The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has immortalized a Pope and three Jesuit astronomers in the sky. In its February bulletin, the institution named four asteroids that are located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
As the IAU Small Celestial Bodies Naming Working Group announced in its latest newsletter, the asteroid discovered in 2012 with the number 560794 should now be called “Ugoboncompagni”, reports the website Katholisch.de.
Ugo Boncompagni was elected Pope on May 13, 1572 and took the name Gregory XIII. During his pontificate, this pope promoted science and reformed the calendar. The Gregorian calendar is still in use today. In its newsletter, the UAI also recognizes the Pope for his services to astronomy. Gregory XIII had the “Tower of the Winds” built as part of the Vatican Observatory. The 73 meter high tower, completed in 1580, served in particular as an observatory to carry out the astronomical observations necessary for the calendar reform.
Three Immortal Jesuits
In addition to Gregory XIII. three Jesuits are also among the new patrons of the asteroid names: the former director of the Vatican Observatory Johann Georg Hagen (1847-1930). His experiments on the rotation of the earth confirmed the theories of Nicolas Copernicus and Galileo. The astronomer and theologian William Stoeger (1943-2014), who experimentally verified mathematical theories of cosmology, and the physicist and philosopher Robert Janusz (born 1964), who studies star clusters and interstellar matter.
The asteroids named in their honor are (562971) Johannhagen, (551878) Stoeger, and (565184) Janusz. The four asteroids lie in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and were discovered at the Vatican Observatory.
Jesuit astronomer Robert Macke, who studies meteorology at the Vatican Observatory, counted at least 32 asteroids with Jesuit names, including the new names. Since the year 2000, an asteroid has been called “Ratzinger” because Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, opened the Vatican archives to science.
The Jesuit order has been closely associated with astronomy for centuries. Researchers such as Angelo Secchi, the founder of modern astrophysics, came from their ranks. The Vatican Observatory, whose history began with the construction of the Tower of the Winds in the 16th century, was run by Jesuits from the start. Its center is now in Castel Gandolfo and its research facilities have been based at the University of Arizona (USA) since 1981. In Arizona, the observatory also operates its own observatory on Mount Graham. (cath.ch/kath.de/bh)
name, instructions for use
Asteroid naming is a multi-step process. A new celestial body is registered when it is observed by an observer for two consecutive nights. Sightings must then be reported to the UAI’s Minor Planet Center, which will assign a temporary identification number. Then previous observations of previously unidentified celestial bodies are compared to the new observation, all duplicates are merged.
As soon as an exact orbit can be determined from the data, the asteroid is given a fixed number. The right to the name belongs to the researcher who has supplied enough data for the orbit calculation, i.e. not necessarily the first discoverer. The name proposal is then examined by the working group on naming small celestial bodies and finally published officially. FXN
© Catholic media center Cath-Info, 02/14/2023
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