Hubble Space Telescope Captures More Stunning Photos of God's Amazing Universe

NCG 2985

America’s Hubble Space Telescope has been capturing stunning photos of God’s amazing universe for nearly 30 years. Last week, Hubble captured a photo of a spiral galaxy known as NGC 2985. It is said to be 70 million light-years away, located in the constellation Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear. “The galaxy is at a perfect orientation for astronomers on Earth to see its incredible structure, with wide arms spreading out into space. The intricate, near-perfect symmetry on display here reveals the incredible complexity of NGC 2985. Multiple tightly wound spiral arms widen as they whirl outward from the galaxy’s bright core, slowly fading and dissipating until these majestic structures disappear into the emptiness of intergalactic space, bringing a beautiful end to their starry splendor” (“Hubble Captured Gorgeous Snapshot,” MSN, July 26, 2019). Earlier in July, Hubble captured an image of NGC 972, a spiral galaxy “that shows vibrant star formation pockets that look like red flowers” (“Hubble Snaps ‘In Bloom’ Spiral Galaxy,” Geek.com, July 1, 2019). If these astronomers didn’t have willful blinders on their eyes, they would all cry out with the Psalmist, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psalm 19:1). In 1999, observations by NASA astronomers, using the Hubble, suggested that there are 125 BILLION GALAXIES in the universe. The most up-to-date star count was announced in July 2003 as 70 sextillion observable stars (70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000). Of course, that is probably only a small part of the actual number, and God knows their names. “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names” (Psalm 147:4).

(Friday Church News Notes, August 2, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

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