From the Director

Why Arizona…and Why the VATT?

In September 2003, the Vatican Observatory celebrated the tenth anniversary of the inauguration of the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope. Called simply the VATT, this was the first optical/infrared telescope at the Mt. Graham International Observatory in the Pinaleno Mountains, about 135 miles northeast of Tucson near the town of Safford. The map on page 8 shows you where we are located.

As we celebrate a decade of research with the VATT, I would like to record the history that led up to the Observatory’s decision to construct the VATT and to do so jointly with the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory. Since I have been Observatory director throughout most of the VATT’s pre-history, I am in reality sharing with you my personal memoirs of those years.

The Story Begins with the Schmidt Telescope

To appreciate the events leading up to the VATT, we need to consider the momentous changes that occurred at the Observatory starting around the early 1960s. At that time, under Director Father Daniel O’Connell, S.J., the Observatory installed a Schmidt Telescope in the papal gardens adjacent to the Pope’s summer residence in Castel Gandolfo where the Observatory has its headquarters. After a lengthy period of fine tuning and testing, the telescope began its research mission in 1962, primarily to classify stars according to their spectra. Like the VATT, the Schmidt was an advanced technology telescope: essentially an exquisite wide-angle camera to photograph the universe. It was among the largest of its kind in the world. Father O’Connell’s efforts to modernize the Observatory were aided by three young Jesuits¾Father Patrick Treanor, S.J. of the United Kingdom, Father Florian Bertiau, S.J. of Belgium, and Father Martin McCarthy, S.J. of the United States¾who had just joined the staff. These young astronomers were the first “new blood” for research at the Observatory in a number of decades.

Schmidt Telescope at Castel Gandolfo, inaugurated 16 November 1957.

I think the events described above represent a true renaissance for the Observatory after a rather protracted sleepy period. And it was marvelous! I lived through the later part of that period as a visiting researcher and temporary staff member starting in 1969. During my early tenure with the Specola, it became very clear to me that a most important element in the success of any observatory consists of access both to excellent instruments and to the brains with the know-how to employ those instruments for significant research. But the assistance of an excellent technical support staff is equally important. Providing technical support for the Schmidt Telescope was Brother Karl Treusch, S.J., who before he became a Jesuit had worked for many years as a mechanical engineer with the firm of Carl Zeiss of Jena, Germany, one of the most renowned companies in the world for the design and construction of telescopes and optical systems.

I was privileged to have witnessed the work of this team of Jesuits, all professionally trained and passionate about their trade. With the Schmidt Telescope, this team developed new techniques to use the spectra of stars to study their age, chemical composition, and motions. They made significant contributions to the study of the distribution of young and old stars in the Milky Way compared to nearby galaxies. In brief, they were on the front lines of research in astrophysics. They established a tradition that carries on today at the VATT.

But, as the saying goes, all good things come to an end. In the 1970s the Observatory began to face two serious problems. The first is a recurring one: youth is not eternal and at that time few, if any, young Jesuits were in training for work at the Observatory. Father Treanor, who had succeeded Father O’Connell as director, began recruiting. The second problem is the one whose resolution best explains why we have a research institute today in Arizona. The same artificial sky illumination from Rome’s city lights that forced the Observatory to move to Castel Gandolfo in the 1930s, had once again encroached on the Observatory’s telescopes by the 1970s. Continued use of the Schmidt Telescope, which as a wide-angle camera required the darkest skies possible, was threatened. Father Treanor and the Observatory staff began immediately to address this second problem and to search for alternative observing sites. It was the wish of Pope Paul VI, however, that they limit their search to Italian national territory.

The Search for a New Observatory Site Starts in Italy

The Vatican Observatory began looking for a new home in collaboration with Italian astronomers who were also seeking a site for a large Italian national telescope. Instrumentation for testing the quality of potential sites was built in the Observatory’s shops. Extensive site-testing excursions were made, principally to mountainous areas on the island of Sardinia and in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. It soon became clear, however, that although better sites than Castel Gandolfo existed on Italian territory, none had sufficiently superior qualities to merit moving the Observatory’s facilities there, especially the Schmidt Telescope. In fact, the Italian astronomers opted to build their national telescope, named for Galileo, on Spanish territory in the Canary Islands.

