Lately I’ve been reading Indescribable by Louie Giglio and Matt Redman (1). Jam-packed with mind-blowing photos of near and distant stars, constellations, nebulas and galaxies; it explores the glory of God in the beauty of the universe – and the more I learn, the smaller I feel.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course… We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead, the stars come out every night and we watch television. (2)
It’s true the stars can be ignored.
But it’s also true they can lead us to wonder… and to their Maker.
Now more than ever, there are heaps of TV options to distract me – just about any movie or show is streamable, and the last decade has seen an arguable improvement in production, writing, acting, photography, art direction etc. The sheer volume of new material has mushroomed into a galaxy of ‘good seeing’ options.
“Good seeing” is astronomy jargon. The twin Keck telescopes located at 4,145m (13,600 feet) on Hawaii’s dormant, Mauna Kea volcano provide “good seeing” almost every night of the year. For astronomers, the words good seeing bode well. While scientists believe that, as earth dwellers, we inhabit one of the best platforms from which to observe space, many factors hamper our view; namely our own atmosphere. This unique, life supporting band of wonder that makes our very existence possible also distorts our view of the heavens and at times clouds our view altogether.
One of the twin Keck telescopes located at 4,145m (13,600 feet) on Hawaii’s dormant, Mauna Kea volcano.
Science writer and historian Robert Zimmerman describes the predicament: “Dependent as we humans are on eyesight, the atmosphere essentially left us blind to the heavens. We were like a nearsighted man before the invention of eyeglasses. We could squint and strain and maybe make a guess at what we were looking at, but to actually perceive the reality of the universe in all its glory was nigh on impossible.” (3)
For decades, those thinking outside the scope of their current technological limitations dreamed of a space-based telescope with a view unimpaired by atmospheric conditions. In 1946, one of the fathers of this movement, Lyman Spitzer, wrote that such a project would perhaps “modify profoundly our basic concepts of space and time.” (4)
What he and others envisioned became a reality in 1990 when NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope hitching a ride on space shuttle Discovery. It took its place orbiting 569 kilometres (353 miles) above Earth’s surface. Named after American astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889-1953), Hubble circles the globe every 97 minutes. It staked out a vantage point that would quickly revolutionize space observation and study. Since Hubble’s launch, writes Zimmerman, its “outpouring of spectacular images has been breathtaking and continuous. And with each new image the public has been given a better view of its place in the universe.”
Pillars of Creation in Messier 16 (Eagle Nebula): The aptly named Pillars of Creation, featured in this stunning Hubble image, are a small part of an active star-forming region within the Eagle Nebula and hide newborn stars in their wispy columns. This Nebula is located about 7,000 light years from Earth and spans 70 by 55 light years. The “pillars” themselves stretch roughly 4 to 5 light years. The blue colors in the image represent oxygen, red is sulfur, and green represents both nitrogen and hydrogen. Credits: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Vast Universe
Earth’s closest star, the Sun sits about 152 million kilometres (93 million miles) from us. In space terms this distance is very short. The distance from the Sun to the next closest star, Proxima Centauri, is 4.3 light years, or 270,000 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun. (5)
Q: How far is a light year?
A: 9,300,000,000,000 kilometres or 5,800,000,000,000 miles
A light-year is the distance light travels in one year. Light travels at 300,000 kilometres per second (186,000 miles per second). It’s so fast that a beam of light can circle Earth seven times in one second. Travelling nonstop for 365 days, light covers about 9.3 trillion kilometres (5.8 trillion miles). Just for reference, Earth is about eight light minutes from the Sun.
The Milky Way (where we live) is a collection of stars, swirling in a spiral through space. Based on the deepest images obtained so far, it’s one of about 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe. Groups of them are bound into clusters of galaxies, and these into superclusters; the superclusters are arranged in immense sheets stretching across the universe.
The Milky Way galaxy probably
contains 100 to 400 billion stars,
and is about 100,000 light-years across
That sounds huge, and it is, at least until we start comparing it to other galaxies. Our neighbouring Andromeda galaxy, for example, is some 220,000 light-years wide. Another galaxy, IC 1101, spans as much as 4 million light-years.
