Skip to content
Vatican Observatory
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
    • FAQ
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
      • FAQs
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • Software
    • Additional Resources
    • ACME
    • Ambassadors
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Support
    • Overview
    • Donate Now
    • Smart Ways to Give
    • Sacred Space Astronomy
      • View Content
    • Fr. Coyne Fundraiser
    • Bequests / Trusts
    • The Foundation
      • Newsletters
      • Annual Reports
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
    • Contact
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
    • FAQ
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
      • FAQs
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • Software
    • Additional Resources
    • ACME
    • Ambassadors
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Support
    • Overview
    • Donate Now
    • Smart Ways to Give
    • Sacred Space Astronomy
      • View Content
    • Fr. Coyne Fundraiser
    • Bequests / Trusts
    • The Foundation
      • Newsletters
      • Annual Reports
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
    • Contact

Asteroids Named for Jesuits

By Br. Robert Macke  |  31 Jul 2018

Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email

Asteroids Named After Jesuits - orbit diagram

These ten asteroids were all named after Jesuits.  I should note that the list is not exhaustive; there may be other asteroids that are named for Jesuits, but this is what I came up with after a couple hours’ search of the IAU minor planet center database.

St. Ignatius Loyola Portrait by Peter Paul Rubens. (Public Domain)

 

3562 Ignatius

  • e 0.1546
  • a 2.3387 AU
  • i 5.7256 deg
  • P 1306.358 days

St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) was the founder of the Jesuit order. The name of the asteroid was given to Ignatius in 1991 in honor of the 500th anniversary of his birth. (Ref: Minor Planet Circular 17028)

 

 

 

 

Maximilian Hell Portrait artist unknown.       (Public Domain)

 

3727 Maxhell

  • e 0.1500
  • a 3.318 AU
  • i 5.377 deg
  • P 2207.577 days

(Minor Planet Circular 26424): Named in memory of Maximilian Hell (1720-1792), famous for his determination of the solar parallax from his observations of the transit of Venus in 1769. Appointed director of the imperial observatory in Vienna in 1755, he prepared and published an important series of astronomical ephemerides. Name suggested by astronomers at the Astronomical Institute at Tatranská Lomnica. 

I add: Maximilian Hell SJ was a Hungarian Jesuit. He was alive at the time of the suppression of the Jesuit order in Austria and Hungary in 1782.

 

 

Br. Guy Consolmagno SJ Photo: Vatican Observatory

 

4597 Consolmagno

  • e 0.11945
  • a 2.609 AU
  • i 4.868 deg
  • P 1539.18 days

(Minor Planet Circular 41381): Through experimental petrology, Guy Consolmagno (b. 1952) studied the origins of eucritic meteorites. As the curator of the Vatican meteorite collection, Guy’s more recent efforts have focused on determining the densities and porosities of meteorites and making comparisons with the densities of minor planets.

I add: Br. Guy Consolmagno SJ is a member of the Maryland province of the Society of Jesus. In 2015, he became director of the Vatican Observatory, a post that he continues to hold today.

 

 

Fr. Angelo Secchi SJ (Public Domain)

 

4705 Secchi

  • e 0.1278
  • a 2.329 AU
  • i 8.637 deg
  • P 1298.64 days

(Minor Planet Circular 20160): Named in memory of Angelo Secchi (1818-1878), Italian astronomer, director of the observatory of the Collegio Romano in Rome from 1848 to 1878. Famous for his work on stellar spectroscopy, he made the first spectroscopic survey of the heavens, and his classification scheme divided the spectra of the stars into four groups. Secchi also made an extensive study of solar phenomena and was a co-founder of the Societa degli Spettroscopisti Italiani, now the Societa Astronomica Italiana.

I add: Fr. Angelo Secchi SJ was a Jesuit who was ordained a priest in 1847.

 

Br. Bob Macke

 

11266 Macke 

  • e 0.244
  • a 3.2356 AU
  • i 1.863 deg
  • P 2125.84 days

(Minor Planet Circular 103977): Robert J. Macke SJ (b. 1974) is a research scientist and meteorite curator at the Vatican Observatory, whose fundamental contributions include studying the relationship between shock state and porosity in carbonaceous chondrites.

I add: Oh, hey, that’s me!

 

Roger Boscovich Portrait by Robert Edge Pine, London, 1760. (Public Domain)

 

14361 Boscovich

  • e 0.09627
  • a 2.582 AU
  • i 13.243 deg
  • P 1515.67 days

(Minor Planet Circular 41940): Ruggiero Giuseppe Boscovich (1711-1787), Jesuit professor of mathematics and philosophy at Rome and Pavia, was for some years in Paris and later in Milan, where he founded the Brera Astronomical Observatory. He wrote on the determination of orbits of comets, mathematics and optics.

 

 

 

 

Fr. George Coyne SJ Photo: Vatican Observatory

 

14429 Coyne

  • e 0.3008
  • a 2.441 AU
  • i 21.3956 deg
  • P 1393.06 days

(Minor Planet Circular 41572): George Coyne (b. 1933), S.J., has been an astronomer at the Vatican Observatory since 1969 and its director since 1978. He has helped with the completion of the large Vatican telescope on Mt. Graham, Arizona. His polarimetric studies have centered on cataclysmic variables, among other subjects. 

I add: Fr. Coyne stepped down as director of the Vatican Observatory in 2006, and is currently the McDevitt Distinguished Chair in Religious Philosophy at LeMoyne College in Syracuse NY.

 

 

Christopher Clavius Engraving by Francesco Villamena (Public Domain)

 

20237 Clavius

  • e 0.06685
  • a 2.1496 AU
  • i 3.661 deg
  • P 1151.127 days

(Minor Planet Circular 110623): Christopher Clavius (1538-1612) was a German mathematician and astronomer. He figured out where to place the leap years in the Gregorian calendar. Pope Gregory XII revised the Julian calendar with the assistance of Clavius.

I add: Fr. Clavius was a German Jesuit who entered the order in 1555, and was one of the most celebrated mathematicians of his day.  Fr. Matteo Ricci SJ, who used his knowledge of mathematics and astronomy to gain access to the Chinese court, was trained by Clavius.

 

 

Fr. Jean-Baptiste Kikwaya Eluo SJ Photo: Vatican Observatory

23443 Kikwaya

  • e 0.12417
  • a 2.5668 AU
  • i 14.901 deg
  • P 1502.02 days

(Minor Planet Circular 89082): Jean Baptiste Kikwaya Eluo (b. 1965) is a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Staff Astronomer at the Vatican Observatory. Using optical meteor measurements, he estimates the bulk densities of smaller meteoroids through numerical ablation models. 

I add: Fr. Jean-Baptiste Kikwaya SJ also dedicates much of his scientific study to near-earth asteroids.

 

 

Fr. Richard Boyle SJ Photo: Vatican Observatory

302849 Richardboyle

  • e 0.1144
  • a 3.158 AU
  • i 25.606 deg
  • P 2049.93 days

(Minor Planet Circular 98715): Richard Boyle (b. 1943) is an astronomer at the Vatican Observatory. His work has specialized in high-precision photometry of stars and stellar clusters, often using Vilnius system filters. His work has application ranging from asteroseismology to the discoveries of asteroids with the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope. 

 

Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email

Sacred Space Astronomy

The Vatican Observatory’s official digital community and online magazine.

Become a Member

Recent Posts

Ask an AI about the History of Astronomy

By Mr. Christopher Graney  |  25 Mar 2023

Skyward by David Levy – March 2023

By David Levy  |  24 Mar 2023

Conjunction of the Moon and the Pleiades – March 25

By Robert Trembley  |  23 Mar 2023  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

The Northern Mountains

By Richard Hill  |  22 Mar 2023  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Archives

      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • August
      • June
      • March
      • January
      • November
      • October
      • December
      • November
      • April
      • May
      • January
      • December
      • September
      • May
      • March
      • December
      • November
      • February

More Posts by
Br. Robert J. Macke, S.J.

Latest Batch of Named Asteroids Includes Three Jesuit Astronomers and a Pope

By Br. Robert Macke  |  11 Feb 2023  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Half a Century since the Last Man on the Moon

By Br. Robert Macke, Rev. Matteo Galaverni  |  14 Dec 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Ideal-Gas Pycnometer for OSIRIS-REx

By Br. Robert Macke  |  17 Aug 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Vatty the Robot Telescope

By Br. Robert Macke  |  9 May 2022

Vatty the Robot Telescope

By Br. Robert Macke  |  7 May 2022  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Macke MakerSpace and the Observatory on a Church

By Br. Robert Macke  |  4 May 2022

View More

Newsletter

Upcoming astronomical events, scientific breakthroughs, philosophical reflections… just a few reasons to subscribe to our newsletter!

Vatican Observatory
  • About
  • Telescopes
  • Latest
  • Podcast
  • Education
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Support
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
Privacy Policy  |   Cookie Policy  |   Disclosure Statement

Podcast:

  • Apple Podcasts Listen onApple Podcasts
  • Spotify Listen onSpotify
  • Google Podcasts Listen onGoogle Podcasts
  • Stitcher Listen onStitcher
  • Amazon Alexa Listen onAmazon Alexa
  • TuneIn Listen onTuneIn
Made by Longbeard