Unfortunately, the Observatory’s efforts to find a new home came to an abrupt halt in 1978 when both Pope Paul VI and Father Treanor passed away. Then the papal successor, John Paul I, died only 32 days after his election. During his brief reign, I was appointed Director of the Observatory, although because of obligations to my faculty position at the University of Arizona, I did not assume the position until 1980. In the meantime, however, I became aware of several young Jesuits, either already trained or being trained in astronomy, who were lurking in various parts of the world. Three of them, Richard Boyle, Christopher Corbally, and William Stoeger, are now members of the research staff. It became clear to me from the start that, if decisions regarding the future of the Observatory were to be made, they would have to be made in consort with these young Jesuits.

The Search for a New Site Resumes and Leads to Arizona

Over a period of time I visited each of the three prospective staff members, and together we planned for the Observatory’s future. We considered several possibilities: move the Schmidt Telescope to the Canary Islands, and like the Italians did, become members of the international observatory in development there, or leave the telescope in Castel Gandolfo and join other European countries at the European Southern Observatory in northern Chile. But we chose a third option that also meant leaving the Schmidt Telescope in Castel Gandolfo: accept an invitation from the Department of Astronomy of the University of Arizona to establish a research institute of the Vatican Observatory in Tucson.

Location map for the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope at the Mt. Graham International Observatory, Arizona.

The latter option won out for the following principal reasons: Tucson was rapidly becoming one of the worldwide capitals for observational astronomy; several Observatory staff members had worked at various astronomical institutes in Tucson over a period of years; and for an annual fee, we would be hosted by the University of Arizona with office space and full access to staff support and observing facilities, but we would remain an independent research institute. Aside from Tucson’s growing astronomical reputation, the University of Arizona option was the least costly of the three we considered; no capital investment was needed in buildings, telescopes, or other equipment. So with the enthusiastic support of the Vatican and a projected 10% annual increase in the Observatory budget, we founded in 1980 the Vatican Observatory Research Institute (VORG) in Tucson while maintaining our headquarters at Castel Gandolfo.

The VATT Becomes An Unexpected Dream Come True

We hadn’t planned to build a telescope in Arizona when we established the VORG. But in 1985 the university offered us the opportunity to join them in constructing an advanced technology telescope that would be the first instrument to use a lightweight primary mirror created out of borosilicate glass that is melted, molded, and spun into shape in a specially designed rotating oven. This innovative spin-casting technique had been in development over a number of years at Steward Observatory, and the astronomers were ready to make their first research-grade mirror. We were flattered and tempted by an invitation to join in a partnership on the front lines of modern astronomy. But we would have to find about $4 million dollars! The prospect of having our own modern telescope on one of the best observing sites in the world, Mt. Graham, was far too attractive. And so like children with joyous dreams of a new tree house in the backyard, and despite our original anticipation of needing no capital investment when we chose the Arizona option for our move, we established the Vatican Observatory Foundation in 1987 to begin raising the necessary funds. And with the generous help of many friends and the full support of the Vatican, we succeeded. The Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope is a dream come true. On pages 14-15 is a timeline for the construction of the telescope.

The VATT alone, however, will not secure the future of the Observatory. Young Jesuit astronomers are required to continue the work of the existing staff. Here too we have fond hopes for the future. As described later in this section under Personnel News, a young Jesuit from the Republic of the Congo has recently joined our staff. And we have regular contact with four other young Jesuits, from the Czech Republic, India, Italy, and the United States, with the prospect that they may one day join us.

Final Thoughts

In closing these reminiscences about how the VATT came to be, I am reminded of the story of the founding of the first major observatory in Southern Arizona, the Kitt Peak National Observatory, on Kitt Peak, a mountain sacred to the Tohono O’Odham Native Americans. In the course of the treaty agreements between the U.S. government and theTohono O’Odham peoples it was discovered that they had no word for “astronomer.” The tribe lived under the beautiful skies of Arizona, but it had no word for those who study the skies scientifically. So in order to complete written agreements, they invented in their own language an expression for “astronomers.” Transliterated into English the expression means “The People with Long Eyes,” a perfect image that suits the Vatican Observatory astronomers as well. We must have glass and metal and--yes--money to build new telescopes, but what we build is an extension of our eyes, of our curiosity to understand the universe and ourselves in it. We are deeply grateful to the many friends who have had the “long eyes” to help us, and we firmly trust that young Jesuits with “long eyes” will join us in this marvelous adventure of seeking to understand the universe in which we live by using such magnificent telescopes as the VATT.

