The Heavens Declare

By Kasey Knowlton

In 1860, astronomers at the Bonn Observatory in Germany, discovered what for many decades was the largest known star in the Milky Way galaxy, “UY Scuti.” The vast size and scope of the star escaped these early observers, it’s true grandeur only fully realized in 2012, when scientists using our advanced technologies determined it to be 7 to 10 times more massive than our own sun, its approximate radius 1.700 times larger.[1] To give you a loose visual of this, think of a basketball as UY Scuti compared to our own sun, which would be about the size of the head of a needle! And this is from the small amount we have observed within our own galaxy, one of billions of others, according to NASA.[2] The deeper we look into space the more galaxies we discover. It is thought that the average number of stars in a single galaxy is approximately 100 million.[3] These estimates likely fall short as it is theorized that there are 100 billion stars just within our own galaxy![4] Truly, the vastness of our universe goes beyond the understanding of man. I’m reminded of Psalm 147:4-5, “He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.”

Buzz Aldrin understood this fact when he first landed on the moon alongside Neil Armstrong in July of 1969. His first act was to call for a moment of contemplation. “I would like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be," Aldrin said, "to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way."  He then opened his “personal preference kit,” from which he pulled a wafer along with a small silver cup of communion wine, the liquid curling up the side of the glass in the one-sixth gravity of the moon. After quietly praying and reading through John 15:5, in which Jesus states, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in Him, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me,” Aldrin took of the bread and the wine as Armstrong quietly observed. Reflecting back on this some 50 years later, Aldrin stated, “It was interesting to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the first food eaten there, were communion elements." Once they had explored the moon surface and were prepared to head back to Earth, Aldrin quoted Psalm 8:3-4, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained; what is man that you take thought of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”[5]

In our present age of increasing wickedness and evil, I have found it easy to forget the One whose, “understanding is beyond measure.” It is in our nature to be short sighted and forgetful. Like the Hebrews in their great Exodus out from Egypt, having just crossed through the Red Sea, immediately began to grumble against Moses, saying, “you have brought us out into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” In the moments when I find myself forgetting my own rescue from slavery to sin through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, I step onto my back porch during the black of night to marvel at the stars above. Such a simple discipline brings me back to the words of David from Psalm 8, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.” Dear believer, if you ever find yourself in a place of forgetfulness or despair, take a few minutes to simply peer into the vastness of the heavens, ones beyond measure, that remind us of His glory and goodness, and that He truly does have, “the whole world in His hands.”

   [1] https://nineplanets.org/uy-scuti/#:~:text=UY Scuti is the biggest,times larger than the Sun.&text=UY Scuti is a red,known stars, discovered since 1860.


[2] https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/5-8/features/F_How_Big_is_Our_Universe.html
[3] https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Herschel/How_many_stars_are_there_in_the_Universe
[4] https://theconversation.com/how-many-stars-are-there-in-space-165370#:~:text=An incredible number,about 100 billion stars – 100,000,000,000.
[5] https://www.foxnews.com/science/moon-landing-bible-apollo-11-buzz-aldrin-communion