Praising the Lord from my island-universe
Folks, back in my childhood, when Pluto was still a planet, I was taught and learned to appreciate that we live in a large conglomerate of stars called “The Galaxy” or the “Milky Way,” one of billions of “island-universes” we find strewn throughout the cosmos. I also learned that we were a “spiral galaxy” much like our neighbor, the M31 galaxy in Andromeda. From afar, I learned, we might look like it:
Or we might look like “the whirlpool galaxy,” M33:
It was then when I became aware of the existence of “barred spiral” galaxies, so-called because they show a bar structure across its center diameter, much like the one below, number 1300 in the New Galaxy Catalog (NGC1300):
Click on the previous image to make it larger and appreciate it fully.
I appreciated the beauty of these objects and often wondered how it would be like to live in one of them, to have our sun circle the core of such a beautiful, almost ethereal shape. How would I feel. would I feel any different?
Well, as you know, knowledge advances in trickles and torrents and now that Pluto is no longer a planet, observations by the Spitzer Space Telescope in 2005 backed up previously collected evidence that suggested the Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy. Observations by radio telescopes had for years suggested our galaxy to be barred, but Spitzer's vision in the infrared region of the spectrum has provided a more definite calculation, according to the Wikipedia.
I feel a tad displaced in the universe at this finding, but perhaps, that sense of displacement proceeds from other reasons, I don’t know. My loves, my ideals, my certainties and uncertainties have not changed at this new awareness. I have to say this, though: from my heart springs a hymn of awe and thanksgiving to God for the gift of our creation and our very selves.
Holy, Holy, Holy,
Lord God of Hosts,
the heavens and the earth
are full of your glory!
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2 comments:
Very beautiful!! bob mckissick
Hi Theo -
Thank you for sharing such beautiful pictures of our galaxy - I remember Pluto as a planet too and still think it is! I share your sense of awe and wonderment of the skies and love to stargaze. Here are some thoughts of mine:
God throughout the Bible has given us signs and wonders. The three wise men saw "His" star in the East and were guided to Jesus by it. A blood red moon is a sign to the Jews and usually falls near or on Passover. Jesus predicted signs in the sun, moon and stars. The Bible says "the final generation" shall not see death, but be changed "in a twinkling of an eye" and be drawn up.
Your pictures look like the descriptions of many who have had near death experiences, where they all describe the light that they are drawn into in a tunnel - is it a portal to the heavens?
So many cultures seem to have seen the period of time that we are living in as a period of great change. The prophets spoke about it, the American Indians, The Chinese, The Indian culture, the Mayans, and of course, most importantly, Jesus spoke of a specific period of time in history when we would witness unprecedented change. Whether this is the period that was spoken of, I do not know, but Jesus said "when these signs are near, you will know that I am at the door," and "look up", for your redemption drawth nigh". He did not say ignore signs in the sun, moon and stars.
The Mayans saw 2012 as pivotal, that the earth would move into the center of the Milky Way lining up perfectly, which only happens every 26,000 years where they say the end of an age takes place, with another starting. Their accurateness in calendars going forward so far have been exact. There have been an increase in meteors coming down and caught on camera, especially in our mid-West. For an interesting website to keep up with changes, go to:
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php
Also, the Hubble is showing us great changes not previously seen before such as most recently, Jupiter losing one of its main rings in a short period of time.
God speaks to each of us and gives each of us different gifts. You have a keen gift of observation. Thanks for sharing it.
Linda Smith
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