Vatican Observatory Summer School led by CU prof

The Vatican Observatory, one of the oldest astronomical research institutions in the world, will open its 14^th biennial Summer School in Observational Astronomy and Astrophysics on June 1 at its headquarters in the Papal Summer Gardens of Castel Gandolfo, outside Rome.

John Stocke of the Department of Astrophysical & Planetary Sciences and the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy (CASA) at the University of Colorado Boulder will chair the Summer School faculty.

This year’s topic is “Galaxies, Near and Far, Young and Old.”

“Galaxy formation and evolution is at the forefront of modern astronomy research,” noted Father José Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory and an expert in galaxy observations. “New space and radio telescopes and sophisticated numerical modeling are challenging our views of galaxies, young and old.”

Twenty-five university and post-graduate students from 22 nations, from Argentina to Thailand, will spend four weeks at the Vatican Observatory. The students will attend lectures and work on projects related to their research.

These students were chosen from more than 100 applicants as those most likely to pursue an active career in astronomy.

The only criterion other than academic promise was that no nation would have more than two representatives. The final enrollment includes participants from every continent (including three from Africa, six from South America and eight from Asia) and an almost even split of 13 men and 12 women.

Four faculty members, all world-renowned experts in both the observations and theories of galaxies, will direct the school. The faculty and special invited speakers will present a comprehensive series of lectures and hands-on projects in the unique ambience of the Papal summer villa.

Stocke, professor of astrophysical & planetary sciences and researcher at the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, is chair of the Summer School faculty. Stocke is an expert on galaxies that are strong sources of radio emission and on absorption-line studies of galaxies.

Joining him are Christopher Carilli, of the Very Large Array in Socorro, New Mexico; Michele Trenti, of the University of Cambridge, UK; and Jaqueline van Gorkom, of Columbia University, New York.

Stocke and Van Gorkom were also faculty members of the 1990 Vatican Observatory Summer School.

The faculty are eagerly looking forward to the school.

“The upcoming Vatican Summer School will be an amazing opportunity to make an impact on tomorrow's leaders in astronomy by mentoring the next generation of thinkers,” Trenti said. “In addition, I am looking forward to the global and diverse atmosphere of the school, with participants representing different world cultures and backgrounds.”

The inspiration for this year’s topic is the explosion of new results from a wide variety of telescopes. According to Carilli, “The Vatican summer school this year is particularly exciting because we will be discussing first results on galaxy formation from the recently commissioned Atacama Large Millimeter Array and the Jansky Very Large Array. We will also be previewing science that will be done with the James Webb Space Telescope. These new facilities are opening new windows on the deep cosmos, leading to dramatic advances in our understanding of galaxy formation, right back to the formation of the first stars and black holes.”

Professor van Gorkom added that she was also looking forward to discussing the science planned for the Square Kilometre Array, which will be a global telescope run by at least a dozen countries.

“And don’t forget the Hubble Space Telescope!” noted Stocke, who serves on the science team of Hubble’s Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS). COS was designed by Professor James Green of CASA, and it was built and tested at both CASA and Ball Aerospace Corporation in Boulder.

Since the first summer school was held in 1986, more than 325 students have taken part. More than 85 percent continue today as professional astronomers, including some of the most notable figures in contemporary astronomy.

Report courtesy of CASA.

May 7, 2014