I watched an episode in NASA channel entitled Destination Tomorrow. It was interesting because space scientists are working to investigate suitable landing sites in Mars that are scientifically interesting and potential for proofs of interest. NASA developed the MRO, or the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (I dunno if I got the words right but it sounded just like that) to look for potential landing sites in case there would be success of human flights at Mars in the near future.

The MRO has high resolution cameras to produce high profile detailed pictures which will be evaluated to search for potential sites. It has also telescopic cameras to capture the planet’s surface features by photographing the planet. In this way, the scientists can relay and send information by communication platform for robotic missions and about the weather patterns in Mars. In this way the space scientists can also look for water. By its self surface radar, they would know the weather patterns, and any detailed information to expand the knowledge about the planet.

MRO would took seven months to journey to Mars and 27 months to orbit it.

When I say guided, I mean voice-overs, diagrams, text explanations...and while as an adult (Brendan speaking) I found it very interesting, it's clearly aimed at kids.

Here's your requisite shot of Mars:

The center of the galaxy:

The center of the galaxy in a different spectrum:

And, hidden deep in that center of the galaxy - a not-so-black black hole!!!

Anyway, the pics don't do it justice - give it a try!

Until now, the youngest supernova was believed to be one that occurred circa 1680, when Sir Isaac Newton was thirty-seven years old. Two to three supernova are estimated to be borne every century in our galaxy. Scientists assume that there are younger supernovas waiting to be found.

A supernova is a massive explosion of a star that releases immense amounts of energy. This young supernova is near the center of the Milky Way and obscured by dense clouds of dust and gas, but due to its closeness to the center of the galaxy; the amount of available light observable from telescopes is reduced by a factor of a trillion times.

Multiwavelength X-ray, infrared, and optical compilation image of Kepler's Supernova Remnant - Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Normally the remnants of stellar explosions that are observed by astronomers are 10,000 years old or more.

As Robert Kirshner of Harvard University said, "It's a little like one of those shows on TV where they investigate a death. This is a stellar death... and the corpse is still warm."

The age estimates of these explosions are estimated by tracking the expansion of its remains. The previous youngest was estimated as dating back to 1680 by tracking the remnants of its remains, Cassiopeia A. This newly discovered youngest explosion has been tracked since 1985. The recent findings of the Very Large Array radio telescopes and the Chandra X-ray Observatory pinpointed the age more accurately thus anointing it as the youngest yet discovered.

Have you ever asked yourself how you view the celestial sphere? For if you do, you will realize that you are always in its centre and that the only possible way to absorb it all is to let your eyes wander from right to left and above to below. Your field of vision is roughly able to take in at least one half of the celestial sphere, that which is behind you, you fill in with your imagination.

We are used to speaking of the angles of a chart. The Ascendant and the Descendant where planets rise and set or the Medium Coeli where planets reach their culmination or the Imum Coeli where they reach their nadir. But these words are not just terminology, they also reflect an accurate picture of celestial phenomena. So accurate that it is helpful to consider the visual reality. I would like to present a few two-dimensional images to help you in finding this visual reality. It will be up to you, dear reader, to go outside and experience the real thing!

This first image shows the rising of a celestial body in the east. This appears as a straight line at a relatively steep angle to the horizon. It is actually the bottom of a circle that extends from the east rises to the south and sets again in the west. This angle will vary depending on the latitude you are at. We will see shortly what a difference this can make.

This second image shows the celestial object moving to its culmination.

The third image shows the descension of the celestial object.

This image shows the movement of the celestial object towards its nadir. Notice that the circle appears to dip down just as in the south the movement appears to arc upward.

This last illustration would be how the movement of the celestial body would appear if you were standing on the north pole. The object would move in a circle around you parallel to the horizon. Those who live in the very far north have this experience with the Sun in high summer. The Sun moves in a circle around the horizon, without dipping below it.

If one keeps the appearance of these movements in mind then it becomes clear why the angles are so important in astrology and how the character of each is already shown at this very basic level.

Although out of print, "Astronomy and the Imagination" by Norman Davidson is a must for any astrologer who also wants to understand the astronomical phenomena! He describes 'star trails' in his text, which are the basis for the illustrations above.

Apparently, the Vatican has given its blessing to alien races admitting that the possibility of other living organisms is completely possible. So they are officially allowing their members to believe in alien races without having to worry about blaspheming their religion. Reverend Jose Gabriel Funes said the expansiveness of the universe means there could be life on planets other than Earth.

Funes stated, "Astronomers believe the universe is made up of 100 billion galaxies, each of which consists of 100 billion stars. Life forms could exist in theory even without oxygen or hydrogen. As there is a multiplicity of creatures on earth, so there may be other beings, intelligent, created by God. This does not conflict with our faith, because we cannot put limits on the creative freedom of God."

This is a powerful and exciting statement for closet Catholics secretly wondering about the possibility of extraterrestrial life, but in fear that the Vatican would disapprove. It does, however, open up a host of biblical and theology questions on human beings being "created in His image". The bible is for all living beings and if other life forms exist, how does that apply? The Bible is clearly created for beings on Earth. How does it apply to other galaxies or do they have their own Bible? Does it say the same thing and deliver the same message of salvation?

Funes added, "The Bible is not a science book," and he also believes that the Big Bang theory (an explosion of a single, super-dense point billions of years ago) is the most reasonable explanation for the creation of the universe. "God is the creator of the universe and we are not the result of chance.", he concludes.

For some reason, the Vatican even has its own observatory where it conducts a lot of their own research and is even considered to be one of the best in the world (this world) for their meteorite collection. In 1633, Galileo was tried as a heretic by Catholics for insisting that the world revolves around the sun and was forced to recant his findings. It wasn't until 1992 (350 years later) that John Paul declared it was a mistake that was a result of "tragic mutual incomprehension."

Catholicism has always locked horns with science, but this is one the first times (outside of the Galileo apology) that it's truly reaching out to open up discussions on taboo topics like extraterrestrials and the Big Bang theory. But what do old-school Catholics think about these shocking statements? Could the Vatican really be opening up the forums on these controversial topics and will they actually consider the findings? Have they really considered the impact this will have on some biblical teachings, theology, and more importantly, what are your thoughts?

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A composite image of radio and X-ray images of the newly found supernova
(Credit: X-ray (NASA/CXC/NCSU/S.Reynolds et al.); Radio (NSF/NRAO/VLA/Cambridge/D.Green et al.))

Astronomers have been searching for these young supernova remnants for several years as supernova formation rates suggest that there should be several around. This new discovery will help astronomers refine models for the rate of formation of supernova and also give us an insight into what happens immediately after these violent events occur. You can read the full press release on the Chandra website here.

Does the Bible Allow For Martians?

WOULD the discovery of life on Mars be a blow to the idea of biblical creation? Should the knowledge of alien organisms shatter faith in a God who was supposed to have created heaven and earth and life in a week?

As it turns out, biblical creationists have been touting the existence of aliens for years -- and Mars itself has featured prominently in their scenarios.

Ronald Numbers, a professor of the history of science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the author of ''The Creationists,'' a history of this movement, was himself raised in a fundamentalist Seventh Day Adventist community where belief in life on Mars was no big deal.

According to the Bible, Mr. Numbers explains, Satan and his cohorts were thrown out of heaven, so the question arises: Where did they go? At his high school in rural Tennessee, Mr. Numbers was taught by his teacher, who was also a Seventh Day Adventist, that they were hurled to Mars. The famous Martian canals were cited as evidence of this habitation.

In turn, that article was mention by another NYT piece yesterday (also sent by my friend) which discussed the Vatican's stance on alien life. And in it, this is mentioned:

On Monday, Mike Foreman, a mission specialist during the recent Shuttle Endeavor voyage, expressed confidence in the notion, saying “it’s hard to believe that there is not life somewhere else in this great universe.”

Today, TDG also noted that another Endeavor crew member agreed, with this news item:

Astronauts who returned recently from a Space Shuttle mission said on Monday that they expected alien life would be discovered.

"Life like us must exist elsewhere in the universe," Takao Doi, who had been on a 16-day Endeavour mission to the International Space Station, told reporters in Tokyo.

Mr Doi and his colleagues denied seeing anything that proved the existence of extraterrestrial life forms, but said the scale of the solar system and beyond had impressed upon them the possibility of alien life.

Of course, also in the news just about everywhere is that the British government is in the process of releasing their UFO files, gathered by the Ministry of Defense. As I quoted in my UTI post yesterday:

LONDON - The men were air traffic controllers. Experienced, calm professionals. Nobody was drinking. But they were so worried about losing their jobs that they demanded their names be kept off the official report.

No one, they knew, would believe their claim an unidentified flying object landed at the airport they were overseeing in the east of England, touched down briefly, then took off again at tremendous speed. Yet that's what they reported happened at 4 p.m. on April 19, 1984.

The incident is one of hundreds of reported sightings contained in more than 1,000 pages of formerly secret UFO documents being released Wednesday by Britain's National Archives.

And naturally enough, lots of people are just certain that whatever is in those files isn't the *actual* truth, because you just can't trust any government with this stuff. As noted (again, via TDG) in this post by UFO investigator Nick Redfern which pre-dated the recent release of documents:

Yes, the Government knows something. It may actually know quite a lot. Perhaps (although I seriously doubt it) it knows everything. But the idea that it (as a unified body) has any interest in telling us the truth, purely because we go knocking on its doors, loftily demanding to be let in on the secret, is self-deluded, ego-driven yearning of a truly sickening “I want to believe” nature.

Call me a cynic, but if the government reveals the truth about UFOs to us, you can guarantee it will be a lie. And it will probably be a lie designed to scare the shit out of us and ensure that we surrender more of our freedoms and rights to old men who wear suits and lack souls. And still the real secret will remain hidden – either in the pages of some hefty classified file or in a cryogenic tank deep below Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Maybe…

OK, I've written before about news related to SETI, because it ties in directly with Communion of Dreams.  But why mention these reports and comments?  Why get into the whole woo-woo land of UFOs?

Well, as I said over a year ago when French government made their UFO files available:

A staple of Science Fiction has always been the question of how humanity will deal with the discovery that we are not the only sentients in the universe.  It is, of course, the main theme of Communion as well, and while I am somewhat ambiguous about what exactly is “out there”, I make no bones about the fact that they exist, and have even visited our neighborhood (hence the discovery of the artifact on Titan being central to the book).

Honestly, one of my greatest fears is that before I can get Communion published, we may indeed have such proof, and will get to see just exactly how that plays out in the public sphere.  My own private suspicion is that it will not go well.

And I can't help but wonder what is behind this sudden upsurge in scientists, astronauts, and even religious leaders commenting about how they are sure that there is alien life, possibly even intelligent alien life, "out there."  Sure the UFO community has always been convinced (it sort of goes with the territory), and vocal.  But why this interest being expressed from so many other sources?  I may have been snarky at UTI, but I do have to wonder whether or not there isn't some larger agenda being played out here before our eyes.  Certainly, were I in a decision-making position in government and we had conclusive and irrefutable proof of extra-terrestrial intelligence, I would advise spending some time 'preparing' the public for the release of that information.

Just a thought.

Jim Downey

Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican's chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday.

I remember reading a breathless article in a fundamentalist publication -- more than 20 years ago now -- alarming everyone about E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. It seemed that Steven Spielberg's cute alien was corrupting the children of the nation. The article quoted a little girl, who had proclaimed, "I love E.T. first, and Jesus second." Gasp! How could a child say such a thing?

So imagine how the fundamentalists will respond to the headline that appeared over the interview with the Vatican's chief astronomer: The extraterrestrial is my brother.

The end is nigh! Tim LaHaye will disappear any second now.

"How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" said Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory. "Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother,' and 'sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother'? It would still be part of creation."

: : : : : : : : : : :

As a result they have invited the public to look at high-resolution images of Mars for signs of the space craft. So if you are keen to give NASA a hand, or you have had enough of searching for Wally, go here to check out the images. Read more here, here or here.

Continuing my so-far two part series of "Why?" articles, we come to why I am interested in 47 Tucanae?

47 Tucanae is a globular cluster located in the southern sky. Globular clusters are agglomerations of several hundred thousand stars, containing some of the oldest known stars in the Universe. 47 Tucanae is located about 15,000 light-years (4,600 parsecs) away.

The overriding reason for choosing 47 Tucanae is its brightness. At visual magnitude 4.9, it is the second brightest globular cluster in the sky and it can be seen with the naked eye, appearing as a fuzzy star.

The other useful aspect of 47 Tucanae is its location in the sky. With a declination of -72°, it can only be seen from latitudes south of about 20°N. And this is well placed for the telescope I plan to use -- the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT).

Although maybe not as famous as other telescopes like Hubble, Keck or Palomar, SALT is the largest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, with a primary mirror diameter of 11 metres. But it does not follow your normal telescope design, where the main mirror is both tilted and rotated. It uses the basic design of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, where the main mirror is fixed at a certain angle with respect to the horizon, which in the case of SALT is 53°. Although this limits what you can look at, it does mean that you can build it for about 10% of the cost of a "normal" telescope that size. Assuming funding comes through, I hope to travel to South Africa and observe with SALT as part of my research.

1.) Ecclesiastical embrace of the extraterrestrial:

E.T. ain't heavy...or, Funes with Astronomy

Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens

"How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" [Vatican Observatory director Rev. Jose Gabriel] Funes said. "Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother,' and 'sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother'? It would still be part of creation."...Ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom, he said...The interview, headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother," covered a variety of topics including the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and science, and the theological implications of the existence of alien life...The Bible "is not a science book," Funes said, adding that he believes the Big Bang theory is the most "reasonable" explanation for the creation of the universe...Funes urged the church and the scientific community to leave behind divisions caused by Galileo's persecution 400 years ago, saying the incident has "caused wounds."...Pope John Paul declared in 1992 that the ruling against Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension."...The Vatican Observatory has been at the forefront of efforts to bridge the gap between religion and science. Its scientist-clerics have generated top-notch research and its meteorite collection is considered one of the world's best...The observatory, founded by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, is based in Castel Gandolfo, a lakeside town in the hills outside Rome where the pope has a summer residence. It also conducts research at an observatory at the University of Arizona, in Tucson.

2.) Canine-feline felicity:

The Dogfoster, parts I and II

It was a special Mother's Day Sunday for a dog in Wayne County. Six years after she was abandoned in a garbage bag along a road, Lucy had new babies to nurse and care for. They aren't puppies, they're kittens.

3.) The revelation that khaki and pith helmet do not imply a slot on a Late Night installment of "Stupid Dominatrix":

Today, Microsoft Research announced the availability of the public beta of WorldWide Telescope.

