July 2020, one of my first vignettes in Fridayswithwillis.com, was about the Constellation Orion. We can only speculate that the first human who gazed into the skies was awestruck. However, the Psalmist gives us a glimpse into human wonder at the immeasurable Universe.
Orion is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous and recognizable constellations in the night sky. It is named after Orion, a hunter in Greek mythology. (Space.com) On clear Spring nights in Northeast Atlanta (such as tonight as I write this), Orion beams brightly in the Southwest sky. When all other heavenly bodies are dimed, or cannot be seen for whatever reason Orion silently sings its silent sonata.
Even at 1,359 Light Years away from Earth, Orion is clearly visible to the naked eye. Monica Young, of “Sky & Telescope,” said that on the week of September 15, 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope gave us “…a clearer picture of the giant stellar nursery…” –The Orion Nebula. By way of this magnificent telescope, not only are we learning more about the Orion Nebula, but also hundreds of thousands more compositions (nebula, planets, galaxies…the list goes on) in the Universe.
The strongest affection and utmost zeal should, I think, promote the studies concerned with the most beautiful objects. This is the discipline that deals with the universe’s divine revolutions, the stars’ motions, sizes, distances, risings and settings . . . for what is more beautiful than heaven?”~Nicolaus Copernicus, Astronomer
Humankind from our beginning has always looked with wonder at the skies. Our ancestors, until fewer than a thousand years ago, thought the plane of Earth was a huge circle, physically bounded by the horizon; hovering over this plane was a dome, spangled with myriad lights—some of them gods or havens for gods—each controlling some aspect of life on earth. Astrologers tried to divine actions and plans attributed to those gods.
Astronomers, on the other hand, dug deeply into the science of the heavens. Even with their early instruments and observations, they laid much of the foundation of what became the first human landing on the moon; the James Webb Space Telescope, only confirms and expands their early discoveries. James Webb, NASA, and our Astronauts who walked on the Moon do not face Excommunication from their church, nor criminal prosecution from their government, as the first astronomers did: they are celebrated! Of course we cannot know for sure, but some speculate that the Star of Bethlehem, sought by the Wise Men of the East, may have seen the Orion Constellation.
Those early skygazers simply echo the Psalmist, looking into that vast unknown; it is almost as if they too ask, “… what am I, that you acknowledge me?” Maybe it was Orion and Pleiades that gave perspective to their lives. Jesus himself pointed out his listeners that God cares for and provides for us. Acknowledging our magnificent, massive universe did not escape notice by the fathers of our faith. The Book of Job extols the wonders of Orion, and the Pleiades. Not once but twice! The prophet Amos stands in awestruck wonder pondering the starry skies, having learned their names from his forebears. We gaze in wonder at the heavens, with our ever intensifying studies; we simply build on foundations and trails laid by those early stargazers.
©Copyright Willis H. Moore