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Saturn and Uranus
Let us take a break from the sublunary world of politics and its worries. This photograph of the night-side of Saturn and its rings, with the planet marvelously casting its shadow on the rings, a sight that is never seen from the earth, was taken by the Voyager spacecraft in 1980 as it headed past Saturn toward the outer solar system.
And here is an awe-inspiring photograph, taken recently by the Hubble Space Telescope, of the next planet out from the sun after Saturn, Uranus, the nearest and largest of the planets that are invisible to the naked eye, discovered by Sir William Herschel in the late eighteenth century using a reflecting telescope. The rotation axis of Uranus is tilted by 98 degrees from its orbital axis, so that, unlike all the other planets, Uranus rotates “on its side,” and its narrow rings are therefore oddly vertical instead of horizontal—which, by the way, nicely fits the astrological meaning of Uranus as the planet of originality and eccentricity.
As we look at these wondrous images, it is impossible to think of these planets as nothing but visually striking collections of dust and gas. They impress themselves on the human imagination as beings, beings of a higher order. Does it not seem likely then, if angels watch over each of us, that especially important angels guide each of the planets in its mysterious destiny? Comments
Yes, wouldn’t it be nice if we could spend our time on truly transcendent things in the universe, instead of on trying to fix man-made problems? Posted by: WA on January 31, 2004 6:28 PMMr. Auster may well be correct that angels guide the planets, like Lewis’s Oyarsa. In any case, it shows the remarkable creative hand of God. What a beautiful creation we are part of! Thanks to Mr. Auster for those pictures. Posted by: Joel LeFevre on January 31, 2004 9:44 PMCassini should be arriving at Saturn in just a few months now. Here is a recent picture of the planet taken by the probe: http://thrasymachus.typepad.com/thras/2004/01/saturn_image.html Posted by: Thrasymachus on January 31, 2004 11:31 PMI think it was C.S Lewis who also stated that the Lord was the greatest artist of all. What a wonderous sight it is. “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” - Psalm VIII: 3-4 Posted by: Carl on January 31, 2004 11:39 PMPsalm 19:1-6 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. |