Skylon Defunct, Radian PFV01 Test Flights Begin 0 (0)

Posted on November 16, 2024 by Brian H. Gill

Radian Aerospace photo: 'Fresh off yesterday's release, we've unveiled PFV01 in person at the Global Aerospace Summit in Abu Dhabi this week. Stop by to explore how Radian is shaping a new era in space transportation' (October 2024)Sooner or later, I figure someone will develop a spaceplane that takes off from places like Tampa International Airport, carries passengers and cargo to low Earth orbit, and flies back: either to the airport it came from, or the next stop in its flight schedule.

It might be a next-generation version of Dawn Aerospace’s Aurora, or an advanced Radian Aerospace model. But it won’t be Reaction Engines Limited’s Skylon. Developing their two-mode SABRE rocket engine ended up costing too much and taking too long.

I’ll take a quick look at Skylon. After that, I’ll take a longer look at Seattle-based Radian Aerospace’s PFV01 spaceplane.

PFV01, a prototype of Radian’s Aurora spaceplane, is the one that’s been making test flights near Abu Dhabi.

Closing the Book on Skylon

Artist's impression of Reaction Engines Limited (REL) Skylon spaceplane in orbit. Header image from an REL online reprint of a 2002 British Interplanetary Society publication's article.
Reaction Engines Limited planned spaceplane Skylon: artist’s concept.

Looks like the Skylon spaceplane will never fly.

“Spaceplane developer Reaction Engines goes bankrupt”
Jeff Foust, SpaceNews (November 10, 2024)

“Reaction Engines Ltd., a British company that has worked for decades on an air-breathing rocket engine for spaceplanes and other hypersonic vehicles, has filed for bankruptcy.

“The company formally entered administration, a process under United Kingdom law to allow for the restructuring or liquidation of companies in financial distress, on Oct. 31 after attempts to raise additional funding fell through. PricewaterhouseCoopers has been appointed as administrators of the company during the process, and under U.K. law has eight weeks to develop a plan to restructure or sell the company, or else liquidate its assets…”
[emphasis mine]

Can’t say that I’m surprised, but I am disappointed.

This is not good news for the 200-some folks working for Reaction Engines Limited (REL).

In 1989, Alan Bond, John Scott-Scott, and Richard Varvill started REL with a good idea.

They would have built a spaceplane that takes cargo and passengers from conventional airports to low Earth orbit. Their spaceplane would have rocket engines that get their oxygen from the atmosphere during part of the ascent.

They had a bit of a head start. Two of them had been working on the earlier British HOTOL spaceplane, which would have done the same thing.

I’ve been following REL, off and on, for decades. I think their “Synergetic Air Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE)” is a good idea.

But I know just enough about science and engineering to realize that developing a rocket motor that uses atmospheric oxygen at subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic speeds — switching to its onboard supply of oxygen after that — is pretty much the opposite of easy.

I think someone will develop engines like SABRE. Someday. It’s a basically sound idea.

But making SABRE work was too expensive, and was taking too long.

The odds that Reaction Engines Limited will not be liquidated are pretty much zero.1

I’m not happy about that, but I am convinced that something like Skylon will fly. Eventually.

Meanwhile, other outfits have been working on their own spaceplanes.

Radian Aerospace PFV01: Another Step

Radian Aerospace photo: 'Fresh off yesterday's release, we've unveiled PFV01 in person at the Global Aerospace Summit in Abu Dhabi this week. Stop by to explore how Radian is shaping a new era in space transportation' (October 2024)
Radian Aerospace photo of their exhibit at Global Aerospace Summit, Abu Dhabi. (2024)

“Radian Aerospace begins tests of spaceplane prototype“
Jeff Foust, SpaceNews (September 25, 2024)

“…The Seattle-based company announced Sept. 25 that it performed an initial series of taxi tests of a prototype flight vehicle it calls PFV01 at an unidentified airport in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The tests included what it called ‘short hops’ by the vehicle as it tested its handling characteristics for takeoff and landing. …”

I’m taking it easy this week, so I didn’t dig all that deeply into what Radian Aerospace has in mind. Instead, I’m taking excerpts from what Feff Foust of SpaceNews said.

Test Flights

Diagrams, Fig. 3A, Fig. 26A Fig 26B; from USPTO.report: 'U.S. patent application number 16/745187 was filed with the patent office on 2020-06-25 for earth to orbit transportation system. The applicant listed for this patent is Radian Aerospace, Inc.. Invention is credited to Marshall L. Crenshaw, Livingston L. Holder, Gary C. Hudson, Bevin C. McKinney.') asdfasdfasdf
One version of the Radian spaceplane, from a Radian Aerospace patent application.

“…PFV01 is designed to test the aerodynamics of the company’s proposed Radian One, a spaceplane that would take off horizontally using a rail sled system more than three kilometers long and reach orbit using rocket engines before returning to a runway landing. The vehicle, as currently designed, could carry up to five people and 2,270 kilograms of cargo to low Earth orbit and return with up to 4,540 kilograms of cargo….”
(“Radian Aerospace begins tests of spaceplane prototype” , Jeff Foust, SpaceNews (September 25, 2024) [emphasis mine])

I get the impression that Radian’s spaceplane design isn’t as ambitious as REL’s.

For one thing, their Radian One’s cargo capacity is 2,270 kilograms, compared to Skylon’s planned 15,000. For another, Skylon could have carried 24 or more passengers, while Radian One’s current planned version has room for five.

On the other hand, Radian Aerospace is still in business. Plus, they’re doing test flights with their prototype. Assuming that they keep going in this direction, I figure they can scale their spaceplane up — if or when it’s ready.

Something I noticed about Radian Aerospace — it’s an American company, with headquarters in Seattle, Washington.2

Washington state isn’t renowned for having vast expanses of flat land. But the state, and my country, aren’t exactly lacking in places where flying experimental aircraft — or spacecraft — would be comparatively safe.

Living With and Working Around Rules

Diagram, Fig. 3A; from USPTO.report: 'U.S. patent application number 16/745187 was filed with the patent office on 2020-06-25 for earth to orbit transportation system. The applicant listed for this patent is Radian Aerospace, Inc.. Invention is credited to Marshall L. Crenshaw, Livingston L. Holder, Gary C. Hudson, Bevin C. McKinney.') asdfasdfasdf
One version of a Radian Aerospace spaceplane’s flight deck.

I gather that Radian Aerospace ran the usual computer simulations before seeing what their scaled-down prototype can do.

Now, back to Jeff Foust’s article

“…The runway tests, he [Livingston Holder] said, confirmed those models. ‘It’s an important step,’ he said, ‘validating that the analytical models that we’re using match what we’re seeing in real life.’

“The company performed the tests in Abu Dhabi with the support of an unnamed partner there. The airfield where the tests took place was a ‘good, permissive environment,’ Holder said, that gave the company access daily….”
(“Radian Aerospace begins tests of spaceplane prototype” , Jeff Foust, SpaceNews (September 25, 2024) [emphasis mine])

Again, I’m taking it easy this week, so I haven’t ferreted out where that airfield is.

But my guess is that it’s not in Abu Dhabi itself: “good, permissive environment” or not.

That phrase does, however, tell me why Radian Aerospace opted for doing their flight testing so far from Seattle. Particularly since their PFV01 prototype doesn’t, at this point, include sensitive technology.