The relatively insignificant Milky Way Galaxy
is only one of hundreds of billions of other galaxies
in a universe that’s too big to fully map
But wait, there’s more! If you thought a light year was far out, think again. Astronomers typically measure the distances between neighbouring galaxies and galaxy clusters in megaparsecs (approximately 3,262,000 light years.) That’s a huge unit of measurement, but when astronomers need an even larger ruler; one gigaparsec = 3.262 billion light years, or roughly one fourteenth of the distance to the horizon of the observable universe.
How Big is Space? Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
To reduce the numbers of zeros when measuring the vast distances between stars and galaxies or the size of galaxies, astronomers use light speed which is measured in terms of time. Remember Light Speed = 300,000 kilometres per second.
The difference between a million, billion and trillion is not subtle, but staggering, a trillion being 1,000 x 1,000 million. There is a massive exponential difference between a billion and a trillion. To help put this in perspective, think about it in terms of seconds:
1 million seconds ago = 12 days ago
1 billion seconds ago = 31 years ago
1 trillion seconds ago = 29, 700 BC
Stars talk about God
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; and night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the end of the world.
Psalm 19:1-4 The Bible
The wonder of the universe is not only its magnificent beauty or size – but its masterful design. As astrophysicist Paul Davies writes, “The equations of physics have in them incredible simplicity, elegance and beauty. That in itself is sufficient to prove to me that there must be a God who is responsible for these laws and responsible for the universe.” (6) Nobel Laureate Arno Penzias echoes the same thinking:
Astronomy leads us to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing and delicately balanced to provide exactly the conditions required to support life. In the absence of an absurdly-improbable accident, the observations of modern science seem to suggest an underlying, one might say, supernatural plan. (7)
Our planetary home is blessed with the ideal conditions for life— and it cannot just be blind chance, for the odds are way too high. There are multiple parameters that scientists identify as essential to the existence of an orderly universe and to the possibility of life here on Earth. Take, for example, the Sun. If it were too far away, much of our water would freeze–too near, and it would boil. Were the Sun the wrong kind of radiation source, it wouldn’t be stable enough to allow survival. Were it bigger, its luminosity would change to rapidly, creating energy-radiation levels way too high for us. Though it’s such a violent figure in our solar system, the Sun’s relationship with Earth is just right to sustain life on our planet.
Sun and Earth size comparison.
Both the Sun and the Moon appear the same size in Earth’s sky because though the Sun is four hundred times larger than the moon, it is also four hundred times farther away. (8) In fact, the Moon is the perfect size to contribute to a habitable Earth. If the Moon were larger, it would cause Earth to tilt so far on its axis that the side facing the Sun would experience unbearable heat while the opposite side of Earth would know perpetual subzero winter. As it is, the Moon is just the right size to cause the Earth to tilt at a very acceptable 23.4 degrees, bringing both winter and summer to the planet. (9)
Moving on to Earth itself, it has just the right atmosphere—for if oxygen levels decreased by even a few percent, animals would not be able to breathe. A few percent more, and all plant life would be burned up. Add to this the fact that its size, gravitational pull, magnetic field, and the thickness of its crust are all “just right,” and we start to realise just how privileged a planet we live upon.
Yet, when it comes to a finely tuned universe, these examples are merely the tip of the cosmic iceberg. There are many more that further demonstrate the abundance of miraculous design all around us.
Throughout the Bible, God is credited as both Author and Sustainer of the universe. He is the One who spoke it into being, and the One who keeps everything in place. If you doubt any such “higher power” exists, or that they are responsible for the design of life itself, ask yourself this:
Who wrote my DNA code?
If you think this looks complex, try writing DNA.
Or for that matter who wrote a separate, unique DNA code for every other creature and plant on Earth? Can code code itself? Can a book write, illustrate and print itself? Can an app write itself? Your DNA code and how your body works is a trillion times more complicated than the most inventive or creative human achievement. Who or what could possibly be intelligent and powerful enough to write the code of life itself?
I AM
When Moses asked God for His name, the response was a surprising: "I AM WHO I AM… This is my name forever" (Exodus 3:14–15, The Bible).
