Rev. Gabriele Gionti, S.J. joins the ever-growing list of Jesuits who have had asteroids named after them!
Asteroid Citation
(611494) Gionti = 2006 WV212
Discovery: 2014-05-18 / K. Černis, R. P. Boyle * / Mount Graham / 290
Gabriele Gionti (b. 1967), an Italian theoretical cosmologist and Jesuit priest, works at the Vatican Observatory. His research covers aspects of string theory, and quantum gravity as applied to the physics of the Big Bang. At the Vatican Observatory he has organized several international workshops on space-time singularities in honor of George Lemaître.
Citation for asteroid (611494) Gionti appeared in the IAU WGSBN Bulletin V004_013, released 2024-09-23
Asteroid (611494) Gionti Orbit and JPL Entry
Asteroid (611494) Gionti orbits within the main asteroid belt, with an orbital period of 4.93 years; its orbit is inclined 7.25° to the plane of the ecliptic. The asteroid was discovered on May 18, 2014.
Biography
Rev. Gionti has been a member of the Vatican Observatory staff since 2010, he is studying quantum gravity, string theory and the behavior of our universe in its very first moments (Planck time); this includes research into string theory, loop quantum gravity and quantum Regge calculus.
Gionti graduated with a Masters degree in Physics in 1993. His main interests focused on high-energy physics, gravitational physics and mathematical physics.
In the fall of 1993, Gionti was admitted to the International School of Advanced Studies (S.I.S.S.A.-I.S.A.S.) of Trieste, Italy, in the Mathematical Physics Sector; His thesis research was primarily concerned with discrete approaches to Quantum Gravity, in particular Dynamical Triangulations, Matrix Models and Local Regge Calculus. He was awarded with a Ph.D. in Mathematical Physics in 1998.
In 1999 he worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the Physics and Astronomy Department at the University of California at Irvine, continuing research in Discrete Quantum Gravity and studying the problem of the Quantum measure in Regge Calculus. He joined the Jesuits in his native Italy in 2000, starting his novitiate in Genoa, Italy. On September 2002 he was assigned to study philosophy at the Aloisianum Philosophical Institute of the Society of Jesus in Padua, Italy, which he finished In September 2004 with a B.A. in Philosophy from the Gregorian University.
Click to see Rev. Gionti ‘s full bio.
About the Asteroid Discoverers
Dr. Kazimieras Černis
(born November 11, 1958, Vilnius) is a Lithuanian astronomer and astrophysicist, active member of the IAU, and a prolific discoverer of minor planets and comets. He is a chief researcher at the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy (ITPA).
In 2012, he discovered 420356 Praamzius, a trans-Neptunian object and dwarf planet candidate. – Wikipedia
In IAU WGSBN Bulletin V004_006, there were six named asteroids with Černis listed as the discoverer, including (191775) Poczobut.
Rev. Richard P. Boyle, S.J.
Rev. Boyle specializes in observational astronomy, in studies of stellar populations in Milky Way Galaxy star clusters and in research of the atmospheres of giant red stars. By making observations at VATT he collaborates with astronomers pursuing research on various objects like brown dwarfs, sdB stars for astroseismology, and discovery of solar system asteroids.
Asteroids Named for Jesuits
Br. Bob Macke maintains a graphic showing an ever-growing list of Jesuits who have asteroids named after them – he’s beginning to run out of room!
Other Posts About Jesuits with Asteroids Named After Them
Notes from Bob: Wikipedia has two T’s in the last name, IAU/JPL citation has only one.
When I searched YouTube for “Marcin Odlanicki Poczobut” I didn’t find anything, but the first suggestion offered was “Comfortably Numb” from Pink Floyd’s “The Wall.” Not really sure what that means, other than I listen to rather a lot of Pink Floyd on YouTube…
The asteroid image on the cover is a simulation from SpaceEngine.
https://www.vaticanobservatory.va/en/who-are-we/staff/rev-gabriele-gionti-s-j
