He made the stars also

Last night at our backyard, instead of the anticipated shower of Leonids, we were allowed a precious flash of one shooting star. No less precious, we observed the appearances of not only one falling star, but many stars, the vast number of them, which the night sky was bespangled with.

Adi traced for me not single individual stars, but the constellations, of Orion, and also of Ursa Major, which directed us to Polaris, the North star. There was the red planet Mars, too. He also pointed out to me that Polaris is 30 times bigger than the Sun and is about 430 light-years from Earth. If both of us were to travel at the speed of light, we would need 430 years to take us there. That only means that we would never be able to reach there in our lifetime.

Orion (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

We then read that stars range in size from anywhere from 20 to 40 km in diameter, to a massive size of approximately 650 times larger than the Sun. However, due to their great distance from the Earth, all stars, except the Sun being the nearest to the Earth, appear to the human eye as shining points in the night sky that twinkle because of the effect of the Earth’s atmosphere.

Lying on our back and looking at the sky with nothing more than our naked eyes, it was a futile attempt to count the number of the stars last night. Nevertheless, the enjoyable exercise gave me a hint of how immense the universe must be. Trying to imagine the actual magnitude of the universe was overwhelming. As I pondered and considered the greatness of the universe, how could I not be moved to adore and praise the Maker?

“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:3-4); “Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south” (Job 9:9); “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?” (Job 38:31-32); “Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, … The LORD is his name” (Amos 5:8).

“He made the stars also.” (Gen. 1:16)