“…Radian largely avoided export control issues with doing the tests there since PFV01, powered by two jet engines, did not contain any space-specific technologies like rocket engines that would have been in the purview of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). ‘We’re keeping this to the airplane side of things because the airplane part makes it easier from an ITAR standpoint,’ he [Livingston Holder] said of the tests….”
(“Radian Aerospace begins tests of spaceplane prototype” , Jeff Foust, SpaceNews (September 25, 2024) [emphasis mine])

Now, I understand that rules and regulations can actually serve useful functions.

Loren Fishman's Mallard Fillmore: 'place your bets'. (April 29, 2024)Regulations, for example, are supposed to keep manufacturers from selling airliners with pop-off panels — that pop off in flight.

I’m just glad that my country isn’t so overrun with regulators regulating regulations, that outfits like Radian Aerospace can’t legally develop new technologies. Even if, when it’s flight test time, our rules make getting “the support of an unnamed partner” and setting up operations overseas necessary.

Or, at least, make the folks at Radian Aerospace decide that they’ll save money by going abroad with their prototype. Despite having thousands of miles between their offices and the working area. And that’s another topic or two.

This is where I’d talk about authority, and how being both an American citizen and a Catholic affects me.3 But I’m keeping this post short. For me. Anyway, I mentioned the high points back in June:

“…Societies need folks with authority, legitimate authority. I’m obliged to show respect for the folks in charge. Those authorities should, in turn, show respect for the basic rights of the human person. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1897-1904, 1907, 1929-1933, and more)…”
(“Truth, Beauty, and the Evening News” , (June 15, 2024) Freedom of Speech, Lèse-Majesté, and “The Apotheosis of Washington”)

After the Radian folks have done runway tests with their PFV01, Jeff Foust’s article says they’ll move to “another airfield in the region”.

That’ll give them a longer runway for longer flights, where they’ll see how well the prototype handles: or doesn’t.

Rocket Sled —

I’ve seen the Radian One spaceplane consistently described as a “single-stage-to-orbit” (SSTO) launch vehicle.

REL’s Skylon would definitely have been an SSTO system, taking off from a conventional runway, flying to orbit, then landing on a runway after reentry.

Radian One will, provided all goes well, do the same; but instead of taking off from a runway, the spaceplane will get launched from a rocket sled.

After that, the delta-winged spaceplane will fly to orbit and return as a single unit. I figure that’s why the company’s website title is “Radian Aerospace — World’s First Single-Stage-to-Orbit Spaceplane”. That, plus a mix of hopefulness and marketing savvy.

Radian Aerospace and a Wikipedia page both describe “single-stage-to-orbit” launch vehicles which would be launched from rocket sleds.

I think I see why they’re using the term, since the part of the vehicle which leaves the ground is a single stage. But to me, systems using rocket sleds look like multi-stage rockets, with the first stage doing its job while connected to rails or similar guideways.

I also think Radian Aerospace’s approach to developing a surface-to-orbit transportation system is smart. It reminds me of the step-by-step process Max Vallier described, a century ago.4

— To the Stars

NASA/Kim Shiflett's photo: 'Dream Chaser Tenacity, Sierra Space's uncrewed cargo spaceplane, is processed inside the Space Systems Processing Facility (SSPF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, May 20, 2024.'Sierra Space Dream Chaser and Dawn Aerospace Mk-II Aurora were in the news recently, too:

Dream Chaser will ride to orbit on a Vulcan Centaur. I haven’t confirmed it, but I’m guessing that it also could be fitted on something like the SpaceX Falcon Heavy, which is at least partly reusable.

The good news here is that Dream Chaser spaceplanes can be reused.

Dawn Aerospace may eventually build a spaceplane that goes into orbit, but the Dawn Mk-II Aurora flights will be distinctly suborbital.

Still, they will go past the Kármán line — a conventional lower boundary for “space” — so the Dawn Mk-II Aurora is a spaceplane.5

An ‘up’ side for the Aurora spaceplanes is that they’re designed to take off from conventional runways: no special rocket sled tracks needed. It’s not the REL Skylon, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Looking back, and ahead:

1 Flight physics, an aerospace company, and spaceplanes; very briefly:

2 Another aerospace company, and a spaceplane design that was worth trying:

3 Miscellanea:

4 “Like a rocket sled on rails”:

5 Spaceplanes, and companies that make them:

Posted in Discursive Detours, Science News | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Vega, a Closer Look: Smooth Disc, No Planets, Starspots 0 (0)

Posted on November 9, 2024 by Brian H. Gill

Images of Vega's dust disk taken by Hubble, using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) (left); and the James Webb Space Telescope, using the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) (right). A little over a week ago, scientist published a detailed analysis of Vega’s surprisingly planet-free debris disc.

Vega, one of the brightest stars in Earth’s sky, may have planets: but the October 31 paper rules out any Saturn-size or larger worlds in wide orbits. That reminded me of a Sherlock Holmes quote:

“‘Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?’
‘To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.’
‘The dog did nothing in the night-time.’
‘That was the curious incident,’ remarked Sherlock Holmes.”
(“The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes”, “Silver Blaze” , Arthur Conan Doyle (1894) Via Gutenberg.org)

More to the point, not finding planets in Vega’s debris disc should help scientists learn more about how stars and planets form. And gives me something to write about.

Vega Debris Disc: “Smooth, Ridiculously Smooth”

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, S. Wolff, K. Su, A. Gáspár: images of Vega's dust disk taken by Hubble, using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) (left); and the James Webb Space Telescope, using the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) (right). See https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2024/030/01JBF20FGYTRR4E0QVBWY516R1
Vega’s dust disc imaged by Hubble (left), Webb Telescope (right). (2024)

“NASA’s Hubble, Webb Probe Surprisingly Smooth Disk Around Vega”
NASA Hubble Mission Team, NASA (November 1, 2024)

“…A team of astronomers at the University of Arizona, Tucson used NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes for an unprecedented in-depth look at the nearly 100-billion-mile-diameter debris disk encircling Vega. ‘Between the Hubble and Webb telescopes, you get this very clear view of Vega. It’s a mysterious system because it’s unlike other circumstellar disks we’ve looked at,’ said Andras Gáspár of the University of Arizona, a member of the research team. ‘The Vega disk is smooth, ridiculously smooth.’

“The big surprise to the research team is that there is no obvious evidence for one or more large planets plowing through the face-on disk like snow tractors. ‘It’s making us rethink the range and variety among exoplanet systems,’ said Kate Su of the University of Arizona, lead author of the paper presenting the Webb findings….”

It wasn’t all that along ago when detecting planets around another star might have been surprising: and would certainly have been exciting.

Now, with 5,780 confirmed planets in 4,314 planetary systems other than ours, not finding planets is a big deal.

Not finding large planets, that is: Saturn-mass worlds or bigger.

IRAS — an infrared space telescope; I talked about it, briefly, last week — showed scientists that something around Vega was shining in infrared ‘light’.

That was back in the 1980s.

Fast-forward to 2005. The Spitzer Space Telescope had given scientists (fairly) high-resolution infrared images of Vega’s dust cloud. Or, more likely, Vega’s debris disc.

Whatever it is, radio telescopes also showed that there’s something around Vega: something that’s quite smooth. On the other hand, other observations showed that what’s around Vega is clumpy. Or asymmetrical, at any rate. Probably.