This response set God apart from all the foreign gods the people may have known. This God is not limited to a first name or a specific domain. This God was not created by human hands nor named by human language. The statement "I AM" comes from the Hebrew verb "to be or to exist." With this statement, God declared that He is self-existent, eternal, self-sufficient, self-directed, and unchanging. But this statement also declared that He is present.
Moses would have been familiar with the names of dozens of Egyptian gods like Ra, Anubis, and Hathor, and also known the names of Canaanite gods like Baal and Asherah. Each of these foreign gods had a specific name and was associated with a specific domain. Ra was the god of the sun, Baal was the god of war, and so on.
From the statement "I AM WHO I AM" (spelled he, yod, he in Hebrew) in verse 14, God formed a holy proper name, Yahweh (spelled yod, he, vav, he in Hebrew), in verse 15. This name was considered so holy that it could not be spoken aloud or even written in its entirety. In fact, when a Jewish scribe copied the Scriptures and came to the holy name, he would set aside his quill and get a brand new one that would write only that name and then break the quill afterward so that no other word would ever flow from it. God's name Yahweh, from "I AM WHO I AM," always evokes the memory of the events recorded in Exodus of this faithful, wonder-working God being present with His people and showing His power on their behalf. (10)
Omega Nebula: A colour composite of the Omega Nebula (M17) made from exposures from the Digitised Sky Survey 2 (DSS2).
Credit: ESO/Digitised Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin.
“God,” declares the prophet Isaiah, “is the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity” (Isaiah. 57:15). But being a prophet and not a philosopher, Isaiah didn't pause to reflect upon the nature of divine eternity. In simple terms, to be eternal means to be without beginning and end. To say that God is eternal means that he never came into being and will never go out of being. To exist eternally is to exist permanently.
That said, there are at least two ways in which something could exist eternally. One way would be to exist omnitemporally—that is, at every point in time. On the other hand, a being could exist eternally, if such a being were altogether timeless; that is, a being which completely transcended time, which had no time-based location. Such a being would simply exist in a single, timeless “present.” Some biblical verses hint that God transcends time. For example, Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” It then goes on to describe his creation of the first day, the second, the third, and so on. The beginning envisioned by the author of Genesis may not simply be a beginning of the material universe, the cosmos, but a beginning of time itself. Now since God didn't begin to exist, this would imply that God, in some difficult-to-articulate way, existed beyond the beginning of time—beyond the commencement of time in the universe described in verse 1. (11)
Tarantula Nebula: Image ESA, NASA, ESO; Processing: Danny LaCrue
All stars die
Composed mostly of hydrogen gas, stars generate energy by combining hydrogen atoms into helium atoms through a process called fusion. The star slowly releases the resulting radiation from its core, providing the energy needed to sustain it (which allows the star to burn, or shine) for billions of years. Over time, a star exhausts its fuel and the star contracts, becoming a white dwarf on the order of most of the stars we see shining in the night sky. Eventually, the white dwarf will cool down and turn into a black dwarf, which has no light or heat. (12)
Red giant stars experience a more creative demise, shedding their outer layers of dust and gas in a round shape that resembles a planet when glimpsed in earthbound telescopes. However, when seen through Hubble’s superior lenses, these dust and gas clouds, called planetary nebulae, and other similar supernova remnants appear in random whimsical shapes composed of vibrant and varied colours.
Who knew that death could be such a glorious thing, producing some of the most mesmerizing spectacles in the heavens? Some of these stars are so massive and powerful that they stretch the limits of our ability to comprehend. For example, the Eagle Pillar Cloud (pictured below) is a cloud-like tower of gas stretching 9.5 light-years (about 57 trillion miles) above the Eagle Nebula. One of NASA’s most famous photos of this cloud is called “The Pillars of Creation.” This “pillar cloud” alone is just a tiny fraction of the entire nebula, though it’s many times the size of our entire solar system. (13)
Eagle Pillar Cloud: A gigantic cloud-like tower of gas stretching 9.5 light-years (about 57 trillion miles) above the Eagle Nebula. In the centre, the protrusions and bumps that jut out from the main body are roughly the size of our entire solar system. Credits: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Searching out the heavens, we see countless stars like our Sun, burning violently in a process of nuclear fusion. We encounter supernovas—massive stars in the throes of death—blazing even more extravagantly. During their final stages, these stars can shine brighter than an entire galaxy. We find neutron stars—so compacted and dense that scientists predict one teaspoon worth would weigh a billion tons. (14) Oh, and they can spin at speeds of up to six hundred revolutions per second! (15)
Whirlpool Galaxy: Located thirty-one million light-years from Earth, the Whirlpool Galaxy, known as the "darling of astronomy," gives us a nearly face-on view. This galaxy stands out from other spirals as a "grand design" galaxy, due to its clearly formed two spiral arms that swirl around the core. Inside each band, stars are formed as they move from the gaseous clouds along the inner edge, through red star-forming regions, to the brilliant blue star clusters. Image: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
You have purpose. You have value. You are loved.
