Number of Jesuits honored by astronomy grows – 04/07/2023 – Science

Centuries after the Holy See muzzled Catholic stargazers for questioning Earth’s central position in the cosmos, a growing number of Jesuit astronomers are leaving their mark on the heavens.

The city-state, headed by Francis, history’s first Jesuit pope, recently announced that three more religious of that order, scientists at the Vatican’s internal observatory, had earned asteroids in their name, a new wave in tradition that also includes the 16th-century pope who ordered the Gregorian calendar and the Tuscan pastry chef whose hobby was staring at the sky.

Although much less numerous than the stars, more than 30 Jesuits have lent their name to celestial bodies since they began to be formally identified in 1801.

“Which shouldn’t surprise anyone, given the often scientific nature of this community,” says astronomer Don Yeomans, who worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and is now part of the group that officially approves the given name. to asteroids.

Last month, three were recognized in the sky: Robert Janusz, a Polish priest and physicist dedicated to measuring light from star clusters (565184 Janusz); the American William R. Stoeger (1943-2014, 551878 Stoeger); and Johann Georg Hagen (1847-1930), an Austrian-American who “devised several ingenious experiments in the Vatican to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth, directly confirming the theories of Copernicus and Galileo” (562971 Johannhagen).

All three work or have worked at the Specola Vaticana, or Vatican Observatory, just outside the papal gardens of Castel Gandolfo, a short drive from Rome. The institution is the result of centuries of sponsorship of research on the stars, and the only body of the institution to carry out scientific studies.

Integrated by Jesuits since the 1930s, its history contradicts the idea that the Catholic Church has always made it difficult to advance science, perpetuated by famous cases such as Galileo and Giordano Bruno in the hands of the Inquisition, during the Renaissance.

“There are entities like the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which only report to the Vatican what happens in this field, but we really act in it”, informs Guy Consolmagno, director of the observatory honored with an asteroid (4597 Consolmagno), whose website has as its motto the phrase “science inspired by faith”. In an interview with The New York Times in 2017, he said that part of the agency’s mission is “to show the world that the Church supports science”.

It is emblematic that a former director of the observatory, George V. Coyne, a Jesuit astrophysicist who died in 2020, played an important role in changing the Vatican’s position, which formally acknowledged in 1992 that Galileo might be right. “Of course, the Bible is not a scientific book. The scriptures are myths, poetry and history, but they do not teach science,” he declared to “The New York Times Magazine” in 1994.

The basis of Specola dates back to the time of Pope Gregory 13, who built an observatory —known as the Tower of the Winds— inside the Vatican so that astronomers could study the reform of the Julian calendar, in use until 1582. Also known as Ugo Boncompagni ( 1502-85), he was one of the first — and most important — patrons of the Jesuits, and today has an asteroid named after him, the Ugoboncompagni.

Among the astronomers who worked on the reformed calendar was a Jesuit, Christopher Clavius ​​(1538-1612) —asteroid 20237 Clavius—, who lived in the Roman College, created in the Italian capital in 1551 by Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the order.

The school produced generations of astronomers, including Giovanni Battista Riccioli (1598-1671) —asteroid 122632 Riccioli—, who published a map of the Moon in 1647 and codified some of the lunar nomenclature that is still in use today. When Neil Armstrong said: “Houston, this is from Tranquilidade Base. The Eagle has landed”, on the Apollo 11 lunar mission, in 1969, he made reference to Mare Tranquillitatis, thus named by Riccioli.

The asteroid 4705 Secchi is named after the Jesuit priest Angelo Secchi (1818-78), a pioneer of astronomical spectroscopy and director of the observatory of the Collegio Romano from 1848 until his death.

The religious who work there today are divided between Castel Gandolfo and Monte Graham, in Arizona, where the Vatican operates a telescope in partnership with the state university; Jean-Baptiste Kikwaya Eluo is one of them (there is also an asteroid named after him, 23443 Kikwaya).

“Being both a scientist and a man of faith changes the way one sees the world. In fact, my scientific vocation was encouraged by my superiors in the order. As Jesuits, we truly believe that God is solely responsible for the existence of all things. things, and that creates a very different relationship between us and the object under observation”, he said during an interview by Zoom from Arizona.

Asteroids — also known as minor planets or small bodies of the solar system — are named by professional astronomers who are members of the International Astronomical Union. Every three months, the group receives a list of proposed names and citations, but not all are designated; in fact, only 3.8 percent of the 620,000 (numbered) were named, following specific guidelines.

Traditionally, figures from Greek and Roman mythologies predominated (the first four were named Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta), but later inspiration came from other cultures. Ryugu, for example, is a magical underwater palace in Japanese folklore, while Benu is the namesake of the ancient Egyptian avian deity (incidentally, chosen from thousands of entries in the “Name the Asteroid!” contest). There is also Apophis, who, in Egyptian mythology, is an enemy of the Sun god, Ra.

Over time, however, the nomination became more prosaic, mainly in recognition of scientists, astronomers and prominent figures. Even more recently, it has come to be inspired by the winners and main participants of high school science and engineering fairs. (Carl Zimmer, who writes about science for The New York Times, also has his: 212073 Carlzimmer.)

But there are restrictions. Under the guideline, names of pets or historical figures associated with the slave trade, genocide, or eugenics should not be used. Anyone who has been a prominent military or political figure must have been dead for at least a hundred years to be taken into account.

Opening up the process in this way, however, has raised the debate over the inspired naming of students whose future is completely up in the air. This is the case of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who “won” an asteroid (23238 Ocasio-Cortez) after her school project was awarded at an international science and engineering fair.

“It’s true,” she assured on Twitter in 2018. Although she has embarked on a political career, the star will keep her name; after all, there is no retroactive claim.

“We don’t do that kind of thing, and we also strongly discourage religious inspiration. In the cases of Jesuit astronomers, the inspiration comes from the fact that they are astronomers and also happen to be Jesuits, not the other way around”, guarantees Gareth Williams, secretary of the Group Workbook for Nomenclature of Small Bodies.

Many names are justified with peculiar stories. In the latest wave, asteroid 44715 was named Paolovezzosi after Paolo Vezzosi, an amateur astronomer and pastry chef from Montelupo Fiorentino—who, according to the quote, “provided delicious cakes” at outreach events.

He was nominated by Maura Tombelli, president of the astronomy group founded in the small Tuscan town that built a public observatory there. She discovered 200 asteroids during her astronomical observation period (so much so that she was honored with 9904 Mauratombelli).

“Nominating Vezzosi was a way of thanking him for helping to build the observatory. We had nothing else to offer but the rocks in the sky,” she explained.