Category Archives: Church and Science Today

VATT at dusk

Discarded Worlds: Astronomical Ideas that Were Almost Correct

Vatican Observatory Foundation Faith and Science

Video 1 hours Level: all audiences This is a video from IHMC (IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System) of a 2012 talk by Br. Guy Consolmagno, S. J., of the Vatican Observatory. The following description is from IHMC: Astronomy is more than just observing; it’s making sense of those observations. A good theorist needs a good imagination…and no fear of being wrong. Aryabaha in ancient India and Ptolemy in ancient Rome, the medieval bishops Oresme and Cusa, the 19th century astronomers Schiaparelli and Pickering, all rose to the challenge; and they were all almost correct. Which is to say, they were wrong… sometimes hilariously, sometimes heartbreakingly so. What lessons can we take from these discarded images?  

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Astronomy and Belief (Why does the Vatican have an observatory?)

Vatican Observatory Foundation Faith and Science

Article 2000 words Level: all audiences An article by Br. Guy Consolmagno, S. J., Director of the Vatican Observatory, addressing the question of why the Vatican has an observatory.  This was originally published at ThinkingFaith.org, the online journal of the Jesuits in Britain. Astronomy and Belief ‘Why does the Vatican have an observatory? Aren’t there more important things to do than look at the stars?’ Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno SJ has been asked these questions many times; indeed, he asks them of himself. At an event hosted by the Mount Street Jesuit Centre last month, he explained how he encounters God in his scientific studies. I once caused a stir in a church in Hawaii by announcing that I was ‘an observer from the Vatican.’ Indeed, I am. As it happens, I was in Hawaii to use the telescopes there, just as I also observe with the Vatican’s own telescope in Arizona. That is my job with the Vatican Observatory. Why … Continue reading →

Stars And The Milky Way

Vatican Observatory Foundation Faith and Science

Book chapter (PDF) 8 pages Level: high school and above A chapter by Fr. Christopher Corbally, S.J., an astronomer with the Vatican Observatory, for the book The Heavens Proclaim: Astronomy and the Vatican.  Fr. Corbally writes “the really interesting details contained within a [spectrum] are revealed when light from a star is focused onto a narrow slit, which from there passes through a prism, and then gets focused again onto your eye or a camera.”  Topics include ‘A History of Stellar Spectra’; ‘Spectra and Brightness’; ‘Classifying Stars’; ‘Getting to Know Our Neighbors’; and ‘The Simple Picture Gives Way to Surprises’. [Click here to download PDF]  

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A Galactic Universe

Vatican Observatory Foundation Faith and Science

Article 6 pages, 2000 words Level: high school and above This chapter by Fr. José Gabriel Funes, S. J., Director of the Vatican Observatory from 2006 to 2015, from the book The Heavens Proclaim; Astronomy and the Vatican, discusses topics including: A Galactic History; What Is a Galaxy Made Of?; Galaxy Formation; and Galaxy Trans-Formation. [Click here to download the PDF]

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Meteorites: Aliens At The Vatican

Vatican Observatory Foundation Faith and Science

Books chapter 8 pages Level: all audiences In this chapter for the book The Heavens Proclaim: Astronomy and the Vatican, Br. Guy Consolmagno, S. J., an astronomer with the Vatican Observatory, writes “At the Vatican Observatory, you’ll find a thousand aliens: meteorites, rocks from outer space that have fallen to the surface of our Earth.”  Includes Introduction (with history of the Vatican Collection); Measuring the Meteorites; Densities; Pennies from Heaven   [Click here to download PDF]  

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Extrasolar Planets

Vatican Observatory Foundation Faith and Science

Book chapter (PDF) 11 pages Level: middle school and above Fr. Giuseppe Koch, S. J., a physicist with the Vatican Observatory, writes in this chapter from the book The Heavens Proclaim: Astronomy and the Vatican that with the development of various means of research, and the continual advance in precision of our instruments, the exoplanet hunters have finally realized their dream. Topics include: What Can We Say about 51 Peg and Its Companion 51 Peg b?; What Do We Know about the Formation of Stars and Their Planetary Disks?; New Systems of Planets; How Do We Define a Planet Now?; How Do We Make Sense of Our “Collection” of Planets?; Future Developments; The Significance of the Discovery of Extrasolar Planets. [Click here to download PDF]  

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About The Universe

Vatican Observatory Foundation Faith and Science

Book chapter 2500 words Level: all audiences This chapter from the book The Heavens Proclaim; Astronomy and the Vatican was written by Fr. Christopher Corbally, S.J. and Br. Guy Consolmagno, S. J., both astronomers with the Vatican Observatory. It discusses a number of questions: How can we know when the universe began? When did the first stars appear? How do we know the overall shape of the universe? Is it true that the universe is expanding faster now than it did when it was first formed, soon after the “Big Bang”? Is the universe infinite, or does it have a boundary? Can one think of “space” outside the universe? How many galaxies are there in the universe? Approximately how many stars are there in the largest galaxy that we know of? And how many stars are there in the smallest galaxy? Is it possible to guess from this how many stars are there in the universe? What are the fundamental elements of matter and … Continue reading →

VOF Astronomy Tour of Chile 2015

Vatican Observatory Foundation Faith and Science

Video 7 minutes Level: all audiences A group of Vatican Observatory Foundation friends, accompanied by astronomers Br. Guy Consolmagno and Dr. Faith Vilas, were hosted by the European Southern Observatory on a magnificent tour of observatories and telescopes in Chile. The 12 day tour visited La Silla, Las Campanas, Paranal, and ALMA with evening star gazing to view the incredibly clear skies and some of the brightest stars on earth. Never has the Milky Way been so amazing! This video is from the Vatican Observatory Foundation.  

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Adventures of a Vatican Astronomer – Br. Guy Consolmagno SJ

Vatican Observatory Foundation Faith and Science

Video One hour Level: all audiences Br. Guy Consolmagno, S. J., an astronomer at the Vatican Observatory, gave this talk at the SETI Institute on February 22, 2013 No scientist is a Spock-like android; a scientist’s work is as intuitive, and just as full of human foibles, as a painting, a symphony, or a prayer. But most of us don’t have the opportunity (or training) to reflect on the human dimensions of our work. Br. Guy Consolmagno does; he is both a Jesuit brother and a planetary scientist at the Vatican Observatory, splitting his time between the meteorite collection in Rome (which he curates) and the Vatican telescope in Arizona. Thanks to his Vatican connections, his work has sent him around the world several times to dozens of countries and every continent (including a meteorite hunting expedition to Antarctica). In this talk he will share some of those adventures, and reflect on the larger meaning of our common experience as … Continue reading →

From MIT to Specola Vaticana: Guy Consolmagno at TEDx via Della Conciliazione

Vatican Observatory Foundation Faith and Science

Video 17 minutes Level: all audiences Brother Guy Consolmagno weaves stories about science and seeing things in new ways. From TEDx YouTube: Brother Guy Consolmagno is a Planetary Scientist at the Vatican Observatory. He is the curator of the Vatican meteorite collection, which is one of the largest in the world. He earned a degree from MIT and did post-doctorate work at MIT and the Harvard College Observatory. When he was 29, he joined the Peace Corps in Kenya. There, he taught suffering people about astronomy. He discovered that the desire for scientific knowledge is not limited to educated westerners, but is original and alive in the poor and uneducated. In this way, he discovered that astronomy belongs to us all. In 1992, he became a Jesuit Brother. In 2000, he was honored by the International Astronomical Union for his contributions to the study of meteorites and asteroids with the naming of “Asteroid 4597 Consolmagno”.  

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