“The WorldWide Telescope is a powerful tool for science and education that makes it possible for everyone to explore the universe,” said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft.

“By combining terabytes of incredible imagery and data with easy-to-use software for viewing and moving through all that information, the WorldWide Telescope opens the door to new ways to see and experience the wonders of space. Our hope is that it will inspire young people to explore astronomy and science, and help researchers in their quest to better understand the universe.”

I encourage all of you to try it at http://www.worldwidetelescope.org

Related link: Capturing screenshots from Worldwide Telescope (Long Zheng, istartedsomething.com)

The article is actually a wider piece on astronomy and science in general. Funes discusses the importance of the science of astronomy, and states that he finds the Big Bang theory to be most plausible description of the beginning moments of the universe and fully compatible with Catholic teaching.

The part of the interview seized on by the media, though, was Funes' discussion of alien life:

"I think there isn't (a contradiction). Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures over the earth, so there could be other beings, even intelligent (beings), created by God. This is not in contradiction with our faith, because we cannot establish limits to God's creative freedom. To say it with St. Francis, if we can consider some earthly creatures as 'brothers' or 'sisters', why could we not speak of a 'brother alien'? He would also belong to the creation."

Media outlets have touted this as a "Vatican" statement, incorrectly implying that it comes from the Church's teaching authority, when it is really just the personal opinion of the director of the Vatican Observatory. That being said, there doesn't seem to be anything in Funes' analysis that contradicts Church teachings.

ALIEN LIFE AND CATHOLIC TEACHING

When considering discussions of alien life and its implications for theology, we need to be precise. Life that may exist outside of the earth can come in basically two forms: non-rational, natural life like plants and animals on earth, or rational life like the alien races presented in science fiction.

The first type of life presents no problem for Catholic theology. If God decided to create non-rational life forms on other planets, we could treat them philosophically and theologically as we treat life on earth, as parts of nature created by God. If scientists discover non-rational alien life, there would be no readily apparent challenge to the Church's understanding of Creation and man's place in it.

Rational life would be more complicated. First we would have to address the question of how we detect other rational life. If it took on a form similar to ours, it might not be so difficult. But if the alien life was radically different, how would we recognize it and affirm that it is indeed rational?

The second issue would be the nature of the alien life's relationship to God. According to Church teaching man has inherited Adam's fallen state (Original Sin) and thus has to deal with consequences  that he would not otherwise have to face: pain, suffering, death, and a darkened intellect and will. Additionally, this primeval event had effects on nature as well.

The Catechism:

The harmony in which they had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul's spiritual faculties over the body is shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions, their relations henceforth marked by lust and domination. Harmony with creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to man.Because of man, creation is now subject "to its bondage to decay."Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will "return to the ground,"for out of it he was taken. Death makes its entrance into human history.

CCC #400

The chief challenge, then, appearing to my mind when we consider the prospect of rational life elsewhere in the universe is trying to understand exactly what consequences man's Original Sin had on nature and how far those effects extend. Do they apply merely to the Earth, to our solar system, or to the whole universe (as seems to me to be the most reasonable assumption)?

If mankind's sin had effects throughout Creation, as Paul implies in Romans 8, what would be the effect on other rational creatures that did not participate in man's Original Sin? If they had a similar "Original Sin" in their species' history, perhaps the difficulty could be resolved. But what if they were unfallen creatures? Would they have to deal with consequences of man's sin on earth, or would they be somehow protected?

These are question on which the Church is silent, and prudently so. Speculation about the metaphysical nature of something that is not known to exist can only go so far. If science discovers rational alien life in the future, the Church's teachers (with the guidance of the Spirit) will undoubtedly be able to make account of them in God's design.

One final point remains to be affirmed, and that is the unique role of Christ as Redeemer. Whether or not rational alien life exists and whether or not it were in a fallen state, God's Incarnation was a one time event, and his redemption was earned for all. As Father Funes states:

"Jesus became man once and for all. The Incarnation is a single and unique event. So I am sure that also they, in some way, would have the chance to enjoy God's mercy, just as it has happened with us human beings."

Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens

VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican's chief astronomer says that believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God. The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, says that the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

In an interview published Tuesday by Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Funes says that such a notion "doesn't contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God's creatures.

And people say my faith is out of touch. When we say "We are God's Universal Church", we mean it.

And on the subject of the heavens, my favorite "outer space" magazine Astronomy and Microsoft have teamed up, to bring us geeks and non-geeks, one of the neatest things to come onto the World Wide Web. It's called the "World Wide Telescope".

Looking through the program, you indeed can see God at work. Give it a try folks. You won't be disappointed.

It also looks like the Brit's want to get on the action as well. British 'X Files' papers revealed. Now my conspiracy minded head I have is starting to turn. Are they both trying to tell us something? Should we start preparing for something outer worldly? Hmmmm.

Yes, on the Third Monday of Pascha yesterday morning - May 12 (NS)! - some snow stuck to the ground in higher elevations of southwestern Pennsylvania (link may break), the Commonwealth where I and alot of other Orthodox live!

This discussion goes back to my recent post occasioned by the (Western) Good Friday Blizzard in the U.S. Midwest,* pointing out that the (small-T) traditional Western association of Easter with Spring is actually more likely to be fulfilled by Orthodox Pascha - for the next few thousand years anyway, if the Lord doesn't return in Glory first - because at this time it's usually one, two, or five weeks later than Easter, and will gradually get later vis a vis the seasons, over time, until of course it reaches Northern Autumn, at which point it will start moving back behind the other way, so to speak, toward Northern Spring.

I've been prevented by circumstances from replying to A Simple Sinner's challenge there until now, among them my own continued study of the Calendar situation within Orthodoxy, and between Orthodoxy and Catholicism / Protestantism.  What I've learned is that Old Calendar Christianity - ie, most of Christendom before 1582 - essentially knowingly sacrificed, and continues to sacrifice - a little bit of astrological** accuracy in favor of perfect Liturgical convenience.  (As one calendar expert opines [quoted here], "However accurate we might try to make them, calendars should be judged not by their scientific sophistication, but by how well they serve social needs."  Or as Another putteth it, "The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath.")

As a result of the determination of the Orthodox Paschalion or scheduling of Easter during the first Christian millennium (pursuant to the decision of the First Ecumenical Synod, the Council of Nicea, in AD 325), Western and Byzantine Christian worship services fell into a 532-year cycle discussed briefly and relatively simply here with relatively little polemic.  NB: Father Alexander, with the staunchly Old-Calendar Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, misspoke at one point: the 19-year cycle is lunar, and the 28-year cycle is solar, not the other way around.  Vis a vis the Julian calendar of dates and leap years, the dates of the moon phases calculated for planning purposes - approximate to the observed phases - follow a sequence that repeats every 19 Julian years.  And as the same linked paragraph also notes, Julian dates recur on the same days of the week every 28 years.  28 times 19 equals 532, the two cycles resynchronizing together every 532 years.

It wasn't just about Easter / Pascha.  For medieval Byzantine Christians, nearly every day of the year was - and for all Orthodox still is - describable in relation to Pascha, whether it's a day of a week of the Triodion (pre-Lent), the Great Fast (Lent), Holy Week, the actual Pascha Season, or weeks after Pentecost for the rest of the year and early the following year until the Triodion comes around again.  Most people don't make this connection, but literally every day is a Moveable Feast!  For medieval Western Christians, only the Season(s) of Advent / Christmas / Epiphany were taken out of the relationship to Easter, days of these weeks being defined specially.  (Byzantine Christians didn't have Advent [just our Nativity Fast], nor an Epiphany / Theophany 'season' really.)  When I was going through Catholic schools and seminaries, even "Ordinary Time" was discussed Pentecostally in terms of "the life of the Spirit in the Church," even if the name "Ordinary Time" seems like "generic/not exciting"!