Research Highlights

As we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the inauguration of the VATT, we invite our friends to review the highlights of our past research that have been recorded in previous Annual Reports. Here we add highlights of the most recent studies by Vatican Observatory astronomers. Each highlight is reported in more detail in section I. Astronomical Research.

• One of the most exciting fields of modern research is the search for planets outside the Solar System. At last count about 120 planets have been discovered. From his spectral studies, Chris Corbally, along with his collaborators, has found that although stars with planets have about the same abundance of heavier elements as our Sun, they have more heavier elements than other Sun-like stars without planets in the local neighborhood of the Galaxy (within about 130 light years of the Sun). Is the higher heavy element abundance favorable for a star to have planets? Is it the result of having planets? Is it at least a signature that there are planets? There are chapters still to be written in this exciting venture.
• To understand the formation, structure, and evolution of galaxies, one must try to understand the formation of star clusters within them. José Funes, along with his collaborators, has discovered two massive young clusters in a nearby giant elliptical galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus. Spectroscopic data reveal that these clusters will merge into one and form a massive globular cluster. This may be one of the few times that we are getting clues to the origins of massive globular clusters, which are a key to understanding galaxy formation. By the way, Funes and his collaborators are all alumni of the Vatican Observatory Summer Schools (VOSS): Dante Minniti (VOSS ‘86), Marina Rejkuba (VOSS ‘97), Robert Kennicutt (faculty VOSS ‘03), and Funes (VOSS ‘93, faculty VOSS ‘03).

  Black dots in upper photo, an enlargement of the white square in bottom image, show location of the two newly discovered young star clusters in NGC5128, a southern hemisphere galaxy. Photos taken using the Very Large Telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile.

• Sometimes astrophysical research with modern instruments so outpaces classical research that the results of bygone days are forgotten. This is not the case for a group of astronomers, including Alessandro Omizzolo, who are exploring the plate archives of several observatories, the Vatican Observatory included, to extract data that has long been concealed there. Through the use of modern electronic methods for careful scanning and digitalization of images on the plates, these researchers are obtaining some magnificent results, such as the variation of the energy output of quasars over as much as 25 years. Such results will undoubtedly help to understand these enigmatic objects, which are closely related to the formation of structure in the universe.
• The origin of the Moon has always been a much-debated topic. The most acceptable theory is that a collision of a Mars-sized planetesimal (often called “Theia”) with the newly formed Earth splashed out terrestrial material that then congealed to form the Moon. However, recent models suggest the bulk majority of the material that formed the Moon came from the impacting object and not from the Earth. Guy Consolmagno has noted that the impacting object must have already separated out its material into a crust, and below it, a mantle and an iron core. Thus by Consolmagno’s model, the Moon must have formed out of mostly crustal material from the impacting object and, therefore, have a chemical composition that is much different from the average composition of undifferentiated Solar System material. This coincides with recent work by Consolmagno and others who have used lunar meteorites and lunar orbiter data to re-evaluate the chemical composition of the Moon and its early evolution.
• Cosmologists are increasingly interested in the possible existence of a “multiverse” that is much larger than our visible universe and which could contain many other universes or universe domains. Quantum cosmology considerations indicate that this multiverse would be the natural result of the beginning-of-everything in an inflationary expansion after the Big Bang. Along with his colleagues, William Stoeger is using fundamental quantum cosmology to study the difference, conceptually speaking, between the collection of all possible universes and any ensemble of really existing universes. He is also exploring ways in which all of these rather exotic considerations might be tested.
• It is now known that about 90% of the matter in the universe does not radiate. This is the so-called dark matter whose nature is not known. It is expected that there are several types of dark matter in the universe. Over a number of years, Richard Boyle has been working on a research program designed by Arlin Crotts of Columbia University, New York, to use the VATT to detect compact non-radiating but gravitationally lensing objects known as MACHOS (Massive Compact Halo Objects) in the halo of our neighboring galaxy. So far the results indicate that a significant amount of the dark matter there consists of objects with masses similar to stars. What are they? The mystery goes on.

