Brother Guy Consolmagno

Biography:

Brother Guy Consolmagno SJ is a planetary scientist and Curator of Meteorites at the Vatican Observatory. He has served as chair of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society and is past president of Commission 16 (Planets and Satellites) of the International Astronomical Union. He earned undergraduate and masters' degrees from MIT, and a Ph. D. in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona, was a researcher at the Harvard/Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and at MIT, and taught university physics at Lafayette College before entering the Jesuits in 1989. At the Vatican Observatory since 1993, his research explores connections between meteorites, asteroids, and the evolution of small solar system bodies.

Past Shows:

	Astronomy & the Vatican Observatory
	Wednesday April 30, 2008

Astronomer and Curator of Meteorites at the Vatican Observatory, Brother Guy Consolmagno gave an update on discoveries in space, and spoke about the intersection of science and religion. The Vatican has observatories at two sites, one in the small Italian town of Lazio (the Pope's summer residence) and the other on a mountaintop in southeastern Arizona. 24 years ago, in his research of "Centaurs"-- half comets/half asteroids, he observed an anomalous cloud of light next to a centaur beyond Neptune-- such clouds usually surround the object's nucleus rather than appear adjacent to it, he explained. He cited evidence for the migration theory of planets-- suggesting that in the early days of our solar system, Uranus and Neptune moved further out while Jupiter swept closer in from their original positions. In his study of meteorites, he detailed one specimen that curiously had iron that appeared molten right next to rock that looked like it had never been hot. Regarding, ... More
Host: George Noory

	Science, Religion & Astronomy
	Wednesday November 14, 2007

Brother Guy Consolmagno, Jesuit and astronomer at the Vatican Observatory, discussed the 'Big Bang' origin of the universe and the question of extraterrestrial life, as well as his research into how scientists, engineers and other "techie" types practice religion. ... More
Host: George Noory