Therefore, for Byzantine and High-Church Western Christians then and today still, any given day has two aspects.  Easterners characterize these as the Menaion and the Paschalion, ie, the Fixed and the Moveable - the commemoration of the numerical calendar date, and that of the relation to Pascha.  (This is why some of us consider it imprecise to call the Old Calendar as used in the Orthodox Church "the Julian Calendar."  Caesar didn't know about the Resurrection of Christ, because he died too soon!  Our Menaion is Julian, but the Paschalion is Hebrew!)  Westerners traditionally thought of them a little differently, the Liturgical Season (Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost) or "Temporal Cycle," and the saint's feast of the numerical calendar date otherwise, the "Sanctoral Cycle."

Why is all this important?  Because as I said, the sequence of services - not just Eucharistic Liturgy, but also the Hours and some other Church services - repeated every 532 years.  Each day's services were also complicated by multiple commemorations on many days of the year, and because of the Menaion and Paschalion (to use the Eastern terms) jumping with regard to each other each year, a priest needed help putting together any given day's services.  He didn't invent them himself eventually, but had the accumulated Holy Tradition in this regard to guide him.  As Fr. Alexander said in the linked article, for Orthodox the key to this (big-T) Tradition is called the Typikon (or Typicon), a big book that describes all the possible combinations of feasts and fasts for the 532-year cycle.  ISTM the Church of Rome had something similar whose most common name seems to have been the Ordinarius, the basis of the Ordo, although as this old Catholic Encyclopedia article emphasizes, it varied a bit with the addition of local, regional, or national feasts, or those pertaining to a particular religous or monastic order, and their interaction with the universal (Latin) feasts; this is also true in Orthodoxy, without vitiating the reliance on the Typicon as a whole.  Examples of Orthodox versions of the annual extracts from the Ordinarius that were eventually printed by dioceses, provinces, nations, and orders of the Church of Rome include these from the (Old Calendar) Diocese of Alaska of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), and the "2008 Tipic" currently available on the homepage of the OCA's (New Calendar) Romanian diocese.  (I don't know if all the OCA's dioceses do their own Orders of Divine Services; the Romanian diocese's commemorations might vary from those of the rest of the OCA due to their Romanian traditions, most of the rest of the OCA being of Russian or Carpatho-Russian heritage.  And Alaska is their only remaining OC diocese, so its Menaion would differ from most of the rest of that jurisdiction [though they also have a few dozen OC parishes in other dioceses].)

So what?  I believe Fr. Alexander exaggerates when he complains that parishes and jurisdictions on the Orthodox New Calendar "throw the Typicon in the trash."  IIUC, they only gradually, over the centuries, will accumulate combinations of feast-days not currently covered by the Traditional Orthodox Typikon.  But most usage of the Typicon t/Traditionally didn't consist of the 'dartboard' approach he and others often use to prove its usefulness, but instead just marching through it day by day, week by week.  The Typikon was the calendar, covering both Menaion and Paschalion.  The same for the Ordinarius in the West.  I can't find discussion of the impact of the Gregorian Calendar reform on the Ordinarius and the Ordo, but since the Western Church went from a 532-year cycle to a nearly 6-million-year one, it has had to require increasing intervention by Rome to account for unaccounted-for combinations of universal (Latin) feasts, a significant departure from Tradition.  Or massive depletion of feasts from the calendar, as has happend in the last few generations, with the liturgical "reform's" increased focus on the Seasons, and the 'lay-off' of certain well-known but ancient Saints now questioned, such as Christopher and Philomena, and the Great-Martyr George for God's sake!  (Sorry, I almost never take God's Name in vain; but here, is it?!)  As Dr. Roman points out in the linked article, this approach too is highly not-Orthodox - and he's an Eastern Catholic!  Or even a dramatic simplification of the calendar and approach to feasts: for instance, I have no idea what most of this even means, since I have no memory of the Latin Liturgy before Vatican II.  "Semi-double of the Second Class"?!!  Today Latin observances are in order of increasing importance: Commemorations (ie, de-emphasized Optional Memorials during Lent), Optional Memorials, Obligatory Memorials, Feasts, and Solemnities ... period.  In fairness, I don't know what most of the Orthodox Orders of Services I linked to above are talking about either, since I haven't had a chance to study the finer points of Orthodox Liturgy yet.  But I've probably seen or heard it in church, and I know it's all hugely valued by Orthodox Holy Tradition, so much that if you touch the Liturgy, there's rioting in the streets of Greece, even deaths ... or (successful!) mass resistance to Communist-backed "renovationism" in the USSR in the '20s.  (I never heard that in "History of the Soviet Union" in college!)  And again in fairness, as Fr. Alexander points out, in the Orthodox New Calendar aka Revised Julian, there's no cycle, it's completely open-ended, so that it will require updating at the beginning of just about every century by dioceses or jurisdictions or synods.

Long story short, nearly all the world's Orthodox keep the Traditional Orthodox Paschalion,*** and the overwhelming majority of the world's Orthodox keep the Traditional Orthodox Calendar aka Julian, among many, many other reasons, because this Menaion and Paschalion are, mathematically speaking, internally perfect.  They trade one day every 134 years for the convenience of continuing to follow the Services sanctified by centuries of Orthodox Fathers and Mothers of the Church, Saints, and the Spirit of God, without requiring any more novel Hierarchical intervention than necessary (eg, when new Saints are added to the calendar), or the gutting of the calendar or its feasts and Saints (most of the world's Orthodox treat their Saint's name-day more importantly than their "birthday according to the flesh"), or of the Liturgical Tradition itself.  And it's not rare among Orthodox to express doubt that the Lord will delay His Return in Glory long enough to let us seriously worry about Pascha in Northern Autumn - though if He does, there's always the Southern Hemisphere!  (I guess then they'll trade kielbasa at the parish Pascha bash after late-night Liturgy, for "shrimps on the barbie"!  Or wait, they're shellfish and not part of the Fast.  You get what I mean though....)

Think of it computerwise: The raw data are (1) the universal calendar, (2) the elements of the Liturgies (Eucharist, Hours, etc.), (3) a national or regional calendar, and (4) a local calendar.  The Typikon or Ordinarius is/was the database assembled from these raw data.  Holy Tradition is/was the software.  And the annual Ordo's or other printouts are the output.  Michael Purcell (Orthodox) says his Menologion 3.0 software (both calendars) is ready for download and use on your computer, but generally speaking, the Typikon is in some ways similar to that, and in other ways different, as you could see sampled at the Alaskan and Romanian links above.  To really see it computerwise, a Melkite Catholic priest (Gregorian Calendar) has computerized (5.6 MB) an unofficial software version of his diocese's typicon for the next 1,000 years(!), and although the Hours seem to be missing from the download I just got, the list of options just for Eucharist is more than the Menologion provides, because the Menologion isn't intended to provide those things.

(*--As well as part of a long-term ongoing attempt to get my head around Orthodox calendar stuff for the sake of explaining it here.)

(**--As they called it a long time ago.)

