![]() ![]() Inside, the dust and gas can eventually clump together with the help of gravity. Nebulae are not just where stars are born, they could also be remnants of dead stars. They were looking up to find their origin we looked up and found it.Stars are born inside a nebula, a massive cloud made up of dust and gas, mostly hydrogen and helium. It celebrates and gives meaning to our ancestors’ urge to decipher the skies. This is the worldview modern science has brought about, and it is nothing short of wonderful. We have discovered that we are molecular machines made of star stuff that can ponder our origins and destiny. To know this-to know that we can trace our material origins to the cosmos-is to link our existence, our individual and collective history, to that of the universe. The atoms that compose our bodies and everything around us came from stars that died more than five billion years ago. The circle closes when we realize that we ourselves are made of star stuff. Now we add the spectacular James Webb Space Telescope and its promise to shed some light on many current mysteries of astronomy, including the origin of the first stars when the universe was still very young. Our most advanced telescopes, such as the Very Large Telescope and the ALMA facility operated by the European Southern Observatory in Chile, or the cluster of amazing telescopes atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii, are testimonies of our modern urge to decipher the heavens. In the modern scientific attempt to study the skies, we identify the same desire for meaning that drove our ancestors to look up and worship the gods. Walking through an open field on a clear, moonless night speaks to us on many different levels. The stars may be way out there, distant and unreachable, yet we feel a deep connection to them. The urge to understand the skies, the motions of the planets, and the nature of the stars only grew stronger as science evolved. Instead, it was a struggle for power and control over the interpretation of the Scriptures. Galileo’s feud with the Inquisition was not one of the atheist versus the faithful, as it is often depicted. Theirs was a Christian god, creator of the universe and everything in it. To them the skies were still sacred, even if in different ways from their predecessors. They could translate the will of the gods into a message the people could understand.įast forward to the 17 th century CE, as Galileo and Kepler were establishing the roots of modern science and astronomy. The shaman, the priest, the holy man or woman were the interpreters, the decoders. The gods wrote their messages on the dark canvas of the night sky, using the celestial luminaries as their ink. To know the skies was to have some level of control over the course of events that affected people, communities, and kingdoms. Countless religious narratives and mythical tales from across the planet attest to this. In ancient times and for many indigenous cultures, the skies were (and still are) sacred. ![]() Why, from astrology to astronomy, does it endure? We have to wonder what inspires this prevalent and constant fascination with the skies. The Babylonians tried to interpret the planet’s positions as omens for the king. For example, the Venus Tablet of Ammisaduqa, dating from about the mid-17th century BCE, recorded the risings and settings of Venus for a period of 21 years. They mapped in great detail the motions of planets along the Zodiac-the belt about 8 degrees to either side of the ecliptic, and divided into 12 constellations. The Babylonians had a serious observational program. ![]() We have been seeking the stars’ guidance at least since the earliest agricultural gatherings along the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers, and probably before that. As we study the skies scientifically, we are trying to explain our cosmic origins, the beginnings of life on Earth-and to know whether we are alone in the vastness of space. Even though modern science has stopped seeing the stars as an oracle, we still search for answers in the skies, albeit answers to different questions. The better we know the heavens, the better we know ourselves. ![]() Would it not be wonderful if the cosmos indeed spoke to us, acting as an oracle? If somehow it could help us find answers for life’s troubles and tribulations-answers coded in the arrangements of planets and stars? Even with all my scientific training, I cannot say that I blame them. Many still confuse astrology with astronomy. Seekers scan the skies for answers to life’s challenges, believing that the planets, and their alignments relative to constellations, have something direct to say to each of us. Hundreds of millions of people read their horoscopes every day. ![]()
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