Pope's astronomer to speak at UC Merced

Guy Consolmagno, curator of the Vatican meteorite collection at Castel Gandolfo, Italy, one of the largest collections in the world, will speak at UC Merced from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday.

His talk, "Why Does the Pope Need an Astronomer?" is sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Education.

Consolmagno, who has worked at the Vatican Observatory since 1993, researched the connection between asteroids and meteorites. In honor of his work, an asteroid, Asteroid 4597 Consolmagno, was named after him.

Consolmagno received advanced degrees from MIT and Arizona State University in the areas of earth and planetary science before taking vows to become a Jesuit brother in 1991.