Huron native reaches for the stars at Vatican Observatory |
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Written by PAT TODAK, Special to the Chronicle
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Friday, 06 June 2008 01:00 |
HURON—Ever since she was a little girl, Lucy Frey of Huron St. Peter was always reaching for the stars.
So when the time came to choose her college major, it only made sense for the Sandusky St. Mary Central Catholic senior to decide to major in astronomy at Case Western Reserve University.
“I never really considered studying anything else,” she recalls.
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| Lucy Frey in front of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. (Photo courtesy of Lucy Frey) |
That decision ultimately landed her at the Vatican where she spent a month last summer at the Vatican Observatory Astronomy Summer School. The observatory is located in the pope’s summer residence in Castel Gandolfo outside of Rome and is run by Jesuit astronomers. The school is held every other summer for students from all over the world.
Her path to the Vatican Observatory happened quite by accident when she was searching online for some summer research opportunities.
“I was looking for something to do for the summer that was astronomy related,” she says. On a whim, she decided to apply.
Ms. Frey knew the Vatican Observatory existed, but was not aware of the summer school opportunity. Because it doesn’t accept more than two individuals from any one country, she says she didn’t expect to get accepted into the program. She happened to be doing a semester abroad at The University of St. Andrews in Scotland when she was notified via e-mail of her acceptance into the summer school.
Ms. Frey was one of 27 astronomy students from 23 different countries who were chosen to attend the month-long school. Most were graduate students. Only three, including Ms. Frey, were undergraduates at their universities. The class consisted of 17 women and 10 men.
The classes and lectures were given in English, which was a challenge for some of the students who spoke with varying degrees of fluency. Despite the communication challenges, Ms. Frey says the students enjoyed attempting to communicate with each other using charades and dictionaries to help bridge the language gaps. She says the students continue to keep in touch through e-mail.
Each year the Vatican Observatory Astronomy Summer School focuses on a different aspect of astronomy. According to Ms. Frey, last summer’s school examined extrasolar planets, which are planets located beyond the solar system, and brown dwarfs, which are objects too small to be ordinary stars.
Ms. Frey explains her mornings were spent in lectures from Jesuit astronomers and regular lecturers at the school. Guest lecturers were also on hand, which gave Ms. Frey the opportunity to meet astronomers from all over the world including NASA and the European Space Agency.
The Vatican Observatory is one of the oldest astronomical institutes in the world. Its beginning can be traced to 1582 and Pope Gregory XIII, who formed a committee to study the scientific data and implications involved in the reform of the calendar.
The Vatican Observatory Research Group also operates the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope at the Mount Graham International Observatory in southeastern Arizona. Ms. Frey explains that because of all the light pollution in Rome, the telescopes located there are no longer used for scientific purposes.
“It’s difficult to do observations if the sky is too bright,” she explains. The Vatican Observatory is now used primarily for research and the summer school program.
She most enjoyed having a private audience with the pope on the second day of summer school.
“We took a bus to St. Peter’s and were escorted by Swiss Guards to the papal apartments,” she recalls. Each student was able to greet the pope and kiss his ring.
“It was an amazing experience. I can’t imagine how many people he must meet as pope, but he seemed to genuinely enjoy meeting us and made some comment or asked a question of each of us.”
The school also afforded the students free time to explore Rome and Florence. They were also able to use the telescopes on the roof of the Papal Palace to do some observing. Ms. Frey notes the students enjoyed spending some of their free time together playing football (better known to Ms. Frey and the other American in attendance as soccer).
This summer won’t likely be as adventurous for Ms. Frey as last year’s Roman holiday. The astronomy student has graduated from Case Western and is now looking for her first job as an astronomer where she can continue to reach for those stars.
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Last Updated on Monday, 22 September 2008 09:14 |