Is the existence of life on Earth just a happy accident? Are all the mind-numbingly complex DNA codes, diverse creatures and plants, magnificent geology and marine environments, perfectly balanced eco-systems, precise mathematical order, constant laws of physics, repeating seasons, crazy beauty, sounds, smells and tastes that we love and enjoy, just a stroke of good luck? Can time; can millions, billions or even trillions of years give rise to these blessings without intentional, creative, generous and intelligent design? What started your heart beating before you were born and keeps it going now? What keeps you breathing second by second, year after year?
Can a space shuttle design, build and fly itself? If you’ve watched Stanley Kubrick’s film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, you’ll remember the film’s opening sequence, “The Dawn of Man,” where an ape is smashing skeletal remains. In slow-motion, the ape tosses a bone upward, the camera tracks up as the bone arcs, falls and transitions into a spacecraft. Imagine tossing a coin in the air—it peaks, falls and somehow transforms into an iPhone that drops back in your hand. What are the odds? Atheists and Evolutionists will tell you the odds are “pretty good,” provided you toss it high enough and wait long enough (a few million years). Truth is, no matter how long you wait, without external intelligence and action, the odds of creating life are zero.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke.
Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:26
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:1–14
For more information about who wrote your DNA (and why), watch “The Atheist Delusion” movie online (60min). See also “Evolution vs God” movie online (38min).
Footnotes
1. Louie Giglio and Matt Redman, Indescribable (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2011).
2. Paul Hawken, “Commencement Address to the Class of 2009, University of Portland, May 3, 2009.” https://www.commondreams.org/views/2009/05/23/paul-hawkens-commencement-address-class-2009
3. Robert Zimmerman, The Universe in a Mirror (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007), 7.
4. Lyman Spitzer; quoted in Carolyn Collins Petersen and John C. Brandt, Hubble Vision: Further Adventures with the Hubble Space Telescope (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 195.
5. NASA Imagine the Universe! “The Nearest Star System.” https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/features/cosmic/nearest_star.html
6. Paul Davies, Superforce (New York: Simon and Shuster, 1984), quoted in Walter Bradley, “Nature,” in Mere Creation: Science, Faith, and Intelligent Design, ed. William A. Dembski (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1998), 38.
7. Arno Penzias, quoted in Walter Bradley, The ‘Just So’ Universe: Fine-Tuning of Constants and Conditions in the Cosmos,” in Signs of Intelligence: Understanding Intelligent Design, eds. William Dembski and James Kushiner (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2001), 168.
8. Iain Nicolson, Unfolding Our Universe (New York: Cambridge University Press, 199), 2.
9. Ken Croswell, Magnificent Mars (New York: Free Press, 2003), 88.
10. https://www.compellingtruth.org/I-AM-WHO-I-AM-Exodus-3-14.html
11. https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/popular-writings/existence-nature-of-god/god-time-and-eternity1/
12. Theo Koupelis, In Quest of the Stars and Galaxies (Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett, 2011), 409.
13. NASA, “Eagle Nebula: Closeup,” Space Math, https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/weekly/6Page16.pdf
14. Neil F Comins, Discovering the Essential Universe (New York: W. H. Freeman, 2009), 232.
15. Max Camenzind, Compact Objects in Astrophysics: White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars, and Black Holes (Berlin: Springer, 2007), 270.