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Nearly a year after learning he had been selected to shepherd the Phoenix faithful, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted has been elected chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Priestly Formation. The Phoenix bishop was selected by his peers during last month’s biannual bishops’ meeting in Washington, D.C. Bishop Olmsted, who is currently a consultant to the priestly formation committee, will officially begin his three-year term as chair during the U.S. bishops’ meeting in November 2005. He succeeds Bishop John C. Nienstedt of New Ulm, Minn. “The future of the Church very much depends on our young people, our young people...

J+M+J Our Bishop Writes:The responsibility to have a well informed faith life Bishop Robert J. Carlson Diocese of Sioux Falls Within the past few weeks at least two people proclaiming membership in the Catholic Church wrote letters to the editor to daily newspapers presenting flawed thinking on the Catholic teaching of abortion and their particular political beliefs. As their bishop, I have no choice but to respond to their public action. As people of faith, we are called to be in an intimate and personal relationship with Jesus Christ, accepting him as Lord and Savior. Only then will our hearts...

First Significant UK formation of 2004 spotted On May 3, near Deacon Hill in Bedfordshire, UK, the first significant formation of the year has been spotted in a flowering field of oil seed rape. The formation is similar in design to the 2003 Locust Grove, Ohio formation that appeared close to the Serpent Mound earthwork. Although it has been raining rather steadily, since being spotted, the formation has been inspected, and there have been some details that have emerged which may indicate the formation may be not have been a human mechanically-made one.

Peering into a giant molecular cloud in the Milky Way galaxy - known as W49 - astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) have discovered a whole new population of very massive newborn stars. This research was presented at the International Astronomical Union's 25th General Assembly held in Sydney, Australia, by ESO-scientist Joao Alves. With the help of infrared images obtained during a period of excellent observing conditions with the ESO 3.5-m New Technology Telescope (NTT) at the La Silla Observatory (Chile), the astronomers looked deep into this molecular cloud and discovered four massive stellar clusters, with hot and energetic...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 April 7 NGC 281: Cluster, Clouds, and Globules Credit & Copyright: Jean-Charles Cuillandre (CFHT), Hawaiian Starlight, CFHT Explanation: NGC 281 is a busy workshop of star formation. Prominent features include a small open cluster of stars, a diffuse red-glowing emission nebula, large lanes of obscuring gas and dust, and dense knots of dust and gas in which stars may still be forming. The open cluster of stars...

The first formal meeting of the Central Palm Beach County Republican Club will meet Monday, April 7, at 7 P.M. at the Lantana Recreation center on Dixie Highway. This is an important meeting. We need a club badly in Boynton Beach, Lantana, Lake Worth, Green Acres, Atlantis and surrouding areas. Contact Howard Solomon at fl.realtor@worldnet.att.net

Optional caption contest: Special Forces op measures temperature of Saddam Hussein's hemorrhoids following precision munitions strike

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 February 8 AB Aurigae: How To Make Planets Credit: C.A. Grady (NOAO, NASA/GSFC), et al., NASA Explanation: This enhanced Hubble Space Telescope image shows in remarkable detail the inner portion of the disk of dust and gas surrounding the star AB Aurigae. Knots of material, visible here for the first time, may well represent an early stage of a process which could result in the formation of...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 January 27 BHR 71: Stars, Clouds, and Jets Credit & Copyright: J. Alves (ESO), E. Tolstoy (Groningen), R. Fosbury (ST-ECF), & R. Hook (ST-ECF), VLT Explanation: What is happening to molecular cloud BHR 71? Quite possible, a binary star system is forming inside. Most stars in our Galaxy are part of binary star systems, but few have ever been seen in formation. Recent observations of dust-darkened Bok...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 November 28 The Supermassive Black Holes of NGC 6240 Credit: Optical: R.P.van der Marel & J.Gerssen (STScI), NASA;X-ray: S.Komossa & G.Hasinger (MPE) et al., CXC, NASA Explanation: The Hubble optical image on the left shows NGC 6240 in the throes of a titanic galaxy - galaxy collision 400 million light-years away. As the cosmic catastrophe plays out, the merging galaxies spew forth distorted tidal tails of stars,...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 November 21 Starburst Galaxy M94 Credit & Copyright: Hillary Mathis & N.A.Sharp (NOAO), AURA, NSF Explanation: What could cause the center of M94 to be so bright? Spiral galaxy M94 has a ring of newly formed stars surrounding its nucleus, giving it not only an unusual appearance but also a strong interior glow. A leading progenitor hypothesis holds that an elongated knot of stars known as a...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 July 4 Young Star Clusters in an Old Galaxy Credit T. H. Puzia (Sternwarte Munich), S E. Zepf (Yale / Michigan State) et al., ESO, ESA, NASA Explanation: Elliptical galaxy NGC 4365 is old, probably about 12 billion years old. Like most elliptical galaxies, this galaxy was thought to be full of old stars too, its burst of star forming activity having long since ended. But combining...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 March 25 An Unusual Globule in IC 1396 Credit & Copyright: Jean-Charles Cuillandre (CFHT), Hawaiian Starlight, CHFT Explanation: Is there a monster in IC 1396? Known to some as the Elephant's Trunk Nebula, parts of gas and dust clouds of this star formation region may appear to take on foreboding forms, some nearly human. The only real monster here, however, is a bright young star too far...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 March 13 LL Orionis: When Cosmic Winds Collide Credit: Hubble Heritage Team (AURA / STScI), C. R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt), NASA Explanation: This arcing, graceful structure is actually a bow shock about half a light-year across, created as the wind from young star LL Orionis collides with the Orion Nebula flow. Adrift in Orion's stellar nursery and still in its formative years, variable star LL Orionis produces a...