(***--Metropolitan KALLISTOS [Ware] in The Orthodox Church says Finland's Orthodox are required by the government to follow the Gregorian Calendar, ie, not even the Revised Julian.  I don't know why Constantinople's Estonians do, representing one in eight Orthodox in that country.)

This lovely painting is by Pierre Auguste Renoir and is called "Near the Lake." It was done in 1879/80 and is from the Art Institute of Chicago.

It's a rather gloomy Tuesday, with the sun long gone it seems. It did peek out a bit earlier this morning, but that it appears is all we are likely to get today. Rain is again in the offing for later. Like we have room for any more. I cleaned the fridge today. That started out as a much easier job than it finished out being. I did a lot of cleaning around the seals in the door which had gotten a bit gunky, if you get my drift. Anyway, it's done now. I haven't cleaned behind yet. The Contrarian didn't sleep well last night so he went back to bed when I got up. So that is my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.

On with the news:

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I think I featured a crab cake recipe recently, but I found this one with a fabulous sauce that I just couldn't resist. So take a look and see if you like Crab Cakes with Green Mango Salsa. A Mingling of Tastes brings you this lovely one.

Another Bushite in trouble. Scott Bloch, self described "devout" Catholic and hater of all things gay, is in some deep trouble with the FBI which has raided his office and home looking for evidence that he has obstructed the investigation of his own misconduct at head of the Office of Special Counsel. Bloch as far back as 1971 has opposed the anti-war movement and women's rights as well, making him an all-purpose hater of various minorities, and a lover of war. That of course made him just right for the neo-cons of the Bush Administration. The investigation has to do with his alleged treatment of employees.

As many of you may know, John McCain recently gave a speech on the environment in an attempt to establish his creds with voters. According to Alternet, and reporter John Nichols, McCain is full of hot air. It seems much of what he touts as new environmental policy is old science, much of which is now outdated by newer stuff. Experts say his new policy is arranged more to get votes than it is to make any real difference on the planet. See what you think.

I admit that there are a huge number of vice presidents that I don't know anything at all about. This suggests of course, that most VP's are not particularly noteworthy. American Presidents Blog has some nice trivia about a few of them and a link to more information.

We all have faced the problem of plants that start out wonderful, then suddenly start wilting and just going ugly. Disease strikes quickly and seemingly without warning. Sally's Gardening Tips has some great ideas for you to help avoid losing your precious flowers and vegetables to disease.

Gardening Tips 'n Ideas has found the most interesting little site. It's about landscaping on a miniature scale, someone like bonsai. The site is called Little Landscapes and it has plenty of pictures and instructions. This looks like so much fun and would be a wonderful project to push away those winter doldrums. (They sell a lot of the "accessories" but I do think you could be creative at any craft store.) They are so cute you just have to want one for yourself.

Seal tries sex with a penguin. Yep. You read that correctly. You do not need glasses. Go to Live Scienceand read all about this phenomenon that was actually caught on film. The picture is not very good, lol, but my goodness, what is the world coming to?

Wow, this recipe caught my eye. Corn Cakes! What a delightful idea for a brunch addition. It's easy and I think would just be lovely to fix on a late spring Sunday morning for eating on the patio. Midwest Neurotica offers us this fine fare.

David Brooks who has to some extent lost his ultra conservative credentials among the ultra conservatives at least, has a thought provoking essay on religion, brain research and spirituality. I think his ideas are correct actually. I think he correctly zeroes in that the next major argument is not going to be God versus science, but true spirituality versus religious institutions. Read his post and see what you think.

Pauline Bonaparte is the subject of Scandalous Women's latest foray in the wonderful world of women and history. Be sure not to miss it, and don't forget to leave a comment for a chance at a free book.

Maybe you don't think finding a single carbon monoxide molecule from a galaxy 11 billion light years away is important, but scientists seem to think it's pretty darn exciting. The trick is that this  allows them to learn the temperature of the galaxy when the Universe was only 20% of its present age, and that's a might long time ago. The universe is estimated to be about 14-15 billion years old. So do the math. In fact, predictions of the temperature were 9.3K. Actual results from the test turned out to be 9.1K with a wiggle room of 0.7, so the predictions were very accurate.

As we have previously reported, McCain has jumped on the conservative bandwagon with both feet, determined to resurrect himself among those he derided in 2000 as divisive elements in political discourse. He is now touting that judicial activism must be opposed. Of course, there is no such thing, it simply is code for GOP/religious right rhetoric that we don't like the decisions coming from the courts and want to them rule as we prefer. Paul Waldman has an excellent post at American Prospect that you really should read. It turns out that if anybody can be called activist, its conservative judges, not the so-called liberal ones.

If you are not sure where exactly Barack Obama stands on the issue of Israel and Palestine, then two posts should help you, both are first hand interviews with Obama and not their personal conclusions about what they have read. Read Martin Peretz, editor-in-chief of The New Republictake on OBama and Israel, as well as Jeffrey Goldberg's interview from The Atlantic. And you can also drop by Urantian Sojourn and get Saitia's take on the issue as well. (It's a main site link again. Sorry, but I'm still having trouble with their website)

As a long time resident of Michigan for the better/worse parts of my life, I am very familiar with this story. Dow Chemical has been a major Michigan polluter for, well, nearly as long as I have been alive. It has continuously tried to avoid responsibility for its dirty practices. Today, a member of the EPA claims she was forced to resign by the Bushites because she was leaning hard on Dow to, as usual, clean up its act. Read a long and thorough account of Dow historically in Michigan and up to today's news. Remember, when you see companies who have no consumer business, doing ads on TV about how environmentally good they are, you can be sure they are getting leaned on for being dirty.

Since the Pentagon was forced to release all that information on its attempts to seed the media with pentagon friendly "analysts," the dirt just continues to build up. I mean the documents are so damning that some somebodies are going to pay a huge price. I assume congressional hearings will be in the offing quite soon. I mean you just have to read this stuff to be amazed at how our Constitution has been ripped to shreds by Bush/Cheney. Thanks to Think Progress for the excerpts.

I'd never heard of St. Sunniva, patron saint of Norway. Melisende has a lovely little bio of her at Women of History. Stop by and learn who she was.

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"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and Jill a rich widow." Evan Esar

"Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge." Paul Gauguin

"He's simply got the instinct for being unhappy highly developed." Saki

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Best pickup lines? or the worst?

If you were a booger I'd pick you first.

Baby did you fart, 'cause you blow me away!

Is there an airport nearby or is that my heart taking off?

Are my undies showing? Answer: "No." You: "Would you like them to?

Aren't you the tiger on the Frosted Flakes box? Cuz you look "Grrrreat!"

Baby, you're the next contestant in the game of love.

Can I get a picture of you so I can show Santa what I want for Christmas?

Don't walk into that building -- the sprinklers might go off!

Excuse me, do I need to buy a ticket for your fantastic voyage?

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But if you look at this historically, it’s not that difficult to believe that Hillary would still be campaigning. Listen to this. Once a year, in his basement, Al Gore gives a State of the Union address. David Letterman

From The Onion:

Number Of Acceptable Things
Candidates Can Say Now Down To Four

NEW YORK—After Sen. Barack Obama’s comments last week about what he typically eats for dinner were criticized by Sen. Hillary Clinton as being offensive to both herself and the American voters, the number of acceptable phrases presidential candidates can now say are officially down to four. “At the beginning of 2007 there were 38 things candidates could mention in public that wouldn’t be considered damaging to their campaigns, but now they are mostly limited to ‘Thank you all for coming,’ and ‘God bless America,’” ABC News chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos said on Sunday’s episode of This Week. “There would still be five phrases available to the candidates if the Obama camp hadn’t accused Clinton of saying ‘Glad to be here’ with a little tinge of sarcasm during a stump speech in North Carolina.” As of press time, the two additional phrases still considered appropriate for candidates are the often-quoted “These pancakes are great,” and “Death to the infidels.”

