Four space exploring nuns honoured with asteroid names

Four nuns who did pioneering work in cataloguing star observations are honoured by the naming of asteroids. Two celestial bodies in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter have now been named after the sisters Concetta Finardi (1896-1975) and Luigia Panceri (1893-1982), the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) Working Group on the Naming of Small Celestial Bodies announced in its latest Bulletin (September 2024) with. Already in June the other two sisters in the four-member research team, Sister Emilia Ponzoni (1883-1950) and Regina Colombo (1885-1953), were honoured. The asteroids are now officially named "(709193) Concettafinardi", "(714305) Panceri", "(627981) Ponzoni" and "(634659) Colombo". In addition, an asteroid was named after the Jesuit Gabriele Gionti, born in 1967, who works at the Vatican Observatory. His asteroid is called "(611494) Gionti". The five asteroids were discovered at the Mount Graham Observatory (USA) of the Vatican Observatory.

With the dedication of the celestial bodies, the astronomical community honours four nuns from the Suore di Maria Bambina community, who mapped almost half a million stars between 1917 and 1921. At the end of the 1880s, the Vatican Observatory had agreed on behalf of the Holy See to participate in the creation of a celestial map ("Carte du ciel"). To this end, the Vatican was allocated a section of the night sky to be photographed and analysed. A total of 18 observatories worldwide took part in the project.

From the nursing order to the observatory

The Vatican's involvement, initiated by the Barnabite priest Francesco Denza, was supported by Pope Leo XIII (1878 to 1903), who saw it as an opportunity to show the Church's support for the sciences. After Denza's death in 1894, the project stalled. Under the new leadership of the Jesuit priest John Hagen, who had previously headed the observatory at the US Jesuit University Georgetown, the nuns were engaged for the project. Hagen had learned at other observatories that women were responsible for cataloguing the sky. In 1909, Hagen approached the Superior General of the Suore di Maria Bambini, as he needed "two sisters with normal eyesight, patience and an aptitude for methodical and mechanical work". Despite reservations on the part of the General Council of the order, which specialised in nursing and education, two and later four sisters were sent to the observatory from 1910 to map photographic plates of the night sky using microscopes.

By 1921, the sisters had recorded the brightness and position of 481,215 stars according to the Vatican Observatory. The results were published in a ten-volume catalogue. In recognition of their services, the sisters were received and honoured by Popes Benedict XV (1914-1922) and Pius XI (1922 to 1939). By 1966, almost five million stars had been catalogued worldwide as part of the "Carte du ciel" project.

At least 40 Jesuits and one pope in the asteroid belt

So far, it is mainly Jesuits who have been immortalised in space. With the new asteroid named after a Jesuit, there are now at least 41 celestial bodies named after members of the order. Most recently, in May two asteroids were named after members of the order in May. Last year, nine asteroids were named after Jesuits, including one in honour of the now 101-year-old former Italian provincial Sabino Maffeo. In the same year, the founder of the Vatican Observatory, Pope Gregory XIII, was also honoured under his civil name Ugo Boncompagni (1502-1585) was immortalised in the sky. He promoted astronomy in support of his calendar reform. Previously Pope Benedict XVI was honoured with an asteroid name in recognition of his opening of the Vatican archives to science. were honoured for science.

The naming of asteroids is a multi-stage process. A new celestial body is registered when it is observed by an observer on two consecutive nights. The sightings must then be reported to the IAU's Minor Planet Centre, which assigns a provisional identification number. Previous sightings of previously unidentified celestial bodies are then compared with the new sighting and any duplicates are merged. As soon as an exact orbit can be determined from the data, the asteroid is given a permanent number. The right to select a name belongs to the researcher who has provided sufficient data to calculate the orbit, i.e. not necessarily the first discoverer. The proposed name is then reviewed by the Working Group on the Naming of Small Celestial Bodies and finally officially published. (fxn)