Astronomy buffs will want to lower their eyes from the heavens tonight long enough to hear a lecture on the relationship between science and religion by a Harvard professor of astronomy and history of science.

Professor Owen Gingerich, an Iowa native and senior astronomer at the Smithsonian Institution Astrophysical Observatory, will give his lecture titled “Circles of the Gods: Copernicus, Kepler, and the Ellipse” at 8 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.

Gingerich is a nationally recognized authority on the relationship between the history of science and religion as well as the current relationship between science and religion, said David Wilson, an ISU professor of history, mechanical engineering and philosophy.

Gingerich was interviewed by national public radio after the Hubbell telescope discoveries last fall, Wilson said.

The lecture will include discussions about the proposed sun center system of Copernicus, the accepting of ellipse movement rather than circular rotation around the sun by Kepler, and thoughts on connections between religion and astronomy, Wilson said.

Wilson said although specific information about Comet Hale Bopp will not be part of Gingerich’s discussion, he is observing the comet and will answer questions about it at the end of the presentation.