Apparently the "chief astronomer" never read what God said about astronomy.

"Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee" - Isaiah 47:13

Same man Jesus quoted on Hell.

This just in...nobody at the Vatican actually reads the Bible.

This is a new segment on the Skeptic Dad blog.  Every few weeks I'll post about scientific things in the news that you can apply to your own family.  Hopefully, you'll be able to make science education fun by developing your child's curiousity and enthusiasm for scientific exploration.

The first item I want to bring to your attention is the new World Wide Telescope.  Those parents who have installed Google Sky onto their desktop will not want to miss Microsoft's sleek and stylish answer to their cyber-counterparts at Google.  World Wide Telescope is accessible, free to download, and the functions are easy to use.  It's the perfect complement to an actual telescope.

There are a variety of summer camps, some of them religious and others secular, but there is only one Camp Quest, the first summer camp for children of secular freethinkers, humanists, and atheists.  The camp is meant to foster a rational and logical worldview, and to focus on the natural world over the supernatural.  You can find a Camp Quest in Ohio, Minnesota, Smokey Mountains, California, Michigan, and Ontario.  I don't blame people for being a little concerned about brainwashing, but the whole point of this camp is to avoid dogma by encouraging the campers to think for themselves.  My own parents were concerned when I brought up the subject of this camp, but they forgot that I was sent to a christian camp as a child.  Why not send your kids to a humanist freethought camp?

Expelled Exposed has been doing a lovely job of squashing the arguments in Ben Stein's despicable Expelled "documentary".  One video on the site challenges the intelligent design argument of the complexity of the eye.  Check it out...

Hilo Side: Akaka Falls to Panaewa Rainforest Zoo

On your way back to the highway, stop in Honomu for some local-style shopping and a snack. Handmade curios and ice creams will delight your senses. Once back on Highway 19, turn right toward Hilo, about 10 minutes away.

Hilo is one of the wettest cities in the U.S. averaging around 200 inches per year. This old-style Hawaii town is quaint and bustling. Lots of great shops line the waterfront drive and the largest farmer’s market on the island is situated there as well. Tour Guide will take you right into the heart of town and give you history and attractions, such as the Pacific Tsunami Museum, and the Imiloa Astronomy Center at the University of Hawaii, Hilo Campus. A little farther along the coast are some beautiful beach parks like Richardson and Onekahakaha. Great picnicking, swimming and some good snorkeling can be found here. The Suisan Fish Market is famous for the early morning old-style fish auction. Be sure to take your time in Hilo as the shopping food options are immense.

In Hilo, you will turn north onto Highway. 11 at the intersection near Ken’s Pancake House, a landmark eatery. You will see the airport and Prince Kuhio Plaza on your way out of town. Stop in and visit the mall and shop and eat if you missed it in town. Just a few miles north of the mall is the Panaewa Rainforest Zoo. Tour Guide will tell you how this is the only rainforest zoo in North America. It is also free.

Super Tip: Gasoline in Hilo is typically 6-10 cents per gallon cheaper because it is the main port on the island. It is wise to fill up before heading back to Kona.

This completes this drive day. I suggest returning north through Hilo and back up the Hamakua Coast, through Waimea, and Highway 190 back to Kona.

For further information, visit www.tourguidehawaii.com.

My jaw dropped as I started using the software, which you can download and install on your computer, and which works pretty much like google Earth - downloading the region you are visualizing from the internet. A nice feature is the appearance of a frame of thumbnail pictures around the zoomed area, highlighting the most interesting celestial objects present there. If you click once on each pic the relevant object is highlighted on the map; clicking twice will allow you to download full-resolution image of the object directly from the online databases, including Hubble images.

What I find amazing, however, is the fact that browsing the night sky becomes a thrilling experience at your fingertips in front of the computer. The realism is perfect - these are pictures, in pure google earth style. However, while we never have the need to find a feature on the Earth surface by hovering over it in our real life, that is exactly what we do when we observe the night sky: so the learning experience provided by the program for a user who wants to get better at locating celestial objects is invaluable.

Above you can see a screenshot of part of the WWT window, which I centered on the Deer Lick group of galaxies - NGC7331, a milky way-like galaxy which is the largest member of the group, is on top. Below you can see Stephan's quintet - a group of five small galaxies of 13th-14th magnitude which is among my favorite targets in deep-sky observing sessions. By zooming in (below), you get to see stars fainter than 18th magnitude, at a resolution comparable to that of  a meter-class instrument. Amazing!

I highly recommend downloading the software. Learning to locate objects will become a wonderful pastime!

Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope Released. May 12th, 2008

Any Star Wars , Star Trek fan ( like me :) ) knows that space travel is not always easy, but Microsoft wants to make traveling the 'final frontier' as simple as turning on your computer.

Joining Google Sky and Stellarium is Microsoft’s entrant to the stars, Worldwide Telescope. I’ve been playing around with it for about an hour and it’s pretty cool. It effectively turns every computer that downloads it into a mini-planetarium capable of displaying high resolution images of millions of stars, planets and other celestial.

First of all I was happy to see that Microsoft has came out of “ ~ ta's “ naming ( e.g. Vista, Lista, Volta ... that “ta” was getting on my nerves ), “Worldwide Telescope” is a bit old skool name, inspired from you know what ... I can live with this one.

OK, now Check it out if you’re an outer space dork — it includes a bunch of guided tours from astronomers. I liked the “many worlds” tour, which started with Mount St. Helen's ranges and then flew off to the rest of the planets in our solar system for some hot world-on-world action. A tour called “Dust and Us” walks through the dark regions in galaxies where stars and planets form.

The software allows users to develop their own guided tours  of the universe to share with others or take part a guided tour  created by astronomy experts.

The WorldWide Telescope stitches together 12 terabytes -  the data of pictures from sources including the Hubble Space  Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center and the  Spitzer Space Telescope.

The experience is similar to playing a video game, allowing users to pan, zoom in and out of galaxies that are thousands of light years away. It allows seamless viewing of far, far away star systems and rarely-seen space dust in breathtaking clarity.

I can use WorldWide Telescope for 4 different "looks" - Panorama, Sky, Earth, or Planets. Users can see the X-ray view of the sky, zoom into bright radiation clouds, and then cross-fade into the visible light view and discover the cloud remnants of a supernova explosion from a thousand years ago.

Other data sets include the ongoing Sloan Digital Sky Survey, also known as the Cosmic Genome Project, which aims to capture detailed optical images of more than a quarter of the night sky.
By default, WorldWide Telescope is configured to view the night sky as if you were standing at Microsoft Building 99 in Redmond. But you can change your Observing Location very easily via View options.

Experience WWT:

To use the new system, users need to download WorldWide Telescope from the web ( it's free ). It only runs on Windows operating systems ( M$ strikes back ! ... as usual )
The System Requirements does include 2GB of RAM , 3D accelerated card with 128 megabytes (MB) RAM; discrete graphics card with dedicated 256-MB VRAM, but i'm using it on my PC : Windows Vista, intel CTD 2.2 G Hz, 1 GB RAM, no graphics card, and it just works fine.