Vatican Observatory Summer School

The Ninth Vatican Observatory Summer School (VOSS) in Observational Astronomy and Astrophysics was held at the Observatory in Castel Gandolfo from 15 June to 11 July. The topic of the 2003 School, “Observations and Theoretical Understanding of Galaxy Evolution: From the Local to the Distant Universe,” attracted 25 students from 20 countries. José G. Funes, S.J. served as Dean of the School. The faculty included: Enrico M. Corsini, Department of Astronomy, University of Padua; Robert C. Kennicutt, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona; Leonidas Matsoukas, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore; Francesca Matteucci, Department of Astronomy, University of Trieste; Hans-Walter Rix, Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Heidelberg; Rachel Somerville, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore. On 4 July His Holiness John Paul II received the group in St. Peter’s Square at the termination of the General Audience. The young scholars were joined at the audience by the guests of the Vatican Observatory Foundation.

VOSS '03 students on a field trip to the 92/67-cm Schmidt Telescope at the Asiago Observatory. (Photo by Alessandro Omizzolo)

Personnel News

Giuseppe Koch, S.J., was appointed Vice Director for Administration and replaces in this office Sabino Maffeo, S.J., who assumes the office of Assistant to the Director.

Jean-Baptiste Kikwaya, S.J., of the Jesuit Province of Central Africa (Democratic Republic of the Congo) has been assigned as an astronomer to the staff of the Observatory. In 2000, he completed his Diplome d’Etudes Approfondies, a requirement to begin doctoral studies in France, in astronomy at the Paris Observatory with a thesis on asteroid satellites. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in astronomy at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.

José Funes, S.J. was appointed Adjunct Assistant Astronomer in Steward Observatory.

At the International Astronomical Union (IAU) XXV General Assembly in Sydney, Australia, members of the Vatican Observatory took on several positions for the next triennium. Guy Consolmagno, S.J., was elected President of Commission 16, Physical Study of Planets and Satellites, and appointed Secretary of Division III. Similarly, Christopher Corbally, S.J., was elected President of Commission 45, Stellar Classification, and so is also serving on the Organizing Committee of Division IV. He continues as Chairman of the Working Group on Standard Stars. In preparation for the next IAU General Assembly, Corbally has also been appointed Chairman of the Resolutions Committee. José Funes, S.J., became National Liaison for the Vatican City State to Commission 46, Astronomy Education and Development, taking over this post from Corbally.

We were saddened by the death of Charles W. Polzer, S.J., on 4 November at Los Gatos, California. He served for many years on the Board of Directors of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. In the early years of VORG in Tucson, he kindly accommodated the Jesuit astronomers at the Jesuit Residence, Kino House, which he founded.

We rejoice with George J. Goudreau, Sr., a generous benefactor with his deceased wife Lenore of the Vatican Observatory Foundation, on the celebration of his 100th birthday on 11 April. On a trip to Cleveland about one month before the magic date, George V. Coyne, S.J., the Foundation President, joined him and his family for a celebration.

Vatican Observatory Foundation Annual Meeting

The annual meeting of the members and directors of the Vatican Observatory Foundation was held on 28 February 2003 in Tucson, Arizona. The following were elected to serve as members and directors for a three-year period: RICHARD P. BOYLE, S.J.; MICHAEL A. CRONIN; CHARLES L. CURRIE, S.J.; KAREN DALBY; SHEILA GRINELL; ROCCO L. MARTINO; and BRENDAN D. THOMSON. PAUL M. HENKELS was elected Chairman of the Board, and MANUEL J. ESPINOZA was named Chair of the Investment Committee. GEORGE V. COYNE, S.J., remains as President of the Foundation.

On the day preceding the Foundation’s annual meeting, members of the Observatory staff conducted a seminar to present their research in a popular forum to friends of the Observatory and to members of the Board. On the day after the meeting, the same group was accompanied for an excursion to the Mt. Graham International Observatory, where the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope is located. Through the efforts of NANCY KNOCHE, Development Director, and JAMES McGEE, Chair of the Development Committee, the Foundation continues the two giving plans announced in previous Annual Reports: the Circles of Giving and “Reaching for the Heavens” Guild Memberships. A Capital Campaign has been inaugurated, with ROCCO L. MARTINO as Chairperson. The Campaign’s first major initiative, scheduled for May 2004, is a pilgrimage to the Vatican for major donors with a personal visit to the Pope.

Once again through the efforts of BRENDAN D. THOMSON, Board Member, an official Vatican Observatory calendar for 2004 has been produced with the theme “A Universe for All Persons.”

A visit to Rome, the Vatican, and the Vatican Observatory at Castel Gandolfo was organized for friends of the Foundation from 29 June to 6 July by CARLA KEEGAN, President of KLK, the Foundation’s accounting firm, with the assistance of NANCY KNOCHE, the Foundation’s Development Director.