Tag Archives: Astronomy

Looking for the Star, or Coming to Adore?

Vatican Observatory Foundation Faith and Science

Article 2100 words Level: all audiences In this entry at the Thinking Faith website, Br. Guy Consolmagno, S. J., an astronomer with the Vatican Observatory, discusses the questions that Vatican Astronomers are often asked about the Star of Bethlehem. His conclusion: there is no certain explanation about the “star,” and worrying too much about such explanations risk distracting one from the Person whom the star was meant to highlight. Click here to read the original article at Thinking Faith. [Click here to download PDF]  

Continue reading →

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 →

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”.  

Continue reading →