A test version is available for download at:  http://www.worldwidetelescope.org

P.S.  -  it’s interesting how the site is made using Adobe Flash and not Silverlight. ... yehh !!

Other options :

Google Sky, an add-on to Google Earth has been there for some time, but I found WorldWide Telescope's GUI, and overall experience better than Google sky.

Stellarium is a free open source tool that gives people a chance to access more than 210 million stars, in addition to planets and moons. The project was launched in 2001 and is used in many planetariums.
Like WorldWide Telescope the software allows users to record and play their own tours of the Universe. Stellarium is really good, and Microsoft must continue taking WorldWide Telescope to next levels to stay ahead.

Stellarium is just wonderful. Best of all is that it is not quite the memory and system resource hog that Starry Night Basic and Pro is ( it is one more option ). In fact, I have found that the latest versions of Starry Night often will not run on computers that are a few years old. It gives good view of what the sky would look like from pretty much anywhere on Earth at any time over a wide range of dates. If you want to know what stars and constellations are which, if you are an amateur planning an observing session, or you have any other need for a basic planetarium software, then this seems good.

Future From My View:

-    WorldWide Telescope is not bad, but it’s not great either. It would be better as an online app where people can share access to their telescopes. People with better telescopes with the servo system and the drivers and the right CCD. They could sell time on their equipment via the Internet or at least share it with some new Microsoft or Google services.. A virtual space marketplace. I would pay for something like that and so would a lot of people.

-    I see social network interaction potential in developing our own guided tours and sharing them. We can have forums facility bundled where people interested in common space topics can interact and share information through custom tours and traditional chat.

-    This software will be like having an important educational mission.

-    Microsoft will never learn it…
Under download for Mac: ‘Minimum Windows XP SP2 , Vista recommended …with BootCamp”
Guys a Mac running Windows IS NOT A MAC, it’s like a beautiful woman wearing a sack and led boots….
Anyhow, they don’t seem to get it that clinging to their old lady OS doesn’t fly anymore.

-    In the hollywood hills we only use telescopes to see into our neighbors houses. let me know when someone comes out with that one.  ;)

ranjit

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L'extraterrestre è mio fratello

Il rapporto tra astronomia e fede in un'intervista a padre Funes, direttore della Specola Vaticana

"E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle". Cita Dante - il celebre verso che chiude l'ultimo canto dell'Inferno - per descrivere la missione dell'astronomia. Che è anzitutto quella di "restituire agli uomini la giusta dimensione di creature piccole e fragili davanti allo scenario incommensurabile di miliardi e miliardi di galassie". E se poi scoprissimo di non essere i soli ad abitare l'universo? L'ipotesi non lo inquieta più di tanto. È possibile credere in Dio e negli extraterrestri. Si può ammettere l'esistenza di altri mondi e altre vite, anche più evolute della nostra, senza per questo mettere in discussione la fede nella creazione, nell'incarnazione, nella redenzione. Parola di astronomo e di sacerdote. Parola di José Gabriel Funes, direttore della Specola Vaticana.

Argentino, quarantacinque anni, gesuita, dall'agosto del 2006 padre Funes ha le chiavi della storica sede nel Palazzo Pontificio di Castel Gandolfo, che Pio XI concesse all'osservatorio vaticano nel 1935. Fra circa un anno le restituirà, per ricevere quelle del monastero delle basiliane situato al confine tra le Ville Pontificie e Albano, dove si trasferiranno gli studi, i laboratori e la biblioteca della Specola. Unisce modi cortesi e pacati a quel leggero distacco dalle cose terrene di chi è abituato a tenere gli occhi rivolti verso l'alto. Un po' filosofo e un po' investigatore, come tutti gli astronomi. Contemplare il cielo è per lui l'atto più autenticamente umano che si possa fare. Perché - spiega a "L'Osservatore Romano" - "dilata il nostro cuore e ci aiuta a uscire dai tanti inferni che l'umanità si è creata sulla terra: le violenze, le guerre, le povertà, le oppressioni".

Come nasce l'interesse della Chiesa e dei Papi per l'astronomia?

Le origini si possono far risalire a Gregorio XIII, che fu l'artefice della riforma del calendario nel 1582. Padre Cristoforo Clavio, gesuita del Collegio romano, fece parte della commissione che studiò questa riforma. Tra Settecento e Ottocento sorsero ben tre osservatori per iniziativa dei Pontefici. Poi nel 1891, in un momento di conflitto tra il mondo della Chiesa e il mondo scientifico, Papa Leone XIII volle fondare, o meglio rifondare, la Specola Vaticana. Lo fece proprio per mostrare che la Chiesa non era contro la scienza ma promuoveva una scienza "vera e solida", secondo le sue stesse parole. La Specola è nata dunque con uno scopo essenzialmente apologetico, ma col passare degli anni è divenuta parte del dialogo della Chiesa col mondo.

Lo studio delle leggi del cosmo avvicina o allontana da Dio?

L'astronomia ha un valore profondamente umano. È una scienza che apre il cuore e la mente. Ci aiuta a collocare nella giusta prospettiva la nostra vita, le nostre speranze, i nostri problemi. In questo senso - e qui parlo come prete e come gesuita - è anche un grande strumento apostolico che può avvicinare a Dio.

Eppure molti astronomi non perdono occasione per fare pubblica professione di ateismo.

Direi che è un po' un mito ritenere che l'astronomia favorisca una visione atea del mondo. Mi sembra che proprio chi lavora alla Specola offra la testimonianza migliore di come sia possibile credere in Dio e fare scienza in modo serio. Più di tante parole conta il nostro lavoro. Contano la credibilità e i riconoscimenti ottenuti a livello internazionale, le collaborazioni con colleghi e istituzioni di ogni parte del mondo, i risultati delle nostre ricerche e delle nostre scoperte. La Chiesa ha lasciato un segno nella storia della ricerca astronomica.

Ci faccia qualche esempio.

Basterebbe ricordare che una trentina di crateri della luna portano i nomi di antichi astronomi gesuiti. E che un asteroide del sistema solare è stato intitolato al mio predecessore alla direzione della Specola, padre George Coyne. Si potrebbe richiamare inoltre l'importanza di contributi come quelli di padre O'Connell all'individuazione del "raggio verde" o di fratello Consolmagno al declassamento di Plutone. Per non parlare dell'attività di padre Corbally - vicedirettore del nostro centro astronomico di Tucson - che ha lavorato con un team della Nasa alla recente scoperta di asteroidi residui della formazione di sistemi binari di stelle.

L'interesse della Chiesa per lo studio dell'universo si può spiegare col fatto che l'astronomia è l'unica scienza che ha a che fare con l'infinito e quindi con Dio?

Per essere precisi, l'universo non è infinito. È molto grande ma è finito, perché ha un'età: circa quattordici miliardi di anni, secondo le nostre conoscenze più recenti. E se ha un'età, significa che ha un limite anche nello spazio. L'universo è nato in un determinato momento e da allora si espande continuamente.

Da che cosa ha avuto origine?

Quella del big bang resta, a mio giudizio, la migliore spiegazione dell'origine dell'universo che abbiamo finora dal punto di vista scientifico.

E da allora che cosa è successo?

