Astronomy's Big Year
I have been more interested lately in matters pertaining to the relationship of science and theology and I've finally started to do some reading in that regard. While this interest arose prior to my first study session at IBTS in Prague, my readings have nevertheless been stimulated by the course module given under the direction of Dr. Nancey Murphy, a Christian philosopher out of Fuller who focuses on issues relating to science. My current resource for reflection, which I have owned for some time but only just now started to examine, is The Sacred Cosmos: Christian Faith and the Challenge of Naturalism by the Thomist theologian Terence Nichols. Other interesting works have included Back to Darwin: A Richer Account of Evolution, edited by John B. Cobb, Jr., and Nancey Murphy's Beyond Liberalism and Fundamentalism.
On a broader intellectual level, meanwhile, my attention to matters scientific has, at least for the time being, emerged from a state of relative dormancy since childhood. And it seems an auspicious year to engage science - both generally as well as in relationship to the theological enterprise. 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of his publication of On the Origin of Species (on my birthday, no less!). Moreover, we Baptists aren't the only ones celebrating four hundred years. While John Smyth was rediscovering believers' baptism Galileo Galilei was tinkering with a new device called the telescope. He improved the magnification of this Dutch invention up to 30x and became the first person to dedicate its use to studying the heavens. In January 1610 Galileo discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter now called the "Galilean satellites." These were the first celestial objects not visible to the naked eye ever found, and his observations of their motion helped bring down the longstanding geocentric cosmology.
Odds are you aren't aware of this, and indeed I was late to the party, but the International Astronomical Union, the same group that voted Pluto out of the planetary club, has declared this anniversary to be the "International Year of Astronomy." The IAU's goals are what one would expect: increased science education centered on astronomy, public observing sessions or "star parties" that bring more people to the telescope eyepiece, and initiatives to combat light pollution's encroachment on dark skies.
I must say that I'm easily drawn into the celebration. I've always enjoyed the "big picture" perspective found in contemplating the vast scale and complexity of this universe God has made. Photographs of distant galaxies and nebulae are simply stunning and beautiful to behold. But beyond the Discovery Channel documentaries and the armchair stargazing, I think looking through the binoculars and the telescope to catch light from incomprehensible distances is a rewarding experience. On top of that, astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs can still make fairly significant contributions such as discovering and tracking asteroids and comets.
So I've been more intentionally rediscovering amateur astronomy over the past several weeks. I've wanted a telescope, off and on, for some time now. But while that has been put on my Christmas list, I've gone ahead and purchased a cheap pair of binoculars to begin familiarizing myself with the sky above and making "discoveries" of various objects.
How can one get more familiar with what's going on in astronomy, or learn about possibly taking it up as a hobby? Perhaps a good place to start would be listening to some podcasts, such as the 365 Days of Astronomy, a specifically IYA project, or the appropriately-named Astronomy Cast. Armchair stargazing knows no better place on the web than Astronomy Picture of the Day. Google, unsurprisingly, has taken things to the next level with the "Sky" feature of Google Earth that lets you fly around the night sky in an adventure of wasting time that far exceeds chasing a chain of Wikipedia links.
If you want to learn more about what it takes to get into amateur astronomy, and what one might expect, than one of the most informative locations will be the web site for Sky & Telescope magazine. But the best thing to do, so everyone says, is to see if you can find a local astronomy club near you and make a visit to one of their observing sessions. Don't drop the big ones until you have a sense for what it's like!
Or maybe the best thing to do is just drive out to the middle of nowhere, to a place where one can actually see the Milky Way and a sky littered with stars, then just sit on the hood of your car.
And start singing a hymn.
On a broader intellectual level, meanwhile, my attention to matters scientific has, at least for the time being, emerged from a state of relative dormancy since childhood. And it seems an auspicious year to engage science - both generally as well as in relationship to the theological enterprise. 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of his publication of On the Origin of Species (on my birthday, no less!). Moreover, we Baptists aren't the only ones celebrating four hundred years. While John Smyth was rediscovering believers' baptism Galileo Galilei was tinkering with a new device called the telescope. He improved the magnification of this Dutch invention up to 30x and became the first person to dedicate its use to studying the heavens. In January 1610 Galileo discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter now called the "Galilean satellites." These were the first celestial objects not visible to the naked eye ever found, and his observations of their motion helped bring down the longstanding geocentric cosmology.
Odds are you aren't aware of this, and indeed I was late to the party, but the International Astronomical Union, the same group that voted Pluto out of the planetary club, has declared this anniversary to be the "International Year of Astronomy." The IAU's goals are what one would expect: increased science education centered on astronomy, public observing sessions or "star parties" that bring more people to the telescope eyepiece, and initiatives to combat light pollution's encroachment on dark skies.
I must say that I'm easily drawn into the celebration. I've always enjoyed the "big picture" perspective found in contemplating the vast scale and complexity of this universe God has made. Photographs of distant galaxies and nebulae are simply stunning and beautiful to behold. But beyond the Discovery Channel documentaries and the armchair stargazing, I think looking through the binoculars and the telescope to catch light from incomprehensible distances is a rewarding experience. On top of that, astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs can still make fairly significant contributions such as discovering and tracking asteroids and comets.
So I've been more intentionally rediscovering amateur astronomy over the past several weeks. I've wanted a telescope, off and on, for some time now. But while that has been put on my Christmas list, I've gone ahead and purchased a cheap pair of binoculars to begin familiarizing myself with the sky above and making "discoveries" of various objects.
How can one get more familiar with what's going on in astronomy, or learn about possibly taking it up as a hobby? Perhaps a good place to start would be listening to some podcasts, such as the 365 Days of Astronomy, a specifically IYA project, or the appropriately-named Astronomy Cast. Armchair stargazing knows no better place on the web than Astronomy Picture of the Day. Google, unsurprisingly, has taken things to the next level with the "Sky" feature of Google Earth that lets you fly around the night sky in an adventure of wasting time that far exceeds chasing a chain of Wikipedia links.
If you want to learn more about what it takes to get into amateur astronomy, and what one might expect, than one of the most informative locations will be the web site for Sky & Telescope magazine. But the best thing to do, so everyone says, is to see if you can find a local astronomy club near you and make a visit to one of their observing sessions. Don't drop the big ones until you have a sense for what it's like!
Or maybe the best thing to do is just drive out to the middle of nowhere, to a place where one can actually see the Milky Way and a sky littered with stars, then just sit on the hood of your car.
And start singing a hymn.
Labels: The Pleasures of Life
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