But none of those were as high-resolution as this Webb Telescope image.1

Dust, a Gap, and — the “Poynting-Robertson Effect”?

Figure 1 from 'Imaging of the Vega Debris System using JWST/MIRI': enlarged disk image at 25.5 micrometers (top); MIRI images at 15.5, 23, and 25.5 micrometers (bottom row). Kate Y. L. Su, Andras Gaspar, George H. Rieke, Renu Malhotra, Luca Matra, Schuyler Grace Wolff, Jarron M. Leisenring , Charles Beichman, Marie Ygouf; (2024) Via Wikipedia. See https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.23636
JWST MIRI images of Vega’s dust disk: 25.5 micrometers (top); 15.5, 23, and 25.5 micrometers (bottom).
(Figure 1, “Imaging of the Vega Debris System using JWST/MIRI”, Kate Y. L. Su et al.)

“Imaging of the Vega Debris System using JWST/MIRI”
Kate Y. L. Su, Andras Gaspar, George H. Rieke, Renu Malhotra, Luca Matra, Schuyler Grace Wolff, Jarron M. Leisenring, Charles Beichman, Marie Ygouf (Submitted October 31, 2024) Via arXiv, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

Abstract

“We present images of the Vega planetary debris disk obtained at 15.5, 23, and 25.5 microns with the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on JWST. The debris system is remarkably symmetric and smooth, and centered accurately on the star. There is a broad Kuiper-belt-analog ring at 80 to 170 au that coincides with the planetesimal belt detected with ALMA at 1.34 mm. The interior of the broad belt is filled with warm debris that shines most efficiently at mid-infrared along with a shallow flux dip/gap at 60 au from the star. These qualitative characteristics argue against any Saturn-mass planets orbiting the star outside of about 10 au assuming the unseen planet would be embedded in the very broad planetesimal disk from a few to hundred au. We find that the distribution of dust detected interior to the broad outer belt is consistent with grains being dragged inward by the Poynting-Robertson effect. Tighter constraints can be derived for planets in specific locations, for example any planet shepherding the inner edge of the outer belt is likely to be less than 6 Earth masses. The disk surface brightness profile along with the available infrared photometry suggest a disk inner edge near 3-5 au, disconnected from the sub-au region that gives rise to the hot near-infrared excess. The gap between the hot, sub-au zone and the inner edge of the warm debris might be shepherded by a modest mass, Neptune-size planet.”
[emphasis mine]

Since I’ve got nerdy interests, I’d heard about things like the Yarkovsky effect, which describes how electromagnetic radiation, like light, affects smallish rotating things like asteroids. But the Poynting-Roberston effect was new to me.

With the Yarkovsky effect, light warms the ‘day’ side of a rotating object. Then, as the object rotates, the energy’s re-radiated in another direction. The point is that the Yarkovsky effect describes how light affects the orbits of fairly small rotating objects.

Michael Schmid's 'Drawing to illustrate the Poynting-Robertson effect'. (October 23, 2023)The Poynting-Robertson effect describes how light affects any small object, like dust grains, whether it’s rotating or not.

There are at least two ways of looking at the Poynting-Robertson effect, depending on which frame of reference you pick.

Taking a dust grain’s viewpoint, that’s (a) in Michael Schmid’s drawing (right) a star’s radiation (S) is coming at the grain at an angle. That’s due to the astronomical sense of the word “aberration”: objects looking like they’re a bit ‘ahead’ of their actual position, due to the observer’s motion.

Since there’s a trifle more light hitting the forward-facing part of the dust grain in (a), re-radiated photons will slow the grain down. Not much, but it’s a non-zero amount.

The same situation, from the star’s viewpoint, (b) in the drawing, light from the star is coming straight ‘down’ on the dust grain.

Re-radiated photons? That’s anisotropic emission: geek-speak for the way photons leave the dust grain just slightly leaning toward the grain’s direction of motion. That will slow the grain down: again, not much, but by a non-zero amount.

Anisotropy — is a rabbit hole I’ll skip today. I put links in the footnotes.2

A Closer Look at Vega’s Dusty Disc

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, S. Wolff, K. Su, A. Gáspár: image of Vega's dust disk taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, using the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI, F2550W filter). See https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2024/030/01JBF24XMPA7PEFDCM4VWY0V07
James Webb Space Telescope image of Vega’s dust disk, with F2550W filter.

Backing up a bit, IRAS showed that there’s a lot of dust around Vega; but infrared telescopes couldn’t give scientists particularly high-resolution pictures of the Vega system.

Not until the James Webb Space telescope got to work in July of 2022. By then, we’d learned that we’re looking at Vega — and its dust disc — from the ‘top’, with one of the star’s poles pointed almost directly at us.

Astronomers measured Vega’s diameter, using an astronomical interferometer. That was about two decades back. Astronomical interferometry is using two or more telescopes and a whole lot of math to get high-resolution images.

Their results said that Vega was 2.73 times as wide as our Sun. Give or take 0.01. That was winder than they’d expected.

Then science happened, and now we figure that Vega looks as bright as it does, and as wide as it is, because it’s spinning really fast: once every 16.3 hours. Our sun goes around once every 25 days at the equator, 34 and a half days near the poles.

Spinning that fast, Vega bulges at the equator. I’ll get back to that.

Now, about these images.

“Imaging of the Vega Debris System using JWST/MIRI” discusses images taken with three of Webb’s filters:

  • F2550W
    Broadband imaging, peak sensitivity at 25.5 micrometers
  • F1550C
    Coronagraph imaging, peak sensitivity at 15.5 micrometers
  • F2300C
    Coronagraph imaging, peak sensitivity at 22.75 micrometers

A coronagraph is a telescope gadget that blocks light from something bright, like a star, letting us see stuff near the star. That accounts for black bits at the centers of the images.

Except for one. Kate Y. L. Su et al. say that “the 25.5 μm [micrometer] image is missing the core because of saturation”.3

Hubble’s Vega Image

NASA, ESA, STScI, S. Wolff: Image of Vega's dust disk taken by Hubble, using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). See https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2024/030/01JBF20FGYTRR4E0QVBWY516R1
Hubble STIS image of Vega’s dust disk.

This Hubble image of Vega’s dust disc was taken with the 50CORON filter on Hubble’s STIS: Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph.

The 50CORON filter lets Hubble see light from about 2000 to 10,300 angstroms, or 0.2 to 1.03 micrometers: which is probably why it’s called a “clear” filter.

A HubbleSite press released explained that both the Kate Y. L. Su et al. paper and Hubble images were basically grayscale. The Hubble image is blue and the Webb image is orange, because folks assigned those colors to each.4

Something I haven’t learned is why that Hubble image of Vega’s dust disc looks like a starburst, with all those spikes radiating from the center. I’ve seen the same sort of pattern elsewhere, and I’ll get back to that.

I’m up to two “back to thats” now, so I’d better start tying up loose ends.

How We Know What We Know About Vega, and a Little Lore

Matúš Motlo's illustration, comparing Vega (right) and Sol, our sun (left). (2021) Vega's surface features suggested by 'Discovery of starspots on Vega - First spectroscopic detection of surface structures on a normal A-type star'; T. Böhm, M. Holschneider, F. Lignières, P. Petit, M. Rainer, F. Paletou, G. Wade, E. Alecian, H. Carfantan, A. Blazère, G.M. Mirouh. (2015). Used w/o permission. See https://arxiv.org/abs/1411.7789
Comparing Vega (left) and Sol (right). Matúš Motlo’s illustration.

