stars.

(Mauna Kea, The Big Island, Hawaii)

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?

Psalm 8:3-4 (NKJV)

Astronomers estimate that the universe contains about 100 billion galaxies, each containing an average of 100 billion stars (Eyewitness.) With these numbers in mind, it is hard to imagine that any one being could manage all these, not to mention all the other life processes taking place, even down to the molecular scale. Somehow though, the one who holds the outermost of galaxies together is also the one who sustains our hearts when we find ourselves in precarious positions.

Within our solar system, there exist clouds and dust and gas. These are known as nebulae (singular: nebula). Often, nebulae will appear to be bright shining clouds floating in the midst of a field of stars; they appear this way as the dust and gas they contain is often lit up by the light and radiation of the surrounding stars (Kindersley.) (Do recall the earlier essay regarding our ability to see color.) Just as we continue to find various nebulae throughout the universe, we find that our universe is growing, expanding, continually being created (perhaps it is an enjoyable hobby to create new existence from exceedingly large amounts of solar dust and accumulated sums of chemicals, measuring increments in light-years).

Nebulae provide a platform and material for which the formation of a new star can take place. When material within a certain portion of a nebula begins to condense into a concentrated area, what is known as a globule begins to form. Because of the gravity that begins to increase in the globule, other material in the surrounding of the nebula begins to be drawn to it. This accumulated material is what is known as a protostar. Over time, these protostars grow, become full grown stars, and as we see with many stars, they eventually die out, either exploding into supernovas, or slowly fizzling out into black dwarfs (Kindersley.)

Hotter stars will glow in a bluish tone, whereas the cooler stars will emit more of a reddish color. The sun at the center of our solar system is a fairly average star. Its diameter is about 870,000 miles (though many stars are about 450 times smaller, some stars exist that are at least 1000 times bigger than our sun). In the core of the sun, hydrogen is being converted to helium through nuclear fission, a process which gives off a significant amount of energy, i.e. enough to energy and heat to sustain the necessary processes for life on our planet, i.e. photosynthesis (Kindersley.)

Processes like those mentioned above are happening all across the universe, at varying intervals and various moments in time. It’s an intimidating reality. What are we that our interests and needs should stand in front of the billions upon billions of nuclear reactions that must be managed, orchestrated? It is strange to find the shortcomings of our hearts and the practical neediness of our hands are suddenly looked after, as we find our imperfect selves cherished by the being who says, “I love you more than any amount of stars, galaxies, or nebulae.” Perhaps this is the more intimidating reality.

Source:
(Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries. The Visual Dictionary of the Universe. 12-13, 18-23, 28-29. Dorling Kindersley. 1993.)