its pendulum filled with Mercury! Br. Guy also shows the Vatican flag that flew to the Moon on Apollo 17! Before the advent of digital imaging technology, astronomical imaging was done using photographic plates; Br. … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook: February 4, 1913 – Edwin B. Frost

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This entry is part 32 of 36 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 February 4, 1913, when Edwin Frost made a visit. Next to his name, Edwin Brant Frost II (1866-1935) wrote, “Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, Wis.” He was director of the Yerkes Observatory from 1905 to 1932. Over roughly the same period, he was editor of the Astrophysical Journal, one of the leading publications for astrophysical research. His research involved spectroscopic binary stars. (That is, where the two stars are not resolved visually, but the dual doppler shift of the stellar spectrum indicates its binary nature.) He was the first to note the peculiar variability of Beta Cepheid variable stars. There is a crater on the Moon named Frost in his honor, and the asteroid 854 Frostia.     … Continue reading →

Fr. George V. Coyne SJ (1933-2020)

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This entry is part 50 of 53 in the series Diary

George Coyne, who directed the Vatican Observatory for nearly 30 years and founded the Vatican Observatory Foundation (home of this site), died on Tuesday, February 11 at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y., where he was being treated for bladder cancer. He was 87 years old. The New York Times (online edition) has run an obituary for him, which you can link to here; their recognition is a tribute to his stature as an astronomer and a Jesuit. I also wrote up a short piece about him for the L’Osservatore Romano, which they edited and ran in Italian; below you’ll find the full English text that I submitted to them. What’s curious to me is that the Times led their article by talking about George’s work in Galileo and evolution whereas I didn’t even mention that in my article. It makes sense, of course. To most readers of the Times, those topics were the things that had brought him into … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook: December 24, 1912 – Wilhelm Foerster

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This entry is part 31 of 36 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 December 24, 1912, when Wilhelm Foerster made a visit. Next to his name, Prof. Wilhelm Julius Foerster (1832-1921) wrote, “Berlin – Westend, Kaiserdamm 84” He had been director of the Berlin Observatory from 1865-1903. In 1860, he participated in the discovery of the comet 62 Erato. He served as director of the German commission for standards in measurement, and in 1891 became president of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. He also was a pacifist who participated in organizations that promoted the cause of international cooperation and opposed nationalism. Along with Albert Einstein and a few others, he signed a manifesto opposing World War I. The observatory Wilhelm-Foerster-Sternwarte e.V. (Berlin) was named in his honor. The asteroid 6771 Foerster is named … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook: December 16, 1912 – Charles L. Doolittle

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This entry is part 30 of 36 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 December 16, 1912, when Charles L. Doolittle made a visit. Next to his name, Charles Leander Doolittle (1843-1919) wrote, “Flower Observatory – Philadelphia Pa.” He was director of the Flower Observatory from 1895-1912. From 1875-1895, he was a professor of mathematics and astronomy at Lehigh University, operating the Zenith telescope at Sayre Observatory. In 1895, he became director of the Flower Observatory at the University of Pennsylvania. He retired in 1912, the year of his visit to the Specola. One might imagine that he used the opportunity of his retirement to travel abroad and visit colleagues at other institutions (such as the Vatican Observatory). Charles Leander Doolittle was the father of the accomplished poet Hilda Doolittle, who published under her initials H.D. … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook: May 10, 1912 – Frederick H. Seares

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This entry is part 29 of 36 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 10, 1912, when Frederick Seares made a visit. Next to his name, Frederick Hanley Seares (1873-1964) wrote, “Mount Wilson Solar Observatory, California.” He had been at the observatory since 1909, and would remain there until 1945. Seares researched a number of areas of astronomy, including variable stars, comets, and galaxies. One of his most significant astronomical contributions is the establishment of standards for the system of stellar magnitude and its extension for stars beyond 18th magnitude. He also studied the relative brightnesses of spiral nebulae (galaxies) compared to the Milky Way, and the attenuation and reddening of starlight passing through interstellar gas and dust. He was elected president of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in 1929, and was awarded the … Continue reading →

Specola Guestbook: April 6, 1912 – Stanislas Meunier

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This entry is part 28 of 36 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 April 6, 1912, when Stanislas Meunier made a visit. Next to his name, Stanislas-Étienne Meunier (1843-1925) wrote, “Muséum Paris.”  He was the chair of Geology at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) in Paris, France. In my field of meteoritics, his contributions are not insignificant. He compared the chemical compositions of meteorites with those elements identified in solar spectra. He recognized that (except for the most volatile elements) the elemental composition of meteorites closely matches that of the Sun. From this, he concluded that the overall composition of the solar system is effectively uniform. He also introduced experimental geology as a distinct field of science. He contributed much to our understanding of the geology of the Paris Basin.       … Continue reading →