The Sun’s sunspots are bright, but they’re darker than the rest of the visible surface.

We haven’t actually seen starspots, tiny dark patches on other stars, but we’ve detected larger dark patches on some stars.

Back in 2015 some scientists detected smallish bright spots on Vega. That’s why Matúš Motlo put little bright starspots on his illustration, comparing Vega and Sol/the Sun.

With a lower-case “s”, a sol is a day on Mars, and I’m wandering off-topic.

Both Vega and the Sun are about halfway through their time on the main sequence: a period when a star is ‘burning’ hydrogen and hasn’t started running out of fuel.

But where the Sun is around 4,600,000,000 years old, Vega is 700,000,000: or, rather, between 850,000,000 and 625,000,000.

Vega is something like two and an eighth times as massive as the Sun, so it’s burning through its hydrogen much faster.

Vega’s width and brightness strongly suggested that it’s rotating so fast that it’s shaped sort of like a loaf of pumpernickel. The way Vega’s bright starspots act backs up that idea. That’s why astronomers are pretty sure about the star’s 16.3 hour rotation period.

Another point about Vega: it’s not nearly as ‘metal’ as the Sun. For astronomers, metallicity is now much of a star is made of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. Vega has only about 32% of the Sun’s share of elements heavier than helium.

Since it’s spinning so fast, Vega is thicker across the equator than it is pole-to-pole. That also makes it hotter at the poles: or cooler at the equator, take your pick.5

Let’s see. What else? Vega is by far the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, and part of the Summer Triangle.

Finding Vega, and a little Skywatching Lore

I queued up Sky & Telescope’s Sky Tour Podcast (September 2024) to start at 6:40. That’s where the narrator starts taking about Arcturus, and eventually gets to Vega and the Summer Triangle.

Vega is the constellation Lyra’s brightest star, and is part of the Summer Triangle; along with Altair and Deneb.

IAU / Sky and Telescope magazine (Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg)'s star chart: the constellation Lyra, Alpha Lyrae.Vega circled. Via Wikipedia.The constellation Lyra goes back at least to Ptolemy’s Almagest, and was one of 88 official constellations defined and published by the IAU in 1930.

In Greek mythology, Lyra is the magic lyre of Orpheus.

As a feature in Earth’s sky, Lyra isn’t real: and neither is the Summer Triangle.

Constellations, as astronomers use the term, are regions on the celestial sphere: an abstract/imaginary sphere that Earth’s sky is projected on.

Asterisms are patterns on the celestial sphere; like the Little Dipper, Summer Triangle, and Winter Circle.

Asterisms, constellations, and the celestial sphere aren’t “real” in the sense of being a physical part of this universe. They’re convenient abstractions we use when we’re talking about the real wonders in our sky.6

Spiky Stars and Fomalhaut’s Planet That Isn’t There (Probably)

NASA / ESA: Hubble STIS false-color composite image of Fomalhaut system, with locations of object Fomalhaut b marked. (2013)
Hubble images: Fomalhaut system, showing dust disk. (2013)

NASA, ESA, STScI, S. Wolff: Image of Vega's dust disk taken by Hubble, using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS).Now, about that spiky Hubble image of Vega’s dust disk.

The picture’s caption on HubbleSite describes the disc as “…very smooth, with no evidence of embedded large planets….”

With a starburst of dark spikes, it didn’t look particularly smooth to me.

So I figured that the spikes came from Hubble’s optics, or maybe image processing, not Vega’s disc: and that whoever wrote the caption knew this.

I spent more time than I might have, looking for an explanation for those spikes. Unsuccessfully.

Diffraction Spikes, a Debris Disc Distraction, Fomalhaut’s Far-Flung System

NASA, ESA, CSA's image; processed by Joseph DePasquale (STScI): Herbig-Haro 46/47, a tightly bound pair of actively forming stars. They are at the center of the red diffraction spikes, appearing as an orange-white splotch. A high-resolution near-infrared light. (2023)
Webb image: red diffraction spikes around Herbig-Haro 46/47, a tightly bound pair of actively forming stars.

NASA/ESA's image, detail: LH 95 stellar nursery in the Large Magellanic Cloud. (December 2006)I’m pretty sure that I’m not looking at diffraction spikes: not the sort of four- and six-pointed-star effects you’ll see in some astronomy photos, at any rate.

Another thing: I’ve been calling Vega’s dusty halo a debris disc, not a protoplanetary disc, because resources I’d been reading used that term.

A little checking verified that debris disc, circumstellar disc, and protoplanetary disc have overlapping definitions.

Circumstellar disc looks like the most generic term, with debris disc running a close second.

Protoplanetary discs are what we’ve been finding around young stars: like Vega, but they have protoplanets in them.

Maybe Vega’s debris disc is called that because scientists haven’t found protoplanets in it yet.

Where was I?

  • Hubble’s spiky image of Vega’s debris disc
  • Diffraction spikes
  • Circumstellar discs
  • Vega’s debris disc
    • Wondering why it’s not called a protoplanetary disc

Right.

I still don’t have an explanation for Hubble’s spiky image of Vega’s debris disc.

But I did find another spiky Hubble image of a star’s debris disc: Fomalhaut and a debatable exoplanet named Dagon.

Dagon, Fomalhaut b, was discovered in 2005, (tentatively) confirmed in 2012, and more positively confirmed as the dust cloud from a whacking great collision in 2020.

The Fomalhaut system has two more stars besides Fomalhaut.

Fomalhaut B, or TW Piscis Austrini, is a BY Draconis variable: and I am not going to dive down that rabbit hole. Fomalhaut C, LP 876-10, is even smaller and dimmer than TW Piscis Austrini.

TW Biscis Austrini is less than a light-year from Fomalhaut. LP 876-10 is 2.5 light-years from Fomalhaut, 3.2 light-years from TW Biscis Austrini. All three are part of a very spread-out trinary star system.7

46 Centuries of Thinking About This Universe, Briefly

Fossart's artist's impression of a planet around Vega. (2015)
Fossart’s impression: a planet around Vega. (2015)

Folks had been looking at rivers, mountains, and the stars; and thinking about how all this began, for uncounted ages, when someone committed what we call the Kesh temple hymn to writing.

About that: I assume humanity didn’t pop into existence around 2600 B.C. — and that the wealth of literature which appeared as soon as folks started writing came from oral traditions stretching back to our beginnings.

Fast-forwarding over the Babylonian Map of the World, Parmenides, Anaximander, Aristotle, and all that — natural philosophers started calling themselves scientists in 1834. They eventually accepted that Aristotle wasn’t right about everything.

B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF)/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)'s images of dust disks around nine young stars, from SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope. (April 2018)About a century back now, we started learning how the Sun and other stars produce energy.

That, and — during the last few decades — getting increasingly detailed images of growing stars and planetary systems, is helping us learn how Earth, Jupiter, AEgir, Janssen, and worlds we haven’t found yet, evolve.8

I’m pretty sure that finding nascent planetary systems without large planets in distant orbits will help scientists explain the wild variety of planetary systems we have found.

