Stars

Well, last night was a really cool night.

I have a friend who's going off to MIT (or Oxford) to study philosophy. He's a really smart chap. His main emphasis is mathematical logic...and the math part sorta got him into astronomy.

As an astronomer he decided to read "Starry Messenger." "Starry Messenger" was written right after Galileo built his strongest telescope and it contains some observations that revolutionized the way we view the heavens.

And, as it turns out, "Starry Messenger" was written 400 years ago this year. And last night (the 19th of March) was the exact day that Galileo handed the manuscript to Cosmo Medici (sp) (along with the telescope he used to make the observations). So last night was the 400th anniversary of something very big. It was when Galileo for all intents and purposes actually came out with all his observations.

So, last night, as we were staring up at the stars, we were probably doing something very similar to what Cosmo (such a cool name) was doing 400 years ago with his recently procured telescope and book.

(by the way, Galileo got a ton of money for it, it was hard to be an academic back then without a wealthy patron)

It was sort of cold but it was amazingly beautiful out there in the desert (dessert for some). We had a pretty large group. I took about 3 or 4 people from my ward, there was the guy who started the trip and some girl that he brought, there was a few philosophy friends, and then some random people I didn't now. All in all we were a good sized group. We had 2 telescopes and a few sets of binoculars and we were able to see quite a bit. The night was very clear.

We went through all of the things Galileo had written about. We saw the mountains on the moon, we saw a few nebulas, the seven sisters, Venus. It was really cool. It was nice to have someone that knew what they were looking for to prep the telescope.

The sky even without telescopic magnification was amazing. I don't think I've ever seen so many stars (although being from SoCal that probably doesn't sound very impressive).

One thing I learned last night was I need to get out of the city more. There is something therapeutic about getting outside and seeing what God has made and finding a little perspective. It seems like all the problems and frustrations we face, whether it's a paper deadline, a test, a broken heart....whatever. It all seems to not be so painful or important when set against the backdrop of a (potentially) infinite universe. It's not that the problems that weigh us down seem insignificant. No, they're still amazingly important. But there's just something empowering about being under the stars. It's as if your soul expands a little so you can take everything in, and with that expansion you're better able to face the smaller (but still very important) things weighing you down. The heavens give context, and that's what I needed last night.

I'm grateful I was able to share that experience with all the friends that went. I know a lot of people going through a lot of stuff right now, what with grad-school, graduation....life planning in general. I know a lot of us went up there frantic and stressed ,and we all came back down a more composed, relaxed, and peaceful.

And I must say, I really appreciate God's consideration. He made one of his most beautiful creations (the heavens at night) in black and white.....totally thinking of us color blind people.