Marking 10 Years on the Mountain
"We must have glass and metal to build new telescopes," says George V. Coyne, S.J., director of the Vatican Observatory and adjunct professor in the University of Arizona's department of astronomy. "But," he says "what we build is an extension of our eyes, of our curiosity to understand the universe and ourselves in it." Coyne was appointed director of the observatory in 1978 and assumed the post in 1980.
The Vatican Observatory, founded in 1891 after the closure of the Observatory of the Roman College which had enjoyed Vatican support for more than 300 years, demonstrates that "the Church values science and the place of science in human affairs," says Chris Corbally, S.J., vice director for the Vatican Observatory Research Group and adjunct astronomer with Steward Observatory at the UA. "Since God chose to become involved with human affairs," elaborates Corbally, "then God has become involved with the science that we do."
In 1935, the actual observatory was moved from the Vatican to Castel Gandolfo, the Pope's summer residence located south of Rome. When the observatory was moved, it was done to escape the increasing artificial sky illumination from Rome's city lights. The Schmidt Telescope, then in use, has a wide-angle camera which required the darkest skies possible. In the 1970s, the observatory began to face the problems of light pollution once again and the effectiveness of the Schmidt Telescope at that location was threatened.
While observatory staff began to address the issue of a move, according to Coyne, it was the wish of Pope Paul VI that they limit their search to Italian national territory. "Considering that we are in southern Arizona, we have here an interesting example of how times and mentalities change, as do popes," says Coyne.
It became clear that there wasn't a site on Italian territory that would merit a move of the observatory, especially the telescope. As various European and South American locations were considered, the decision was made to move people instead of telescopes. Several Jesuits, either already trained or pursuing training in astronomy, eventually joined Coyne as part of the research staff that would determine the future of the observatory. Included in the group were Corbally and William R. Stoeger, S.J., presently an adjunct astronomer with Steward Observatory at the UA.
Coyne's ties to the UA presented the research institute of the Vatican Observatory with the opportunity and an invitation from the UA to join in the construction of an advanced technology telescope. "We wanted to have a good firm anchor in top-rate science. This was an excellent choice and it remains so because of the University's involvement in astronomy through Steward Observatory. It's a great place to be," says Corbally.
"We came in the early 1980s, when the big telescope projects were getting under way," says Corbally. "This mirror was the first one that was actually spun cast with the ceramic molds and spinning furnace. The new technology was used all the way through, including the stressed lap polishing technique. All of that technology was tested out on this mirror. It was very exciting."
The Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) was inaugurated in September 1993 on Mount Graham in Graham County, Ariz. "And," Corbally continues, "10 years later we realized that we undertook a great deal of work."
Corbally says that a decade after installation, the telescope is working reliably and people are getting good observations. What is needed now are upgrades and adjustments to the instrumentation and software to make the telescope even better and easier for observers to use and to maintain good images.
The next phase will be to have mirror adjustments made fully by automation instead of needing the observer to tweak them during the night. "We don't need a vast amount of instrumentation," says Corbally. "But a telescope is almost a living thing. If you stop working on it, it will die. Every telescope that is working is always being improved. People want to use this telescope and observers from all over the world keep coming back."
Corbally refers to himself as "primarily a spectroscopist" who, until recently, didn't have a spectrograph. There is now an infrared one on loan to VATT from the University of Virginia and construction of the VATT's optical spectrograph is under way.
Recent research highlights achieved using the VATT include the discovery by William Ryan, from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, of the first binary Vesta chip. Ryan and collaborators used the efficient imaging of VATT to monitor, night after night, the brightness of an asteroid in the Asteroid Belt known to have been split off from the much larger asteroid, Vesta. The only way they could explain tiny differences from the expected variations was if the "chip" itself had a little companion chip. This discovery will give insights into the original impact that Vesta experienced and how the solar system formed.
Another significant research project, the search for massive compact halo objects, or rather MACHOS, required extensive observation over numerous successive clear nights that Mount Graham's atmosphere provides. Corbally says that what was required was a telescope that collaborators Richard Boyle and program designer Arlin Crotts of Columbia University in New York, could use to "stare at Andromeda, a galaxy much like our own, night after night. The observations," Corbally, continued, " are telling us how significant a part these massive compact halo objects were of the dark matter of the universe that we know to be out there. What are these stellar-mass objects? The mystery continues." And, so does the research.
When presented with the age-old question of whether he believes that there is a conflict between the continued quest for scientific knowledge and his role as an astronomer-priest, Coyne replies that he doesn't believe that there should be a conflict nor even a debate. "Dialogue is more productive. At a time when religious fundamentalism frequently makes headlines and when astronomical discoveries are being made at a dizzying pace, respectful dialogue about the respective roles of science and religion in our lives takes on new urgency."
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