Natalie Batalha's and Wendy Stenzel's chart of exoplanet populations found with Kepler data. (2017) (NASA and Ames Research Center)I’m also pretty sure that we’ll eventually find a world where life that’s not like Earth’s flourishes: or that we won’t.

I’ve talked about that, and somewhat-related topics, before:

1 Searching for new worlds:

2 Light, physics, and nerdy vocabulary:

3 Getting a closer look at Vega:

4 Astronomy images and imaging:

5 Stars and skywatching:

6 More stars and skywatching:

7 Astronomical miscellanea:

8 Myth, cosmology, and philosophy; from the Kesh temple hymn to AEgir and Janssen:

Posted in Discursive Detours, Exoplanets and Aliens, Science News, Series | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Surrounded by Beauty and Wonders: T Tauri Stars and Nebulae 0 (0)

Posted on November 2, 2024 by Brian H. Gill
ESA/Hubble, R. Sahai and NASA's image from Hubble Space Telescope: reflection nebula IRAS 05437+2502, from the Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys, created from images taken through yellow (F606W) and near-infrared (F814W) filters. (2010)
Reflection nebula IRAS 05437+2502 in Taurus.

“…All of us dwell under the same sky. All of us are moved by the beauty revealed in the cosmos and reflected in the study of the heavenly bodies and substances. In this sense, we are united by the desire to discover the truth about how this marvellous universe operates; and in this, we draw ever closer to the Creator….”
(Address to Participants in the Summer Course of the Vatican Observatory, Pope Francis (June 11, 2016))

My interest in science started as a fascination with dinosaurs. By the time I left high school, that fascination included astronomy, physics, cosmology, and more.

My academic specialties were history and English, but I never lost my intense interest in pretty much everything else.

That didn’t change when I became a Catholic — partly because where my faith is involved, paying attention to the wonders and beauty surrounding us isn’t a problem.

The Enigmatic IRAS Ghost Nebula

ESA/Hubble, R. Sahai and NASA's image from Hubble Space Telescope: detail, reflection nebula IRAS 05437+2502, from the Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys, created from images taken through yellow (F606W) and near-infrared (F814W) filters. (2010)
Hubble image of the reflection nebula IRAS 05437+2502, in the constellation Taurus. (2010)

A Wikipedia page says that IRAS 05437+2502 is a reflection nebula in the constellation Taurus, and that it’s occasionally called the IRAS Ghost Nebula. I’ve confirmed some of that.

Along the way, I learned that scientists didn’t know about IRAS 05437+2502 before 1983 — probably.

In 1983 IRAS (Infrared Astronomical Satellite) made an all-sky survey at 12, 25, 60, and 100 micrometer wavelengths. That’s well into the infrared part of the spectrum.

IRAS spotted about 250,000 objects, including IRAS 05437+2502. It was a joint project of NASA, NIVR, and SERC — space agencies of the United States, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom — and I’m drifting off-topic.

We’ve learned a little about IRAS 05437+2502 since 1983. That’s what I gather, at least, from the designations it’s collected: WISEA J054651.49+250347.5, 2MASXi J0546515+250347, and more alphabet-soup labels.

But we haven’t learned much. Not yet. Most likely because observatories have only so much available time.

This Hubble image, for example, was a ‘snapshot’ with Hubble’s Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys: something slipped into the space telescope’s schedule, with no guarantees of results.

The image, released in 2010, was one of those lucky breaks. It’s from Hubble’s Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys, made from separate images using yellow (F606W) and near-infrared (F814W) filters.

“A lucky observation of an enigmatic cloud“
Newsletters, ESA/Hubble (June 14, 2010(?))

“…At first glance it appears to be a small, rather isolated, region of star formation and one might assume that the effects of fierce ultraviolet radiation from bright young stars probably were the cause of the eye-catching shapes of the gas. However, the bright boomerang-shaped feature may tell a more dramatic tale. The interaction of a high velocity young star and the cloud of gas and dust may have created this unusually sharp-edged bright arc. Such a reckless star would have been ejected from the distant young cluster where it was born and would travel at 200 000 km/hour or more through the nebula.…”
[emphasis mine]

I’ve found precious little specific information about IRAS 05437+2502, aside from its width in our skies, spanning “only 1/18th of a full moon”, and it being “distant”.

How distant?

I got a clue from the “AI Overview” that Google Search occasionally shows me:

“AI Overview”
Google Search (October 29, 2024)

“IRAS 05437+2502, a reflection nebula in the Taurus constellation, is about 380 light-years away. A light-year is a unit of distance that measures how far light travels in one Earth year, which is roughly 6 trillion miles or 9.7 trillion kilometers.”

“About 380 light-years” gave me another search term: which led me to an NBC News article, from around Halloween of 2010.

Where NBC’s “Cosmic Log” got that number, I don’t know.1

Impressions

ESA/Hubble, R. Sahai and NASA's image from Hubble Space Telescope: detail, reflection nebula IRAS 05437+2502, from the Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys, created from images taken through yellow (F606W) and near-infrared (F814W) filters. (2010)
IRAS 05437+2502: dark nebula and cosmic Rorschach test.

When I look at IRAS 05437+2502, I see a cloaked and hooded figure with arms outstretched, standing above other figures walking off to its left.

That’s not the only impression folks have gotten when viewing the dark nebula.

“What’s the explanation for this spectral hand clutching at the stars?“
Alasdair Wilkins, Gizmodo (August 20, 2010)

“This nebula looks like a hand reaching out to grab the stars above it….”

When I showed IRAS 05437+2502 to my oldest daughter, she saw something else:

“Looks like the nebula’s running into some sort of crystal formation.”
(‘Brigid’, in a Discord chat (October 29, 2024))

Now that I know about those impressions, I can see “this spectral hand” and “some sort of crystal formation”. But mostly, I still see the cloaked and hooded figures.

Whatever IRAS 05437+2502 looks like, it is a molecular cloud: a clump of stuff that’s a pretty good vacuum, but not as empty as most of the expanse between stars.

I’m guessing, based on that “380 light-years” mentioned in NBC’s “Cosmic Log”, that IRAS 05437+2502 is part of the Taurus-Auriga complex.

The Taurus-Auriga complex, in turn, is in the Gould Belt (or Gould’s Belt, depending on who’s talking), a ring of stars and star-forming regions in our part of the Milky Way galaxy.

Benjamin Gould spotted the belt in 1879. Scientists took a close look at it a little shy of two decades back.

More recently, scientists working at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study put some of what we’ve learned about this part of the Milky Way galaxy through 3D software. They learned that the Gould Belt is part of a vast collection of interconnected stellar nurseries.

Recapping, IRAS 05437+2502 may be near, or maybe is part of, the Taurus molecular cloud. The Taurus molecular cloud is part of the Taurus-Auriga complex. The Taurus-Auriga complex is part of the Gould Belt.

Scientists working at Radcliffe learned that the Gould Belt is part of something even bigger: a vast collection of interconnected stellar nurseries. The scientists’ location, along with the object’s shape, account for its name: the Radcliffe wave.2

Stars in the Making: the HP Tau Triplet

KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T.A. Rector's image; processed by T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF's NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF's NOIRLab), D. de Martin. Variable star HP Tau: a T Tauri star. Image created using data from the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. (2023)
New suns, a triple-star system: Kitt Peak image of HP Tau, HP Tau G2, and HP Tau G3.

