This blog is named after Fr. Federico Faura, S.J., the Jesuit priest who invented the Faura aneroid for predicting Philippine typhoons. Because of his success, the Spanish government in Manila created in 1884 the Observatorio de Manila or the Manila Observatory.
I work here at the Ionosphere Building of the Manila Observatory, under the supervision of Fr. Daniel J. McNamara, S.J. This building used to be under Fr. Victor Badillo, S.J. But since he is now in his 80′s and stays mostly in the Jesuit Infirmary, I was asked to man the place and do what I can. I am currently taking care of the FM-CW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) radar of SERC (Space Environment Research Center). This radar measures vertical electron velocities and virtual heights of the ionosphere. The data is logged in a computer and sent to Japan. I am currently studying how to interpret these data to determine the ionosphere’s electron density profiles as a function of height.
I am not a Jesuit, but I admire Jesuits, especially Fr. Christopher Clavius, S.J. and other Jesuit astronomers whose names are etched on lunar maps–lunatics they are, indeed. I am not an experimentalist and I am allergic to machines. I am only a theoretical physicist with an interest on the ionosphere. But because of the SERC radar, I am now learning how to be an experimentalist and a programmer.
I envision this blog to be a repository of my thoughts while working here at the ionosphere building. Sometimes, I shall blog the scientific exploits of Jesuits in general and of those who stayed at the Manila Observatory in particular. Read and enjoy.
This blog is under the patronage of St. Albert the Great, patron of scientists, and St. Robert Bellarmine, doctor of the church.
