BIG BANG IN THE POPES GARDEN
Twenty seven students from twenty four different countries, and not all of them Catholics, will spend the next four weeks studying the chemical properties of the universe, in the Pope’s back garden.
They have been invited to take part in the 12th edition of the Vatican Observatory Summer School, which this year is being run by a faculty of professors who are themselves past pupils of the Specola.
Young men and women astronomers from countries as far apart as Indonesia. Korea, France, the USA and Argentina, will study the life of stars, meteors and the …. in the new home of the Vatican Observatory or Specola vaticana, a renovated monastery nestled in the wooded garden of the Papal Summer Residence high in the Alban hills.
The Vatican Observatory Director, Jesuit Fr. Jose Funes, highlights that some of the students have been offered scholarships to attend the four week school. This is part of the Specola’s mission, to promote access to scientific research to students from developing nations who excel in their field.
“We are very proud of all our students and also of this group. In fact this year the faculty staff, all four professors, are past alumni of our past Summer Schools. It is nice to see former students run this academic program”.
Q: Can you tell us a little more about the subject of study this year?
“The focus of this year is the chemical properties of the universe. One important physical property in astronomy for heavenly bodies is a chemical composition. In this school we will study the chemical composition of the universe at different levels. Students will study the composition in the solar system, in comets and stars, in galaxies and in the universe itself for example the chemical composition of the universe at the very beginning, immediately after the big bang”.
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