One thing I like about astronomy, and science in general, is astronomers and scientists don’t seem bothered by scale.

Light from those three stars, for instance — HP Tau, HP Tau G2, HP Tau G3 — took five and half centuries to reach us; but by cosmic standards they’re almost next door.

And, again by cosmic standards, they’re quite young: less than 10,000,000 years old.

They also seem to be looking at us. Or, rather, that’s what my imagination told me.

More Impressions

Image from NASA/ESA/G. Duchene (Universite de Grenoble I); processed by Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America). A triple-star system: HP Tau, HP Tau G2, and HP Tau G3. HP Tau is known as a T Tauri star. (May 2024)
“Here’s looking at you, kid.” Hubble image of HP Tau, HP Tau G2, and HP Tau G3.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo's 'Porträtt, karikatyr:' portrait of Wolfgang Lazius. (1562) Photo by Samuel Uhrdin, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.Humans are good at seeing patterns. Sometimes we even see familiar patterns, like faces, that aren’t really there.

That’s almost certainly why the Hubble image of HP Tau, HP Tau G2, and HP Tau G3, reminds me of a face. And, probably, why someone else looked at the same image and saw a geode.

“Hubble Views the Dawn of a Sun-like Star“
Explore, NASA (May 15, 2024)

“Looking like a glittering cosmic geode, a trio of dazzling stars blaze from the hollowed-out cavity of a reflection nebula in this new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The triple-star system is made up of the variable star HP Tau, HP Tau G2, and HP Tau G3. HP Tau is known as a T Tauri star, a type of young variable star that hasn’t begun nuclear fusion yet but is beginning to evolve into a hydrogen-fueled star similar to our Sun. T Tauri stars tend to be younger than 10 million years old — in comparison, our Sun is around 4.6 billion years old — and are often found still swaddled in the clouds of dust and gas from which they formed….”
[emphasis mine]

Before reining myself in, I found that scientists have been paying more than casual attention to HP Tau and its neighbors.3

T Tauri Stars: What We’ve Learned So Far (Very Briefly)

Illustration used in online resource 'Spectra of the T Tauri Stars', Frederick M. Walter, Professor of Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University. This illustration may be from 'First GASPs of Star Formation in Taurus', Adele Plunkett, Daily Paper Summaries (July 20, 2012)
T Tauri stars in context: dark cloud to young stellar system in six steps.

I also found a few comparatively non-nerdy discussions of T Tauri stars, including a couple using that six-step “cartoon”, and put links in the footnotes.4

Here are a couple excerpts:

Caption for “a. dark cloud” – “f. young stellar system”
“Cartoon of star formation, showing the molecular cloud that begins to gravitationally collapse, forming a Class 0/I star in the upper row, and progressing through Class II (a.k.a. T Tauri star), pre-main-sequence and finally stellar system (with planets forming from the dusty surroundings) on the bottom row.”
(“First GASPs of Star Formation in Taurus” , Adele Plunkett, Daily Paper Summaries, astrobites (July 20, 2012))

“…A T Tauri star is a very young, lightweight star, less than 10 million years old and under 3 solar masses, that it still undergoing gravitational contraction; it represents an intermediate stage between a protostar and a mid-mass main sequence star like the Sun. T Tauri stars are found only in nebulas or very young clusters, have low-temperature (G to M type) spectra with strong emission lines and broad absorption lines….”
(“Stellar Evolution — Cycles of Formation and Destruction“, Chandra X-Ray Observatory, Smithsonian Institution)

I ran across HL Tauri, another T Tauri star, while writing this.

Ran across discussions of it, actually, not the star itself. HL Tauri is about 450 light-years away — about seven times farther than Aldebaran, but in the same general direction. That may be close on a cosmic scale, but it’s far beyond our reach at the moment.

Assuming our models of stellar evolution are moderately accurate, HL Tauri is less than 1,000,000 years old.

Since it’s got a protoplanetary disk with gaps where planets may be forming, HL Tauri is a bit of a puzzle. The star looks younger than its protoplanetary disk would suggest, so our models of stellar evolution may need more tweaking.

IAU, Sky and Telescope magazine (Roger Sinnott, Rick Fienberg)'s star chart: constellation Taurus. Three T Tauri stars circled: HL Tauri, red; IRAS 05437+2502, green; T Tauri, blue.And there you have it. T Tauri stars are young stars with a mass less than three times that of our Sun.

They’re still collapsing, and haven’t started ‘burning’ hydrogen yet.

They’re named after T Tauri, about 471 light-years away, also in the general direction of Aldebaran. T Tauri the first star studied and defined as being this type.5

I circled the location of three stars I’ve mentioned today on that IAU/Sky & Telescope star chart: HL Tauri, red; IRAS 05437+2502, green; and T Tauri, blue.

God, the Universe, Science, and Me

NASA/John Krist/Karl Stapelfeldt/Jeff Hester/Chris Burrows's images and caption. From Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2: young binary star system XZ Tauri blowing bubbles of glowing gas in the years 1995, 1998, and 2000.
XZ Tauri blowing bubbles in the years 1995, 1998, and 2000. Hubble Space Telescope images.

When my oldest daughter and I were talking about IRAS 05437+2502, she mentioned that some folks see learning how stuff works as a threat to their sense of wonder.

She didn’t phrase it that way. More like their feeling that there’s an inverse correlation between a sense of wonder and detailed knowledge.

Then our conversation wandered off in the general direction of psychological quirks and neurological oddities. Neither of us are particularly near the 50th percentile, and that’s another topic or three.

In my case, knowing that a candle’s flame is bright because of a chemical reaction, and the sun is bright because hydrogen nuclei are fusing in its core, doesn’t keep me from using their light — and admiring them as two of the wonders that fill this universe.

That admiration, in turn, for me, inspires respect for God — whose power and beauty is reflected in everything we can perceive.

“God himself created the visible world in all its richness, diversity, and order. Scripture presents the work of the Creator symbolically as a succession of six days of divine ‘work,’ concluded by the ‘rest’ of the seventh day. On the subject of​ creation, the sacred text teaches the truths revealed by God for our salvation, permitting us to ‘recognize the inner nature, the value, and the ordering of the whole of creation to the praise of God.'”

“The beauty of the universe: The order and harmony of the created world results from the diversity of beings and from the relationships which exist among them. Man discovers them progressively as the laws of nature. They call forth the admiration of scholars. The beauty of creation reflects the infinite beauty of the Creator and ought to inspire the respect and submission of man’s intellect and will.”
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 337, 341)

NASA/ESA's image, detail: LH 95 stellar nursery in the Large Magellanic Cloud. (December 2006) Paraphrase from Catechism of the Catholic Church, 283: '...These discoveries invite us to even greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator, prompting us to give him thanks for all his works and for the understanding and wisdom he gives to scholars and researchers...'. see https://www.vaticanobservatory.org/education/catechism-catholic-church-references-science/Paying attention to God’s universe is not a new idea.

“Question the beauty of the earth, question the beauty of the sea, question the beauty of the air, amply spread around everywhere, question the beauty of the sky, question the serried ranks of the stars … question all these things. They all answer you, ‘Here we are, look; we’re beautiful.’…
“…Prayer:
“O God, You are never far from those who sincerely search for You. Accompany those who err and wander far from You. Turn their hearts towards what is right and let them see the signs of Your Presence in the beauty of created things. We ask this….”
(“The beauty of the unchangeable creator is to be inferred from the beauty of the changeable creation ” , St. Augustine, Sermons, 241, Easter (c.411 A.D.))

