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ANN ARBOR, Michigan – Jesuit Father Richard D'Souza finds fascinating halos.
Galactic halos, that is. Not the angelic variety.
It is fascinating for the astronomer at the Vatican Observatory that these halos of stars falling from one galaxy to another in collisions and fusions may provide clues to the history of this galaxy, which is in billions of years.
D'Souza, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan since 2016, studies the evolution of galaxies. He mainly focused on the neighbor of the Milky Way, the Andromeda galaxy, designated by M31 in the catalog of astronomical objects of the French comet hunter Charles Messier.
After months of painstaking research, D'Souza, 40, believes that he has contributed to the discovery of a key element in Andromeda's past.
In an article published last July in the journal Nature Astronomy, D & # 39; Souza and fellow astronomer of the University of Michigan, Eric Bell, have hypothesized that M31 had cannibalized what, there at about 2 billion years ago, was the third largest member of the local group – a group of galaxies, including our Milky Way and Andromeda, traveling together in the universe and interacting in time.
The two astronomers – who have a warm friendship and a professional relationship that dates back to the early 2000s when they studied at the University of Heidelberg in Germany – suggested that the Andromeda halo shows signs that another Messier object, M32, was devoured by the more massive M31. over a period of about 3 billion to 4 billion years.
D'Souza discovered clues in the Andromeda halo, discovering stars with a higher proportion of metallicity – heavier elements than hydrogen and helium – which corresponds to the chemical composition of stars in the remnants of M32.
Drawing on simulations of galaxy collisions and analyzing data for months, D'Souza and Bell have developed a paper outlining the likelihood that the very large M31 will eat essentially the smallest M32 – that's all the time. they called M32p, which means that the precursor – spits out its galactic core, which continues to orbit Andromeda.
The idea has captivated the imagination of mainstream media, who have largely recounted their hypothesis, but not so much in the astronomical community, D'Souza said. Catholic Information Service in an interview in the office, he shares with other researchers. Some astronomers who study M31 liked the idea and understood the research that led to this hypothesis; others have clearly been frowned upon.
"I have lectured on this in various departments (astronomy)," D'Souza said. "Once they saw the evidence, they said to themselves," Wow, that's great. "Until then, they have not seen them."
Bell said that the reaction was of little importance, but that the process of developing the document offered the opportunity to work closely with D'Souza, while learning many things along the way, it was the best result of the collaboration.
Whatever the reaction, the paper was used to spread more widely the name D'Souza. It's good for an astronomical career, said Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, director of the Vatican Observatory.
"Now he is pretty well established in the research to be able to do it anywhere," said Consolmagno.
This is exactly what awaits us for D'Souza, who is nearing the end of his three-year stay in Michigan. In June, he will visit the headquarters of the Vatican Observatory in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, to join a small team of astronomers. He plans to learn Italian while continuing his work on galactic evolution.
As a young student in India, D'Souza was interested in science and even mentioned to one of his Jesuit superiors guiding his novitiate that he wanted to work at the Vatican Observatory. This dream will not become reality until 2016, when Consolmagno will appoint him to the staff and offer to support his postdoctoral work in Michigan.
"It's someone we've known for 20 years," said Consolmagno CNS. "He is brilliant. He is one of the smartest guys we've met in a long time. "
Despite his love for astronomy, D'Souza discovered that it was his pastoral duty as a priest who nourished his soul.
In Ann Arbor, D'Souza celebrates weekend Mass at St. Mary's Parish, a few blocks from the campus. He stated that he was immersed in the preparation of the liturgy, spending hours writing meaningful homilies.
"I learned here in Ann Arbor that my biggest support system was actually the parish," D'Souza said. "What I found, at least in St. Mary's, was very difficult to preach on Sunday because you could not do your homily in a hurry. You had to think, you had to excite, you had to make sense of reality: what's going on in the world, what's going on in American politics. "
Born in 1978 to a Catholic family in Pune, western Goa, D'Souza grew up in Kuwait, where his parents, Joseph and Mary, had emigrated for work. They raised their sons, Christopher and Richard, in an Indian neighborhood where parents controlled their children because the freedom of the Indians was restricted.
In 1990, in the run-up to the US-led Gulf War, the D'Souzas fled Kuwait with thousands of other Indians, spending three weeks in a refugee camp in Jordan before returning to their homeland . "It was a bit traumatizing. You lose everything. You take two, three bags, "D'Souza said.
He enrolled at St. John's School in Britto, run by a Jesuit, who owes his name to a Portuguese missionary and martyr. There, the future priest was initiated to the Jesuit charism and captivated by the missionary history of the order. He joined the Jesuit novitiate at age 17 after graduation.
The young D'Souza quickly realized that many Jesuits were involved in the daily activities of the ministry instead of the enthusiasm he imagined to be a missionary. "Soon, I realized that they were not lying in their story," he said. CNS. "I realized that there was the potential to make the extraordinary."
Three months after the beginning of his novitiate, D'Souza's older brother died after contracting a rare form of malaria. "I felt the pain of my parents," he said. But they insisted that he continue on the path that he has chosen.
Throughout his training that led to his ordination in December 2011, D'Souza pursued physics studies at Saint-Xavier University in Mumbai, India, and the University of Heidelberg, Germany. He also holds a BA in Philosophy and Theology, which helped him prepare for the priesthood, as well as a Ph.D. in astronomy obtained in 2016.
Part of his priesthood preparation work involved India, where he founded and ran a short-term community college in Belgaum, India, and set up a theology program at the University of California. intention of the parishioners of Goa.
D'Souza sees his next appointment at the Vatican Observatory as a valuable addition to his priestly vocation. In both areas, he sees a call to seek meaning and understanding of God's creation, he said.
And he sees no conflict in the two roles for which he was called.
"We are looking for something beyond us," he said, citing Jesuit father Karl Rahner. "The most transcendental thing you can have is God. … Astronomy is the most transcendent of sciences and yet the most physical, and it is perhaps the reason why it has long fascinated everyone in history. "
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