So You Know Your a Little Spec of Nothing?
(Maybe this picture will help you see what the galactic center is... and where we are!)
So this weeks lesson is one of those which just makes you think. Its the lesson which always got me excited and has always made me appreciate wow... how Powerful an expression of Gods Power Creation is!
I was reminded that really a nice summation of all these facts was brought to the fore by TMBG back in the day, so for your listening pleasure, check this tune (2MB). So Just let me know if you end up singing this as a comment at a meeting... it would be quiet memorable... and highly unrecommended!.
But as for some other facts to share for the lesson this week
-Various Sun facts, listen to the above song
- The speed of light is such that you could travel around the earth 7.5 times in one second
-Galaxies are organized into clusters (we are in the cluster called The Local Group (really original eh?)) (There are 20 galaxies in our cluster, but some clusters have 10,000 galaxies). In a cluster the average distance between each galaxy is 10 galaxy diameters. Then these clusters are organized into super clusters. (At this point you should feel really small This site will help even more, or maybe make you feel big?).
-The amount of water that evaporates every year 100000 mi^3 is equivalent to: If the whole earth was covered in water, at a depth of 2.7 feet, that amount would evaporate.
-Rocket scientist Dr. Wernher von Braun (Father of NASA) stated: "The natural laws of the universe are so precise that we have no difficulty building a spaceship to fly to the moon and can time the flight with the precision of a fraction of a second. These laws must have been set by somebody."
-And finally I thought the description of Jupiter made it sound like the bug zapper of our solar system.
Comments
This is some pretty cool stuff. You should have made earth the actual size in the galaxy pic though - or the sun to give a better idea. It's amazing to think how vast our own solar system is, only to realize we're in one of the smaller systems of our galaxy - with one of the smaller stars. It really points to the strength and power God has. And then to think of the difference in time (the speeding up and slowing down at different points in space) and black holes and worm holes.... and everything else we don't know exists. And then thinking of the fact much of this exists at a molecular level.... and then to realize right now I'm in class learning about Holds, MMA's and account accrual..... great.... my mind is fried beyond belief......
Posted by: keats | May 11, 2004 09:46 AM
It was pointed out in one of our public talks that if a speck of the sun the size of a pinhead were placed here, you could not stand to be within 90 miles of it. That is like from where I live to Washington DC. Pretty intense. Or to quote my friend Jeremy, who is in Mexico right now and probably realizing this even more, "the sun is pretty... sunny."
Posted by: lizry | May 11, 2004 12:06 PM
Thanks for the interesting facts. I love that pic as well!! Way to be encouraging!!
Posted by: Ash | May 11, 2004 12:11 PM
Hey, that was my comment. I hope no one in my bookstudy sees this. . .The sun is a mass of incandescent gas/a virtual nuclear furnace.
Posted by: Javann Says: I'm A Idiot | May 11, 2004 01:20 PM
Where hydrogen is built into helium
At a temperature of millions of degrees
The sun, is hot, the sun is not
A place where we could live
But here on Earth there'd be no life
Without the light it gives
...and that was good stuff Javann gave me a laugh before the study!
Posted by: itzjerm | May 11, 2004 01:46 PM
Creation brings me into an ecstatic state where i comprehend how special we are to Jehovah and how much he loves us!
…….enjoyed the comparison of the precise movements of the celestial bodies to the art of an elaborate ballet
Beautiful!!
Posted by: Jillian | May 11, 2004 02:15 PM
Interesting! Especially cool was the tutorial, going from a view of the Milky Way(10 million light yrs. away)to a view of a single proton of the leaf of an oak tree. Awesome! In going over this weeks lesson, I couldn't help wondering: What is the purpose? All the planets, all the stars, all that space (which continues to grow or expand)...Isaiah 45:18 comes to mind."For this is what Jehovah has said, the Creator of the heavens, He the true God, the Former of the earth and the Maker of it, He the One who firmly established it,(And here comes the point)who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited..." Jehovah doesn't waste space. He doesn't cause to become, just because. He doesn't "create simply for nothing". If this is true for creation, then just as much, if not more so in the case of the Bible. Keeping this in mind, should help us to pay more than the usual attention and give more thought and meditation in our study of the Bible.
Posted by: browneyedgirl | May 11, 2004 02:24 PM
Big bang my eye. I love this stuff. Hey Jeremy, did you ever see a NOVA special from a few years ago (I know I'm stretching), it was called something along the lines of "Galaxy Killers." About this epic explosions that go through entire galaxies. The scientists interviewed said that if any of them were *just close enough* to the milky way we'd be burned to a crisp. Funny thing they all just happen to be really far away from us. Hmmmm. Wonder why?
Posted by: Dylan | May 11, 2004 03:44 PM
I should add, kudos to brown eyed girl on quoting Is 45:18. One of my faves to use whenever I encounter someone in the ministry who tries to tell me the earth is "...just a waystation before heaven" (as one householder recently put it). It also ties in beautifully with "your will be done...also upon the earth" of course.
Posted by: Dylan | May 11, 2004 03:47 PM
That is really neat. Get more pics like that for next time!
Posted by: Shulamitte Girl | May 11, 2004 08:56 PM
Okay - so i'm a little behind - but we just had that talk this month too ... actually my next goal is to fit inside a blue whale's blood vessel.
Posted by: esterliee | May 27, 2004 09:40 PM