“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the firmament proclaims the works of his hands.”
(Psalms 19:2)

“When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and stars that you set in place—
“What is man that you are mindful of him,
and a son of man that you care for him?
“Yet you have made him little less than a god,
crowned him with glory and honor.”
(Psalms 8:4–6)

Neither is recognizing that God is large and in charge.

“Indeed, before you the whole universe is like a grain from a balance,
or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.”
(Wisdom 11:22)

“Our God is in heaven
and does whatever he wills.”
(Psalms 115:3)

I don’t see that changing, no matter how much we learn about T Tauri stars, candle flames, or anything else.

Basically, regarding science and religion — paying attention to the beauty and wonders surrounding us makes sense.

I’ve talked about this before. Often:

1 More than you need, or maybe want, to know about:

2 Learning about our cosmic neighborhood:

3 Analysis, patterns, perception; and a famous quote:

4 T Tauri stars, mostly:

5 Stars, a nebula, and a little cosmology:

Posted in Being Catholic, Discursive Detours, Science News | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Voting As If What I Believe Matters 0 (0)

Posted on October 26, 2024 by Brian H. Gill
Left: '[Dividing the] national [map]', political cartoon by John Cabell (1860). Right: 'Political caricature. No. 3, The abolition catastrophe. Or the November smash-up', political cartoon (1864) see https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.33122/ https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3a12905/
Politics of yesteryear: “[Dividing the] national [map]” (left, 1860), “The abolition catastrophe….” (right, 1964).

A little over a week from now, November 5, I plan on going to Sauk Centre’s polling place. Then I’ll vote.

I’m not looking forward to that. But I’ll vote anyway.

That’s because I’m an American. Voting is part of being a responsible citizen.

Since I’m also a Catholic, voting responsibly involves comparing how we should behave to what the candidates have been saying and — perhaps more to the point — doing.

If one of the candidates struck me as an obviously-good choice, then I would cast my vote for that one: and maybe say that you should, too.

But I’m stuck with the reality we’re experiencing. So instead, I’ll —

  • Share links to resources that discuss the ‘should behave’ aspects of public life
  • Mention why I think voting makes sense
  • Look forward to not seeing election angst in my news feed

This week’s post is shorter than most:

Citizenship Without Hate and Fear: Resources

Image: cover of USCCB's 'Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship'. (Copyright 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023)First off, two links: (1) to a booklet in PDF format, a bit over 50 pages; and (2) to a page recommending that we talk and act as if our neighbors matter, with links to resources that might help.

  1. “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship ”
    A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States,
    United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)
  2. Civilize It: A Better Kind of Politics
    usccb.org/civilizeit

I think the booklet’s “Introductory Note” makes sense: reminding us that people and principles matter.

I’m quoting this bit, partly because it discusses the issue with more authority than I’ve got:

“Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” , Introductory Note, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops [emphasis mine]

“…Election seasons, therefore, should contain a sense of gratitude and hope. Our love for this country, our patriotism, properly impels us to vote.

“But increasingly, it seems, election seasons are a time of anxiety and spiritual trial. Political rhetoric is increasingly angry, seeking to motivate primarily through division and hatred. Fear can be an effective tool for raising money. The most heated arguments online often get the most clicks. Demonizing the other can win votes.

“We propose once more the moral framework of ‘Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship’ precisely as pastors, inspired by the Good Samaritan, with the hope of binding these wounds and healing these bitter divisions. This document is not based on personalities or partisanship, the latest news cycle, or what’s trending on social media. Instead, it reflects the perennial role of the Church in public life in proclaiming timeless principles: the infinite worth and dignity of every human life, the common good, solidarity, and subsidiarity. Not sure what these mean? We invite you to read a copy of ‘Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship’ and learn more….”

The USCCB has a page on their website with the same title, and a link to the booklet, along with other resources:

“Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship ” , Office of Justice and Peace, USCCB

“…Learn More

“Read ‘Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship ‘ : A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States (en Español), which provides a framework for Catholics in the United States. (English PDF | PDF en Español)

“As a complement to Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, the bishops also approved six new bulletin inserts (en Español) to help the Catholic faithful put their faith into action.

Hot Button Issues and Loving My Country Anyway

G.W. Bromley & Co.'s 'Political caricature. No. 3, The abolition catastrophe. Or the November smash-up'. (1864) via Library of Congress, used w/o permission.
A hot button issue: “The abolition catastrophe. Or the November smash-up”. (1864)

It’s been 16 decades since decent Americans told Abraham Lincoln that his remarks about slavery were political liabilities.

They were, arguably, right. But so was he.

Slavery is a bad idea and we shouldn’t do it. People aren’t property. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2414)

Lincoln was re-elected, despite his divisive rhetoric. Slavery, as it existed before 1863, is no longer part of our culture.

But America still isn’t a perfectly perfect country.

On the ‘up’ side, I haven’t run across activists demanding reparations for families victimized by the Confiscation Act of 1862 and the Thirteenth Amendment. Or a candidate promising that, if elected, he or she will revoke the Emancipation Proclamation.1

That sort of thing lets me hope that 16 decades from now, most Americans will think that human beings are people. Even human beings who are too young, too sick, or too old, to defend themselves.

We do learn. Slowly, sometimes, but we do learn.

Obligations

Charles Dudley Arnold's photo of Chicago Expo 1893; Court of Honor, Columbia fountain.On the whole, I like being an American. That’s partly because I think my country is a very great deal more than our politicians and bureaucrats.

I’m also a Catholic. I take my faith seriously, so how I see the world, and what I think is important, isn’t entirely determined by my native culture’s mores.

I think that I should act as if loving God, and my neighbors, matters. And that everybody is my neighbor. (Matthew 5:43–44, 7:12, 22:36–40, Mark 12:28–31; 10:25–27, 29–37; Catechism, 1789)

I’m also obliged to do what’s possible in public life. That includes recognizing humanity’s solidarity and respecting authority. Within reason. (Catechism, 1778, 1915, 1897-1917, 1939-1942, 2199, 2238-2243)

Loving my country is another obligation. Again, within reason. Letting love of country slop over into worship of country is a bad idea. A very bad idea. (Catechism, 2112-2114, 2199, 2239)

Loving my country doesn’t take much effort. Usually. I don’t even mind voting. I think it’s a pretty good way of getting citizen feedback.

But I do not think our system is the only ‘correct’ form of government. Different cultures and eras have different needs and preferences. That’s okay. Provided that the system follows natural law: ethical principles that apply to every time and place. (Catechism, 1915, 1957-1958)

Prayer and Perspective

John Hambrock's 'The Brilliant Mind Of Edison Lee'. (November 7, 2016) used w/o permission.Again, I think voting makes sense.

For one thing, it’s a fairly effective mechanism for getting citizen feedback.

For another, it encourages those in authority to keep folks like me in mind while they do their jobs.

And since I can vote, as a Catholic I’m obliged to provide feedback that may help the common good.

One more thing.

There’s a prayer in my daily routine — it’s in last week’s post2 — that mentions “…this most critical time…”.

