Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 24, 2022 / 16:15 pm
The Vatican Observatory will resume its four-week summer school next June following a pause in operations due to the global pandemic— allowing aspiring astronomers and astrophysicists to get firsthand experience within the field of astronomy.
EWTN News Nightly recently spoke with Chris Graney, astronomer and science historian with the Vatican Observatory, about the origins of the summer school, the kinds of experiences that are offered in the program, and the diverse makeup of the student body. Located in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, the program has historically given students the opportunity deep dive into astronomy while also experiencing Italian culture in the process.
“The Vatican Observatory summer school was started back in 1986 under the then-director Father George Coyne, who was director from most of the time during the papacy of Pope John Paul II,” Graney explained.
Coyne, along with astronomer Father Martin McCarthy, conceived of the idea of a summer school for higher education students considering careers in either astronomy or astrophysics.