Visits to the Vatican Observatory
Relations between scientists and the Church have not always been easy. So much so that Galileo was condemned in 1633 for defending heliocentrism. It was not until 1992 and a speech by John Paul II that a famous error was officially recognized. Things have changed since then. In the 20th century, the Belgian canon Georges Lemaître developed his famous Big Bang theory. In 1930, the Vatican opened its observatory in Castel Gandolfo. Today, the Holy Father has become a privileged partner in astronomical research. Direction: the cosmos.
From Rome… to Arizona
Originally, the Observatory was used to make the necessary corrections to the calendar. It was located in the Tower of the Winds, near the corridor of the Vatican Museum. This tower, built according to the plans of the Dominican friar and astronomer Ignazio Danti, a professor at the University of Bologna, is in fact crossed by the meridian that indicated to Pope Gregory XIII the day of the spring equinox needed to establish the exact date of Easter. The Gregorian calendar, promulgated in 1582, was developed by the Jesuit mathematician Christopher Clavius starting from astronomical data. In the 18th century, the institute specialized in research on earthquakes. Astronomical observations, neglected for a period, resumed in 1780 thanks to John Dollond's telescope. Later, in 1787, an observatory was founded at the Roman College and the Vatican observatory then dedicated itself to the study of meteorology and terrestrial physics. The observatory was equipped with meteorological and magnetic instruments, a seismograph and a sundial for astronomical observations. The subsequent history was turbulent and unstable: the observatory had to close and move several times. In 1930 it was officially moved to Castel Gandolfo, the Pope’s summer residence. Thus began the modern era, but also a problem: light pollution. If the lights of the eternal city had driven astronomers away, it was not long before the same problem arose elsewhere. After 31 years a drastic decision was made: a new move to Arizona, on Mount Graham. The Vatican Observatory Research Group (VORG) was founded, with offices at the Steward Observatory of the University of Arizona in Tucson. The Castel Gandolfo site remained active, dedicated mainly for educational purposes. The telescope was installed in 1993. Astronomers from the clergy work there together with lay scientists, participating in joint research. The observatory is a member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics (ICRA). The current director of the observatory, Guy Consolmagno, took over in 2015 from José Gabriel Funes, also a Jesuit and astronomer.
Meeting with Fr. Gabriele Gionti
When we arrived at the Vatican Observatory (Specola Vaticana), in the company of Monsignor Jean-Marie Gervais, the first thing that surprised us was the location of our meeting point: Albano Laziale and not Castel Gandolfo, although very close. The complex is in fact very large; the Vatican Observatory includes several geographical areas.
The person who welcomed us was called Gabriele Gionti, a particularly friendly Jesuit priest. His specialties are cosmology and… quantum gravity. Coincidence or not, the astronomer would be invited two days later to the University of Namur. André Füzfa confirmed the very high quality of his work.
Before getting into the heart of the discussion, our host proudly showed us the register of scientists who have succeeded one another in these places, during seminars, conferences or simple meetings. Spitzer, Lemaître, Fowler, Hoyle… a true “dream team” of astronomy.
We were also able to admire a splendid collection of meteorites, manuscripts dating back to the Renaissance and, of course, photographs taken with various Popes.
The Vatican Observatory addresses all fields of astronomy. With Gabriele Gionti it is difficult to avoid the debate on the famous “theory of everything”. How can we describe the set of fundamental interactions in a coherent and unified way? A similar theory has not yet been discovered, mainly due to the impossibility of finding a description of gravity compatible with the standard model of particle physics, which is the theoretical framework used to describe the other three known interactions (electromagnetism, weak interaction and strong interaction).
A frequently re-proposed path is string theory. However, Gabriele Gionti is not convinced. According to him, it is a good mathematical theory that actually attempts to unify quantum mechanics and general relativity, which describe phenomena at the microscopic and macroscopic levels respectively.
In fundamental physics, string theory is a theoretical principle in which the point particles of the standard model are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. The theory describes how these strings propagate through space and interact with each other. On scales larger than that of the string, it appears as an ordinary particle, with mass, charge, and other properties determined by the vibrational state of the string. In particular, one of these vibrational states corresponds to the graviton, a particle described by quantum mechanics that transmits the gravitational interaction.
However, we have not yet succeeded in obtaining formal proof that string theory actually describes the world. This theory and its variants have a practical drawback: their extreme complexity, which, to date, does not allow us to arrive at usable results without resorting to rough approximations.
Let's go back to the infinitely large. General relativity does not allow us to describe a before the Big Bang, unlike quantum physics. So a logical question arises: have there been other Big Bangs? Are there parallel universes? It is difficult to demonstrate what cannot be observed. Although the idea is gaining traction, Gabriele Gionti points out that, at this stage, it is only speculation. String theory could hypothetically offer a solution, but there is nothing concrete yet.
A few years ago, NASA's Anita project described particles that do not seem to follow the laws of classical physics. The Anita (Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna ) experiment consists of a high-altitude helium balloon equipped with a system of radio antennas, which detected some examples of highly energetic neutrinos passing through the Earth. Neutrinos are fundamental "ghost" particles, which pass through matter almost without interacting, making them extremely difficult to detect. However, when produced by powerful and explosive objects in the Universe, they can reach such high energies that they interact more easily with ordinary matter. These neutrinos should come from deep space ... and not from Earth. This suggests the existence of an anti-Universe dominated by antimatter, extending back in time from the Big Bang and with spatial properties reversed compared to our Universe. In short, there are tracks, hypotheses and theories, but formal proof of the existence of a multiverse remains unattainable at the moment. Gabriele Gionti is a pure theoretician: he understands the Universe through equations. However, the team at the Vatican Observatory is multidisciplinary. It deals with meteorites, stars, extrasolar planets, meteorology, photometry (the quantitative study of light radiation as perceived by human vision) and more. In space research, the “holy grail” is often represented by the discovery of life forms elsewhere. Like many, Gionti avoids stating with certainty the existence of extraterrestrials, but admits a very high probability, given the vastness of possibilities in the universe. Some planets could even be more habitable than Earth. Furthermore, are we sure that water and carbon are the only bases for life, even if they are the most ideal? Gabriele Gionti reminds us what many astrophysicists have said before him: it would be a mistake to limit ourselves to imagining life only as a bipedal and technologically advanced form. The discovery of even just one extraterrestrial bacterium would already be a huge revolution.
In astronomy, one answer often generates many more questions. Sign of destiny or not, while we were visiting St. Peter's Basilica the next day, a man we had encountered the day before appeared again in our direction. Gionti smiled, amused by our surprise. The chances of meeting us again that day were low. One thing is certain: the Church is no longer the enemy of science.
(Geoffrey Van Hecke for Tota Pulchra News)
