Vatican pulls top astronomers into its orbit for galaxy conference

Published: 2007-10-03

ROME (CNS) -- The Vatican Observatory called together some of the world's top astronomers for a major conference on the creation and evolution of disk galaxies in an effort to better understand the nature of the universe. More than 200 men and women from 26 countries attended the Oct. 1-5 conference in Rome to share some of the discoveries since the Vatican's last galaxy conference in 2000. The observatory director, Argentine Jesuit Father Jose Funes, said they were able to attract top scientists and scholars for the meeting because "the Vatican Observatory is a prestigious institute, and the Holy See is well recognized in this field of astronomy." Hosting the meeting in the heart of Rome also made it "particularly appealing to people," he told reporters Oct. 3. So much is to be discovered about how planets, stars and galaxies are formed, he said. Scientists hope getting a clearer picture of how nearby galaxies developed will help unlock secrets about the nature of more distant galaxies, he said.

Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .