The Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union has annunciate the names of many new asteroid this summer and , among them , four nun deserve acknowledgement among the stars .
They are Sister Emilia Ponzoni ( 1883 - 1950 ) , Sister Regina Colombo ( 1885 - 1953 ) , Sister Concetta Finardi ( 1896 - 1975 ) , and Sister Luigia Panceri ( 1893 - 1982 ) , with the first two announced in theJune bulletinand the second two announce in theSeptember one .
Before there were electronic computing machine andcitizen scientiststo help with the classification of stars , there werewomen . Harvard had the " data processor " – a team of skilled worker that produced some of the most unbelievable insights into astronomy . Among them , Henrietta Swan Leavitt earn how to calculate the distance to Cepheid variables , a discovery that led to the uncovering of extragalactic object and the expansion of the Universe .
Around the same time , the Vatican also asked nuns to contribute to astronomy as the Specola Vaticana ( the official name of the Vatican Observatory ) embarked on the outside charge of make the most complete astrographic chart ever created : the Carte du Ciel ( literally " sky map " ) . All the nuns were honored for cataloging the 481,215 sensation in the Vatican zone of the Carte du Ciel star atlas .
( 627981 ) Ponzoni is a 990 - metre asteroid in the main smash . ( 634659 ) Colombo is believed to be slightly bigger as it is a fairish bite brighter than Ponzoni . ( 709193 ) Concettafinardi is smaller than the previous two . ( 714305 ) Panceri isestimatedto be the braggy of the four , over 1.5 kilometers ( around a Swedish mile ) in diameter .
TheKatholisch.depublication report that Jesuit Gabriele Gionti , who ’s an astronomer currently working at the Vatican Observatory , also got an asteroid named after him . They claim that there are 41 Jesuit name among the asteroid as well as two popes : Pope Gregory XIII – the founder of the Vatican Observatory – under his civil name Ugo Boncompagni and Pope Benedict XVI .
Before an asteroid or underage consistence in the Solar System can be named , its orbit needs to be determined well enough that its future position can be reliably predicted . At that point , it receive a numerical denomination . Once a numerical appointment is established , the finder have 10 days to propose a name for the asteroid to theInternational Astronomical Union .
The Vatican Observatory is very active in asteroid research . We have antecedently interviewedBrother Robert Mackeas part of our coverage of the counter of the sampling from Asteroid Bennu . Brother Macke has developed an legal instrument to measure the density of the samples without vary them .
