Pope Leo XIII lived during the Industrial Revolution, and was a champion of worker’s rights; he addressed the social upheavals caused by industrialization and urbanization. In 1891, he issued the landmark encyclical Rerum Novarum (“On the Condition of Labor”), which defended the rights of workers to form unions, demanded fair wages, and critiqued both unbridled capitalism and socialism.
Also in 1891, Pope Leo XIII founded the modern Vatican Observatory with his motu proprio Ut Mysticam, the key line of which (translated) is “to show the world that the Church is not opposed to good and solid science, but rather supports it to the fullest measure.”
IAU Citation
(858334) Gioacchinopecci = 2012 VT87
Discovery: 2012-11-14 / K. Černis, R. P. Boyle / Mount Graham / 290
Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci (Pope Leo XIII, 1810–1903) had a great interest in the sciences and was responsible for the re-establishment and reform of the Vatican Observatory in 1891 within the walls of the Vatican. He also encouraged the Observatory to get involved in the Carte du Ciel project.
Source: https://www.wgsbn-iau.org/files/Bulletins/V006/WGSBNBull_V006_006.pdf
Pope Leo XIII’s Coat of Arms
Br. Guy suggested I include Pope Leo XIII’s coat of arms – it has a comet on it! When I searched the internet for it, boy did I find a lot of different versions! I thought it would be an interesting aside to include them here. I also found that you can buy “ugly” Christmas sweaters with papal coats of arms on them. I’ll leave that as an exercise for the reader!
Asteroid (858334) Gioacchinopecci Orbit
Asteroid (858334) Gioacchinopecci is a main-belt asteroid with an orbital period of 4.55 years, and a fairly steep inclination of 8.99 degrees.
JPL Small Body Database: https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=Gioacchinopecci
About the Carte du Ciel project
Astronomers in Paris in 1887 set up the basis for the first photographically-based atlas of the stars: the Carte du Ciel (Map of the Sky). Based on photos, first a map and then a catalogue of the stars would be made. Eighteen observatories located in countries on all continents participated in the project.
Pope Leo XIII had the Vatican Observatory participate in the Carte du Ciel, an ambitious international project to map the entire night sky. Through this collaboration, the Vatican took responsibility for photographing and cataloging a specific celestial zone, utilizing a specialized telescope to contribute nearly 500,000 star positions to the global effort.
Read more about Pope Leo XIII
De Vaticana Specula Astronomica Restituenda Et Amplificanda – English translation of the document issued by Pope Leo XIII re-founding the Vatican Astronomical Observatory.
Posts about Pope Leo XIII on the Vatican website.
Posts about Pope Leo XIII on the Vatican Observatory Foundation website.
Pope Leo XIII on Wikipedia
Asteroids Named for Jesuits
Br. Bob Macke, S.J., Curator of Meteorites at the Vatican Observatory in Rome, maintains a graphic showing an ever-growing list of Jesuits who have asteroids named after them – he’s quickly running run out of room!
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
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.
Together, Dr. Černis and Rev. Boyle have submitted citations for several persons involved with the Vatican Observatory.
Posts About Jesuit Asteroids
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4 asteroids just got named for Pope Leo XIII, Vatican astronomers
The Vatican Observatory announced that an asteroid has been named in honor of Pope Leo XIII, who formally reestablished the observatory in 1891.
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Pope Leo XIII Gets an Asteroid Named After Him!
Pope Leo XIII, was responsible for the re-establishment and reform of the Vatican Observatory in 1891, gets an asteroid named after him!
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Father José G. Funes, S.J. Gets an Asteroid Named After Him!
Father José G. Funes, SJ, former Director of the Vatican Observatory gets an asteroid named after him!
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Rev. Pavel Gabor, S.J. Gets An Asteroid Named For Him!
Rev. Pavel Gabor, SJ, Vice Director of the Vatican Observatory Gets An Asteroid Named After Him!