Per trecentomila anni la materia, l'energia, la luce sono rimaste unite in una sorta di miscela. L'universo era opaco. Poi si sono separate. Così noi adesso viviamo in un universo trasparente, possiamo vedere la luce: quella delle galassie più lontane, per esempio, che è arrivata a noi dopo undici o dodici miliardi di anni. Bisogna ricordare che la luce viaggia a trecentomila chilometri al secondo. Ed è proprio questo limite a confermarci che l'universo oggi osservabile non è infinito.

La teoria del big bang avvalora o contraddice la visione di fede basata sul racconto biblico della creazione?

Da astronomo, io continuo a credere che Dio sia il creatore dell'universo e che noi non siamo il prodotto della casualità ma i figli di un padre buono, il quale ha per noi un progetto d'amore. La Bibbia fondamentalmente non è un libro di scienza. Come sottolinea la Dei verbum, è il libro della parola di Dio indirizzata a noi uomini. È una lettera d'amore che Dio ha scritto al suo popolo, in un linguaggio che risale a duemila o tremila anni fa. All'epoca, ovviamente, era del tutto estraneo un concetto come quello del big bang. Dunque, non si può chiedere alla Bibbia una risposta scientifica. Allo stesso modo, noi non sappiamo se in un futuro più o meno prossimo la teoria del big bang sarà superata da una spiegazione più esauriente e completa dell'origine dell'universo. Attualmente è la migliore e non è in contraddizione con la fede. È ragionevole.

Ma nella Genesi si parla della terra, degli animali, dell'uomo e della donna. Questo esclude la possibilità dell'esistenza di altri mondi o esseri viventi nell'universo?

A mio giudizio questa possibilità esiste. Gli astronomi ritengono che l'universo sia formato da cento miliardi di galassie, ciascuna delle quali è composta da cento miliardi di stelle. Molte di queste, o quasi tutte, potrebbero avere dei pianeti. Come si può escludere che la vita si sia sviluppata anche altrove? C'è un ramo dell'astronomia, l'astrobiologia, che studia proprio questo aspetto e che ha fatto molti progressi negli ultimi anni. Esaminando gli spettri della luce che viene dalle stelle e dai pianeti, presto si potranno individuare gli elementi delle loro atmosfere - i cosiddetti biomakers - e capire se ci sono le condizioni per la nascita e lo sviluppo della vita. Del resto, forme di vita potrebbero esistere in teoria perfino senza ossigeno o idrogeno.

Si riferisce anche ad esseri simili a noi o più evoluti?

È possibile. Finora non abbiamo nessuna prova. Ma certamente in un universo così grande non si può escludere questa ipotesi.

E questo non sarebbe un problema per la nostra fede?

Io ritengo di no. Come esiste una molteplicità di creature sulla terra, così potrebbero esserci altri esseri, anche intelligenti, creati da Dio. Questo non contrasta con la nostra fede, perché non possiamo porre limiti alla libertà creatrice di Dio. Per dirla con san Francesco, se consideriamo le creature terrene come "fratello" e "sorella", perché non potremmo parlare anche di un "fratello extraterrestre"? Farebbe parte comunque della creazione.

E per quanto riguarda la redenzione?

Prendiamo in prestito l'immagine evangelica della pecora smarrita. Il pastore lascia le novantanove nell'ovile per andare a cercare quella che si è persa. Pensiamo che in questo universo possano esserci cento pecore, corrispondenti a diverse forme di creature. Noi che apparteniamo al genere umano potremmo essere proprio la pecora smarrita, i peccatori che hanno bisogno del pastore. Dio si è fatto uomo in Gesù per salvarci. Così, se anche esistessero altri esseri intelligenti, non è detto che essi debbano aver bisogno della redenzione. Potrebbero essere rimasti nell'amicizia piena con il loro Creatore.

Insisto: se invece fossero peccatori, sarebbe possibile una redenzione anche per loro?

Gesù si è incarnato una volta per tutte. L'incarnazione è un evento unico e irripetibile. Comunque sono sicuro che anche loro, in qualche modo, avrebbero la possibilità di godere della misericordia di Dio, così come è stato per noi uomini.

Il prossimo anno si celebra il bicentenario della nascita di Darwin e la Chiesa torna a confrontarsi con l'evoluzionismo. L'astronomia può offrire un contributo a questo confronto?

Come astronomo posso dire che dall'osservazione delle stelle e delle galassie emerge un chiaro processo evolutivo. Questo è un dato scientifico. Anche qui io non vedo contraddizione tra quello che noi possiamo imparare dall'evoluzione - purché non diventi un'ideologia assoluta - e la nostra fede in Dio. Ci sono delle verità fondamentali che comunque non mutano: Dio è il creatore, c'è un senso alla creazione, noi non siamo figli del caso.

Su queste basi, è possibile un dialogo con gli uomini di scienza?

Direi che anzi è necessario. La fede e la scienza non sono inconciliabili. Lo diceva Giovanni Paolo II e lo ha ripetuto Benedetto XVI: fede e ragione sono le due ali con cui si eleva lo spirito umano. Non c'è contraddizione tra quello che noi sappiamo attraverso la fede e quello che apprendiamo attraverso la scienza. Ci possono essere tensioni o conflitti, ma non dobbiamo averne paura. La Chiesa non deve temere la scienza e le sue scoperte.

Come invece è avvenuto con Galileo.

Quello è certamente un caso che ha segnato la storia della comunità ecclesiale e della comunità scientifica. È inutile negare che il conflitto ci sia stato. E forse in futuro ce ne saranno altri simili. Ma penso che sia arrivato il momento di voltare pagina e guardare piuttosto al futuro. Questa vicenda ha lasciato delle ferite. Ci sono stati malintesi. La Chiesa in qualche modo ha riconosciuto i suoi sbagli. Forse si poteva fare di meglio. Ma ora è il momento di guarire queste ferite. E ciò si può realizzare in un contesto di dialogo sereno, di collaborazione. La gente ha bisogno che scienza e fede si aiutino a vicenda, pur senza tradire la chiarezza e l'onestà delle rispettive posizioni.

Ma perché oggi è così difficile questa collaborazione?

Credo che uno dei problemi del rapporto tra scienza e fede sia l'ignoranza. Da una parte, gli scienziati dovrebbero imparare a leggere correttamente la Bibbia e a comprendere le verità della nostra fede. Dall'altra, i teologi e gli uomini di Chiesa dovrebbero aggiornarsi sui progressi della scienza, per riuscire a dare risposte efficaci alle questioni che essa pone continuamente. Purtroppo anche nelle scuole e nelle parrocchie manca un percorso che aiuti a integrare fede e scienza. I cattolici spesso rimangono fermi alle conoscenze apprese al tempo del catechismo. Credo che questa sia una vera e propria sfida dal punto di vista pastorale.

Cosa può fare in questo senso la Specola?

Diceva Giovanni XXIII che la nostra missione deve essere quella di spiegare agli astronomi la Chiesa e alla Chiesa l'astronomia. Noi siamo come un ponte, un piccolo ponte, tra il mondo della scienza e la Chiesa. Lungo questo ponte c'è chi va in una direzione e chi va in un'altra. Come ha raccomandato Benedetto XVI a noi gesuiti in occasione dell'ultima congregazione generale, dobbiamo essere uomini sulle frontiere. Credo che la Specola abbia questa missione: essere sulla frontiera tra il mondo della scienza e il mondo della fede, per dare testimonianza che è possibile credere in Dio ed essere buoni scienziati

© Copyright L’Osservatore Romano - 13 maggio 2008