Angels, Galaxies, and Pins

How many planets would fit into a Milky Way galaxy? This is certainly not a classic philosophical question like, “How many angels would fit on the head of a pin?” Yet, this question does have philosophical implications if you consider why planet hunters hunt planets. Some, certainly search for planets in our known galaxy because planets are there and we want to learn more about them; but, many who search for exoplanets (planets outside our solar system), do so because they are interested in the possibility of life on other planets; intelligent or otherwise.

The Keplar Space Telescope has recently catalogued 1284 more planets,[1] bringing the total number of discovered planets to 2325.  The size of these planets ranges from sub-Mercury to super-Jupiter in size. Some are rocky, some are gaseous, and some just might be habitable. Bob McDonald in a CBC News blog[2] suggests that there are likely more planets in our galaxy than there are stars. Take a look at the night sky and think upon that for a few moments. There may be as many as 10,000,000,000 planets in our galaxy alone. There are more than 100 billion galaxies in the known universe. As we consider only the planets in our galaxy we soon realize that they are too distant by today’s transportation methods for us to visit them with anything more than a telescope, but they are still of interest. Could any of these planets have indigenous life? Would life there be water and carbon-based? Would it be DNA based? Or might it be so foreign in its composition that we would struggle to recognize it as life? Might it exist in liquid water, on dry land, or in the gaseous atmosphere of one of these exoplanets? Would we see signs of communication among creatures of common ancestry? Might we see foliage changes as seasons progressed? What could we look for as signs of life; or signs of intelligent life? Philosophically, the number of planets that would fit into a smallish galaxy appears to be a worthier question than those regarding pins and angels.

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[1] “Kepler telescope doubles its count of known exoplanets: latest data confirm nine more worlds in ‘habitable’ zone”; Science News, May 10, 2016;

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/kepler-telescope-doubles-its-count-known-exoplanets

[2] “Finding habitable planets is one thing, finding life quite another” Bob McDonald, blog at CBC News Technology and Science; 2016-05-13; accessed 2016-05-14.

 http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bob-mcdonald-search-for-habitable-planets-1.3579830

A New Distant Galaxy

A new distant galaxy, containing approximately 8 billion stars, has been discovered by astronomers.1 What makes this galaxy, named EGS-zs8-1, unique is that it is 13 billion light years away from earth making it the most distant galaxy that has ever been seen. The light that is now reaching the Hubble Space Telescope left that galaxy 13 billion years ago when the universe was a mere 650 million years old.2 Presently, the universe is estimated to be roughly 13.6 to 13.9 billion years old.

What are the philosophical and theological implications of seeing a galaxy that is 13 billion light years away? Those who follow the Christian faith have long argued about how long the universe, earth, and humans have been around. Some take a hyper-literal perspective on the words of the Bible and believe that the universe cannot be more than 6000 years old. Some suggest that the universe only looks old because God made it mature.3 They suggest that God formed the universe with light from distant galaxies already partway here.

It is possible to think that way, but I would suggest that a much more straight-forward way of dealing with such discoveries is to agree that God has created a scientifically discernible universe in which, if something looks 13 billion years old, it is likely 13 billion years old (barring some sort of unnoticed calculation error). Of course, this way of thinking also assumes that God took a progressive approach to creation and took billions of years to bring us to where we are today. This kind of thinking will not do if one wants to maintain that the universe went from the chaos of nothing to a fully formed universe with plants, animals, and humans in six 24 hour periods of time. There are many further ramifications of thinking of the universe as very old, but we must be rigorous and not fear the implications of examining the evidence and drawing conclusions. A God who has created a universe that includes galaxies filled with 8 billion stars, 13 billion light years away, is capable of communicating with humans to explain the universe and his own nature.


1 https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/amorphous-space-blob-takes-title-most-distant-galaxy?tgt=nr
2 A Spectroscopic Redshift Measurement for a Luminous Lyman Break Galaxy at z = 7.730 Using
Keck/MOSFIRE; P. A. Oesch and P. G. van Dokkum and G. D. Illingworth and R. J. Bouwens and I. Momcheva and B. Holden and G. W. Roberts-Borsani and R. Smit and M. Franx and I. Labbé and V. González and D. Magee; 2015; p. 30; The Astrophysical Journal Letters; Volume 804; Issue 2
3 http://www.icr.org/article/5669/

Not Too Long Ago

When a person starts an article with "not too long ago" it is a good idea to check to see who is saying this. Paleontologists study fossils and life forms that existed 3 billion years ago up to approximately 200,000 years ago. Thus, to a paleontologist, "not too long ago" might mean 200,000 years ago. Archeologists, on the other hand, typically study the life, culture, and tools of human societies with an emphasis upon the emergence of humans 200,000 years ago up to the time when written languages developed around 6000 years ago. So, "not too long ago" to an archeologist will refer to more recent events than the events to which a paleontologist might refer. But when an astronomer says "not too long ago," as in a recent article in Science News, their time scale is very different again. Astronomers deal with events which happened 13.8 billion years ago right up until our present time. Thus, "not too long ago" in the mindset of an astronomer can mean something like 350 million years ago. Also, because of the large distances which light must travel before an astronomer can detect stellar events, they must be content with seeing events which happened many years before they witness them. If a star is 5,000 light years away from our sun, the light reaching us now and the events unfolding before our eyes started 5,000 years ago. It is like peering back in time.

The recent Science News article speaks of the work of scientists who are closely studying a galaxy referred to as SPGC 6240, "which sits 350 million light-years from Earth in the southern constellation Hydrus."1 This galaxy "recently" collided with another galaxy sending out intergalactic shock waves through the universe, causing a complete rearrangement of the structures of both galaxies, and birthing many new stars. Astronomers watch such events with the collective fascination and horror of pedestrians observing a car accident. The havoc caused in each galaxy allows astronomers to "see" the immense energies generated and the resulting gravitational entanglements of stars and solar systems. But, "recently", and "not too long ago" in this case refer to events that happened more than 350 million years in the past. That was a time when there was primitive life on earth but before God had created humans! Galaxies and points of light were slamming into each other while God looked on with joy and expectancy of the things yet to come.


1 https://www.sciencenews.org/article/galaxy%E2%80%99s-petal-structures-came-collision