But we start at Greenwich , in London , England. It was from here that the best maps in the world were once drawn, made by royal command with all the tech that only the British Monarchy could muster.So they got used throughout the world. we still set 0degrees on our maps at Greenwich , and use Greenwich Mean Time to navigate, so we shall start our first journey from there, and see where we end up before I get you back safely.
The view from the observatory across the park
I took a small party of friends from Trinity Church there once - any and all pics that appear here were taken on that occasion. Greenwich park is ideal for a picnic, but at the top of the hill is the famous Greenwich observatory. I suppose it is fitting that there is now a Planetarium on this site.
We went to see the Planetarium as part of our visit, and an interesting experience it was , to say the least.
Sitting back in our seats, we were able to see a picture of the Greenwich skyline projected onto the domed ceiling above, and a young man 's voice came on over the mike and gave us a guided commentary.
As the auditorium darkened, the picture on the screen above us slowly morphed from a daytime shot of Greenwich park to a night time one, just after sunset. A full moon rose, due to the wonders of time lapse photography.
The voice of the commentator told us that the moon was a quarter of a million miles away, but we could go there in a very short time, thanks to the overhead projector and the wonders of CGI. This proved to be the case, and it was as if our Planetarium had become a large spaceship, for the image of the distant moon slowly filled the screen , as if we were actually moving towards it.
Perhaps it was actual footage from an Apollo moon shot, or was it more CGI? Either way, we were soon seeing the moon as if we were standing on the lunar surface, and looking at the mountains and craters stretching far into the distance, as our own Planet Earth hung like a blue and white ball in the inky blackness of space. as beautiful and awe inspiring as this was, our guide had further wonders to show us, and the camera swung away from planet Earth to the other lights in the Lunar Sky. as effortlessly as the last time, it seemed that we had risen into the air again , and this time , we were off to the more distant planes - to Mars , Jupiter and Saturn . As we looked back towards earth now , from the depths of space, we saw Earth as a small point of light - and yet we continued to move out to the very edge of our solar system until our Sun itself was a a mere speck of light. And still we kept moving away from our Native planet.
At this distance, our sun was just one small star among a mass of other stars that were all pretty much the same, and eventually we saw that all these stars were spinning in space around a central point, like the froth on a cup of coffee that has just been stirred.
This was our own Galaxy of stars - the Milk Way.we watched in awe and amazement as we learned about the size and shape of our galaxy - millions of stars, all swirling through space together. And yet we moved away, deeper into outer space once more. soon , our Galaxy was a mere speck of light, surrounded by other specks - and these small specks were not stars - the were other galaxies like or own . millions of stars , all clumped together, and there were hundreds of galaxies all spread accross the screen. the mind boggled at the sheer size and scae of the created universe - and my own mind boggles rather more easily than most !
But from this faraway perspective, we came back to Earth again. the nearest galaxy to us is in Andromeda. the Andromeda Spiral is 2 million light years distant. Now , what does that actually mean? Well, imagine you had to get from Trafalgar Square to Waterloo Station. I could tell you the distance in miles, but it may be simpler to say ' it is about a half hour walk, but only 10 minutes on the Tube.'
A light year is a bit like that - it is the distance between two points if you were moving at the speed of light.
Our galaxy is Two million years away from Andromeda , if we could go at the speed of light.- 186,000 miles a second , or about 300,000 kilometres per second.
Now, if we can see it, this implies that the Andromeda spiral was actually there and shining away 2 million years ago! here, however, some people may object. doesn't the Bible say that God made the world in 6 days , about 6,ooo years ago? Well, maybe it does, so how do you explain what you see here?
For people like R.T. Kendall, it is because God painted in a beam of light so we can see it. god also made the earth to look really really old, and handed it over to Adam and Eve. Sorry- I don't buy that. Why does God want to make the Earth and sky look as if it has no maker? Why does God want to hide away?
Isn't it more likely that if a rock appears to be millions of years old, then it really is ? So perhaps the earth is older, and the Universe is far more vast than we or our Bible writing ancestors could ever imagine - in which case, try to get used to it ! You ain't seen nothin' yet!!!
This is merely the big picture, the whole canvas of the material plane , laid out before us. you wait till I show you some of the amazing details. I am going to take you back into the past and forwards into the future, we will journey from the mountain peaks of Switzerland to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. i will show you a world that some can scarcely believe possible, but i can vouch for it being there, having seen most of it for myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment