George Coyne

George Coyne (2011)

George V. Coyne SJ (born January 19, 1933 in Baltimore , † February 11, 2020 in Syracuse , New York ) was an American Jesuit and astronomer . For many years he was director of the Vatican Observatory .

Life

At the age of 18, George Coyne entered the Jesuit order. At the age of 25, he graduated from Fordham University in New York City with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a licentiate in philosophy . In 1962 he received his doctorate with a thesis on spectroscopy of the lunar surface at Georgetown University . He then studied Catholic theology at Woodstock College , Maryland , graduated with a licentiate in 1965 and was ordained a priest in 1965 . During this time he worked as an astronomer at Harvard University , the University of Scranton and the University of Arizona , where he became professor at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (UA LPL) from 1966 .

In 1978 Coyne became director of the Vatican Observatory , but continued to stay at the University of Arizona for six months as a professor of astronomy. In August 2006 he gave his position as director at the Vatican to José Gabriel Funes . In 2012 he took over the McDevitt Distinguished Chair for the Philosophy of Religion at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY, where he had already been awarded an honorary doctorate in 2009. Most recently, he held the McDevitt Distinguished Chair in physics, teaching introductory courses in astronomy and cosmology at the Faculty of Physics and a course on Science and Religion in Modern America at the Faculty of Religious Studies.

He died in February 2020 of complications from cancer .

Act

His research interests ranged from studying the surface of the moon, which preceded NASA's Ranger and Apollo programs, to the birth of stars. Coyne had developed a special technique based on polarimetry , which turned out to be an ideal tool in astronomical research. He used this technique to study various objects, including the interstellar medium , stars with extended atmospheres, and Seyfert galaxies , a group of spiral galaxies with very small and unusually bright star-shaped centers. He also did research on cataclysmic variable binary star systems and protoplanetary disks over young stars. He has published more than 100 articles in reviewed scientific journals and has authored and edited several books.

In parallel to his astronomical research, he has been academically engaged in topics related to the history and philosophy of science and has worked on the relationship between science and religion. He founded the series of studies on controversies about Galileo Galilei with the title "Studi Galileiani". He headed the Epistemology and Science Section of the Galileo Commission, set up in 1981 by Pope John Paul II . He gave numerous lectures on the results of this commission. He was one of the main organizers of a series of conferences on "Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action". These conferences, held over a period of twenty years, resulted in the publication of six volumes attempting to understand the work of God in the universe from different areas of the natural sciences, including quantum cosmology , chaos research and complexity , evolution and Molecular biology , neuroscience and quantum mechanics .

George Coyne was a member of the International Astronomical Union , the American Astronomical Society , the Astronomical Society of the Pacific , the American Physical Society, and the Optical Society of America .

honors and awards

2000 - Attribution of the asteroid (14429) Coyne

2008 - “Mendel Medal” from Villanova University , Philadelphia, USA

2010 - George Van Biesbroeck Prize of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) for his 1986 summer academy for young astronomers at the Vatican “Specola” observatory in Castel Gandolfo, financed with funds from the Vatican

Honorary doctorates:

1980 - Honorary Doctorate from St. Peter University , Jersey City , New Jersey, USA
1994 - Honorary Doctorate from Loyola University Chicago , Chicago, USA
1995 - Honorary Doctorate University of Padua , Padua, Italy
1997 - Honorary Doctorate from the Pontifical Theological Academy / Jagiellonian University , Krakow, Poland
2005 - Honorary Doctorate from Marquette University , Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
2007 - Honorary Doctorate from Boston College , Boston, Massachusetts, USA
2009 - Honorary Doctorate from Le Moyne College , Syracuse, New York, USA
2009 - Honorary Doctorate from College of the Holy Cross , Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
2010 - Honorary Doctorate from Santa Clara University , Santa Clara, California, USA
2014 - Honorary Doctorate from Colgate University , Hamilton, New York, USA
2016 - Honorary Doctorate INAOE ( National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics ), Tonantzintla, Puebla, Mexico

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Samantha House: Observatory director dies after battle with cancer. In: syracuse.com. Retrieved February 12, 2020 .
^ ^A ^b Le Moyne College mourns passing of faculty member George V. Coyne, SJ In: The Catholic Sun. Retrieved February 12, 2020 .
↑ Minor Planet Circ. 41572
↑ USA: Honor for Vatican Astronomer , Vatican Radio , January 5, 2010

personal data
SURNAME	Coyne, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Coyne, George V. (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American Jesuit and astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH	January 19, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH	Baltimore
DATE OF DEATH	February 11, 2020
Place of death	Syracuse , New York

[1] Samantha House: Observatory director dies after battle with cancer. In: syracuse.com. Retrieved February 12, 2020 .

[THE-2] A ^b Le Moyne College mourns passing of faculty member George V. Coyne, SJ In: The Catholic Sun. Retrieved February 12, 2020 .

[3] Minor Planet Circ. 41572

[4] USA: Honor for Vatican Astronomer , Vatican Radio , January 5, 2010