Maybe whoever wrote the prayer meant “most” as a synonym for “very”. But I kept perceiving “most” as “surpassing all others” or “supreme”. So when it’s just me doing that prayer, I say “…this critical time…”.

I know there have been other “critical” times in my country’s history, and figure there will be more in our future. I’m not entirely convinced that today’s mess is the worst we’ve experienced to date. And I sure don’t know what will be happening next.

Maybe I’m being overly-cautious. And that’s another topic.

At any rate, I’ve shared what I believe, and why it matters, before:

1 Hot button issues of 1860s America:

2 A tip of the hat to Fr. Greg, for letting me post this transcript:

Posted in Being a Citizen, Being Catholic | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

“Dilexit nos”: New Encyclical From Pope Francis 0 (0)

Posted on October 24, 2024 by Brian H. Gill

From my Google News feed, 'Picks for you'. ('...Google News shows some content in a personalized way. Personalization helps Google News quickly and easily show you stories that interest you....') (October 24, 2024)My interests are eclectic.

So is what my Google News feed puts in my “Picks for you” section.

This morning (Thursday, October 24, 2024), I noticed an AP headline about Pope Francis denouncing something: “Pope Francis denounces a world ‘losing its heart’ in 4th encyclical of his papacy”.

I could have checked out what AP says the pope said, but long experience tells me that I’ll learn more about what a pope — or anyone else — said by reading or hearing what they actually said.

So I went to the Vatican website, and took a look at this new encyclical:

And, good news for me, Vatican.va has “Dilexit nos” in my native language, English.

The encyclical — no surprises here — uses scholarly language. It’s also, for my taste, on the long side. A quick check told me that it runs upwards of 27,400 words. Here’s a sample:

“Dilexit nos” [“He loved us”]
Pope Francis (October 24, 2024)

“…WHAT DO WE MEAN BY ‘THE HEART’?

“3. In classical Greek, the word kardía denotes the inmost part of human beings, animals and plants. For Homer, it indicates not only the centre of the body, but also the human soul and spirit. In the Iliad, thoughts and feelings proceed from the heart and are closely bound one to another. [2] The heart appears as the locus of desire and the place where important decisions take shape. [3] In Plato, the heart serves, as it were, to unite the rational and instinctive aspects of the person, since the impulses of both the higher faculties and the passions were thought to pass through the veins that converge in the heart. [4] From ancient times, then, there has been an appreciation of the fact that human beings are not simply a sum of different skills, but a unity of body and soul with a coordinating centre that provides a backdrop of meaning and direction to all that a person experiences.

“4. The Bible tells us that, ‘the Word of God is living and active… it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart’ (Heb 4:12). In this way, it speaks to us of the heart as a core that lies hidden beneath all outward appearances, even beneath the superficial thoughts that can lead us astray. The disciples of Emmaus, on their mysterious journey in the company of the risen Christ, experienced a moment of anguish, confusion, despair and disappointment. Yet, beyond and in spite of this, something was happening deep within them: ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road?’ (Lk 24:32).

“5. The heart is also the locus of sincerity, where deceit and disguise have no place. It usually indicates our true intentions, what we really think, believe and desire, the ‘secrets’ that we tell no one: in a word, the naked truth about ourselves. It is the part of us that is neither appearance or illusion, but is instead authentic, real, entirely ‘who we are’. That is why Samson, who kept from Delilah the secret of his strength, was asked by her, ‘How can you say, “I love you”, when your heart is not with me?’ (Judg 16:15). Only when Samson opened his heart to her, did she realize ‘that he had told her his whole secret’ (Judg 16:18).

“6. This interior reality of each person is frequently concealed behind a great deal of ‘foliage’, which makes it difficult for us not only to understand ourselves, but even more to know others: ‘The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse, who can understand it?’ (Jer 17:9). We can understand, then, the advice of the Book of Proverbs: ‘Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life; put away from you crooked speech’ (4:23-24). Mere appearances, dishonesty and deception harm and pervert the heart. Despite our every attempt to appear as something we are not, our heart is the ultimate judge, not of what we show or hide from others, but of who we truly are. It is the basis for any sound life project; nothing worthwhile can be undertaken apart from the heart. False appearances and untruths ultimately leave us empty-handed.

“7. As an illustration of this, I would repeat a story I have already told on another occasion. ‘For the carnival, when we were children, my grandmother would make a pastry using a very thin batter. When she dropped the strips of batter into the oil, they would expand, but then, when we bit into them, they were empty inside. In the dialect we spoke, those cookies were called “lies”… My grandmother explained why: “Like lies, they look big, but are empty inside; they are false, unreal”‘. [5]

“8. Instead of running after superficial satisfactions and playing a role for the benefit of others, we would do better to think about the really important questions in life. Who am I, really? What am I looking for? What direction do I want to give to my life, my decisions and my actions? Why and for what purpose am I in this world? How do I want to look back on my life once it ends? What meaning do I want to give to all my experiences? Who do I want to be for others? Who am I for God? All these questions lead us back to the heart….”

I’m planning on reading the whole thing. Later.

Today, I just skipped down to the last few paragraphs:

“Dilexit nos” [“He loved us”]
Pope Francis (October 24, 2024)

“…218. In a world where everything is bought and sold, people’s sense of their worth appears increasingly to depend on what they can accumulate with the power of money. We are constantly being pushed to keep buying, consuming and distracting ourselves, held captive to a demeaning system that prevents us from looking beyond our immediate and petty needs. The love of Christ has no place in this perverse mechanism, yet only that love can set us free from a mad pursuit that no longer has room for a gratuitous love. Christ’s love can give a heart to our world and revive love wherever we think that the ability to love has been definitively lost.

“219. The Church also needs that love, lest the love of Christ be replaced with outdated structures and concerns, excessive attachment to our own ideas and opinions, and fanaticism in any number of forms, which end up taking the place of the gratuitous love of God that liberates, enlivens, brings joy to the heart and builds communities. The wounded side of Christ continues to pour forth that stream which is never exhausted, never passes away, but offers itself time and time again to all those who wish to love as he did. For his love alone can bring about a new humanity.

“220. I ask our Lord Jesus Christ to grant that his Sacred Heart may continue to pour forth the streams of living water that can heal the hurt we have caused, strengthen our ability to love and serve others, and inspire us to journey together towards a just, solidary and fraternal world. Until that day when we will rejoice in celebrating together the banquet of the heavenly kingdom in the presence of the risen Lord, who harmonizes all our differences in the light that radiates perpetually from his open heart. May he be blessed forever.”

Based on that very quick and superficial glance, I’ll guess that at least part of what Pope Francis is saying is that my heart — who I am, really, down past the “foliage” — matters: and that the latest software, movies, and slogans — aren’t nearly as important.

And, since the universe isn’t all about me, I figure that this is true for everyone else, too.

But like I said, I haven’t read the whole thing, much less studied it. I probably will, since my very quick and superficial glance was just that.

Although previous experience strongly suggests that I won’t find much more than a topical focus on what the Church has been saying for the last two millennia. Which I boil down to ‘I should love God, love my neighbor, and see everyone as my neighbor’.

White House Photographer Chuck Kennedy's photo: Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.; then-President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton walk past the statue of President Lincoln. (August 28, 2013)I’ve talked about what the pope says, what I read in the news, and making sense, before:

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