Today we introduce a new feature to Sacred Space Astronomy: regular mini-posts that simply highlight of one of the entries from the Vatican Observatory Faith and Science pages. These mini-posts will appear twice each month, once on the 8th of the month, and once on the 25th of the month.
Why the 8th and the 25th? Because the 1st and the 15th would be too boring, too normal, and not astronomical enough. Therefore, the mini-posts will appear on the 8th, because there are eight major planets orbiting the sun, and on the 25th, because twenty-five hours is the approximate amount of time between one moonrise and the next!
Today’s featured entry from the Vatican Observatory Faith and Science pages:
“Giuseppe Piazzi and the Discovery of the Proper Motion of 61-Cygni” (click here for it)
Fr. Giuseppe Piazza discovered the proper motion of the star 61 Cygni at the end of the eighteenth century. A star’s proper motion is its motion across the sky compared to other stars. The position of 61 Cygni, a star that is faint but visible to the naked eye, changes measurably over the course of a year. A star whose position changes like this must be a relatively nearby star… [click here to continue].
The Faith and Science pages (F&S) are a unique resource on the web. The material in F&S is stuff that you will find nowhere else (or at least not without a lot of digging). Featured areas on F&S include “History of Church and Science”; “Church and Science Today”; “Science and Scripture”; “Science, Religion & Society”; “Life in the Universe”; “Cosmology”; and more. The level of the F&S material ranges from being accessible to all audiences, with even some material oriented toward young readers, up to material for university specialists.
The F&S pages, like this blog, are made possible by the Vatican Observatory Foundation (the Vatican Observatory’s US operation that operates the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope, or VATT, in Arizona). Click here to support the F&S pages, this blog, and the operation of the VATT.
