Cosmic Deities

Last night I watched a special on the 4 outer planets of the Solar System. I had randomly taken an Astrology class last summer just for the sake of my keen interest in the cosmos, and to keep me out of trouble. I really wanted to take the viewing portion where you go up in a tower and view planets and constellations and write reports about their movements in orbit etc. However, I learned that the viewing class had a pre-requisite and I had to take the lecture first. I signed up right away.
I am so amazed sometimes about how much we know of the cosmos and the planet Earth, but even more so I get taken back by how little we know. To take that a step further, how much we will never know.
The special I watched was the Voyager project that NASA did in 1977. By that particular time we had landed the moon, put a dog and monkey up into the unknown and moved leaps and bounds to new discoveries. However, by the late 70's we really didn't know much of anything of the outer planets in our solar system, besides some blurred images of the four outer planets: Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. We knew nothing of the surface of the planets, the atmoshpere, there was very little detail in any pictures to make an educated guess as to how they functioned. Afterall, Jupiter is located 5 times further than the sun than Earth and Earth (us) are a whoppin 93 million miles from the sun. So take 93 million X 5 and, well, its really astronomical to think about, but that's how far you have to travel to reach Jupiter. (And by the way, a light year is about 5.7 tillion miles, so imagine in today's world how we talk about a planet that's 42 light years away.)
There was a genius guy by the name of Ed Stone. ( so think, might want to google that ...) and he started looking at the planets and their rotations around the sun. He realized in 1972 that those four outer planets would be in alignment on the same side of the sun on a particular day. If they ( NASA) could plan it just right, they could use the trajectory of the planets to swivel around one another picking up images NEVER seen before. In 1977, their launch became a success and this idea worked and yielded results truly beyond any one's wildest imagination. And they launched not one but two.
They discovered Jupiter has a gaseous surface but actually radiates heat because the core is made of gas that is so dense that it is a liquid. They discovered the moons of Jupiter are intricate and could have bodies of water lying beneath the surface. Furthermore, that all of Jupiter's moon are radically diff rent in their own rite.

They saw clearly the rings of Saturn and what they are made of, and even the rotation of the dust, meteors and patterns in the rotations. They even noticed little smaller moons called Shepard's that surround the rings of matter in orbit around the planet.
When they reached Uranus was flabbergasted at that the polars of the planet were made of frozen nitrogen.

Watching these scientist reactions of the first glimpses of these clearer images of the planets was incredibly moving.

Here is a glimpse:

* you will have to copy paste, sorry new blogger I am

http://science.discovery.com/videos/the-planets-giants-saturns-rings.html




And that is only in the realms of our own galaxy. The Voyager then transcended into interstellar space and is still out there projecting images far, far, far beyond our lil Milky Way.

After watching this, I went to bed thinking this:
Knowledge is endless. Time is relevant to our perception. Possibilities are endless. The Unknown is endless. Discovery is endless.
Most importantly, life is precious. There is so much out there to know and understand, and yet we are all very connected to. Afterall, we are made of the same energy and components of the stars and more.

We are small and so fragile. Saturns rings will continue to orbit, Jupiter will continue to have wind storms in hundreds to thousands miles per hour, we may never know what the core of Neptune is made of. We will NEVER know it all. So appreciate your life everyday. Don't hold back in life. Go for it. Let wonder carry you away into a blissful imagination of a child. You never know whatever you conjour up, it could exist somewhere.
Life is precious and we are all special and unique , but small for the keeping. Respect our wonderful Earth and be thankful that the conditions are just right for us to exist with water, sunlight, gravity, an atmosphere, and a magnetic field.
Overflow with gratitude for the Sun and the natural energy and light it supports from our entire Solar System to giving your body vitamin D to feeling the sun on your back on a chilly day. One day the helium and hydrogen will burn and our beloved Sun will be black hole. But it will not happen today or tommorrow or even a couple millions of years.
So gaze at the stars, make wishes on them. I make wish on stars, clouds, raindrops, my dreams, all the time. (One time I realized I was accidentally wishing on Jupiter.) Watch a sunset and gaze (with SPF protection glasses on) at the wonderment for the moment you are in. Share that moment with someone. You never know what will be discovered tomorrow. Until then, swim in the knowledge that surrounds you. Swim in the minscule notion that we are small and precious. Swim with an unforsaking heart that you are here now.

(Oh and by the way, I still have not taken the viewing portion of the class. I still need to do that. I have a telescope gifted to me by my friend Kore, however, I really don't know how to operate it. )