Deep Space Telescopy

 When my granddaughter was two or three years old she once observed the night sky at our home in rural Illinois. Her family lived in an urban area near Chicago. When she first observed our dark skies, she inquired, “Grandpa, are those stars?” In our modern day it is sometimes difficult to observe the wonders of the sky by looking overhead at night. A minority of our population lives in rural areas and might be able to perceive the full panoply of visible stars at night. However, a majority of our urban residents have seldom been able to view the wonder of the nighttime heavens owing to the problem of “light pollution.” Illumination from street lights or even from outdoor house lights may be a benefit for security and safety issues in the suburbs, but a detriment to folks interested in astronomical wonders. 

Treasured memories from my science teaching experience were “star watches” we offered to students. These observational sessions took place several hours after the sun had set. We made sure the students arrived for the event after astronomical twilight arrived—the darkest time of the day. Observations of the night sky were made when the sky was darkest in order that stars and planets appeared at their brightest.

After our naked eye observations and a few telescopic views of the night sky, our students were sent home and instructed to return to the school’s soccer field, our observational venue, in total darkness after a few hours of sleep. While students slept the earth continued to rotate. The stars they observed the following morning had apparently moved to a different position in the sky. Thoughtful students were startled by what happened in the sky overnight. Each star moved in a circular path around Polaris, also called the North Star. The circular star paths traced out a sort of mirror image of Earth’s rotation. We hoped our public school students would contemplate the beauty of creation as manifest in the sky. 

The Bible refers to human emotions of worship when we observe the glory of creation in the skies above us. Many Old Testament Scripture writers were observers of the sky. Psalm 8:3-4 exults, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of him?” Or Isaiah 40:26: “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.” Old Testament observers were some of the earliest naked eye astronomers as well as believers in a divine Intelligent Designer. Telescopic astronomy would not be instituted for another two thousand years. For many years scientists had speculated that other planets orbited around distant stars. 

In the early 17th century, the first primitive telescopes were developed. Since then telescope technology has advanced significantly, but we still appreciate the naked eye astronomy of divinely inspired scripture authors. Modern cosmology focuses on the entire universe in its totality. We close with a discussion of two of the most famous modern telescopes of hundreds of instruments produced since World War II.

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was launched on April 4, 1990. The HST was launched into low earth orbit about 360 miles above Earth’s surface. It was a public relations boon for people interested in astronomy. One of its finest achievements came in 1995—the discovery of the first proven exoplanet—a planet orbiting a star similar to our sun. The telescope revealed startling images of the distant universe. Some pictures revealed what became known as the “pillars of creation,” attractive plumes of hydrogen gas and dust enhanced by color filters. Objects in deep space such as galaxies are clearly visible. Proof of the expanding, accelerating universe is evident. Its achievements, however spectacular, were overshadowed by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). 

The recent JWST was launched December 25, 2021. Its cost was $9.7 billion and took 25 years to complete with some assistance from international agencies. It does not replace the HST. Rather, it exponentially amplifies the mission of the Hubble telescope. Astrophysicist Hugh Ross explains: “The JWST has already provided evidence of the structure and history of the early universe that carries big bang implications.

“The JWST is as tall as a 3-story building and as long as a tennis court. The diameter of its main mirror is 6.5 meters (21 feet). The JWST’s main mirror has more than seven times the light collecting area as the HST…..Unlike the HST the JWST is designed to detect the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Hence, it is ideally suited to explore…that part of the universe that reveals the first few billion years of cosmic history.”

 

The huge telescope was not placed in orbit around our Earth. It was launched to remain almost one million miles from the Earth at what is known as the L2 Lagrange point. At this point several natural forces balance each other and very little energy is needed to keep the huge telescope in an ideal location. The L2 Lagrange point is a region of space which revolves around the sun in one year in tandem with Planet Earth. At this location the JWST is shielded from extremely hot or cold temperatures which would disable the telescope.

There are a number of YouTube videos available dealing with the astonishing capabilities of the JWST. In our opinion the building and successful launch of this telescope may have been a divine miracle enabled by the Creator of All Things to instruct humanity concerning the divine creative act described in Genesis 1:1. God has enabled scientists to invent telescopic means of looking back into the distant past to view creation events close to the “Beginning of Time.” 

 

 

    

    

Sensory Awareness

 Our post title refers to our knowledge of the sensory systems of the human body. There are five traditional senses—visual, auditory, olfactory (odor), gustatory (taste), and touch. Several others are considered a subset of our traditional senses. The five traditional senses connect us to our environment in the most profound ways. Sight and sound may be considered the most treasured sensory gifts from the Creator.

When we focus initially on this pair of senses we are overwhelmed at God’s creative ability. Our visual and auditory systems are exceptional transducers. A transducer is a device converting energy from one form to another. Human eyes and ears are marvelous transducers. The energy of electromagnetic waves (visible light) first enters our eyes, carrying with it detailed information about our environment. Without our organ of sight the environmental information carried by electromagnetic light waves would be meaningless to us. Our eyes convert electromagnetic energy to a different form of energy. In this case the electromagnetic energy is converted to discrete digital electrical pulses traveling through our optic nerve to visual centers in the brain. Our brains translate the billions of digital electrical pulses into a mental picture implanted within our human consciousness. Therefore, it is not really our eyes doing the “seeing.” It is our brain! 

As a transducer our ears may be in second place. Human sense organs are transducers  converting data from the physical world to the world of our conscious mind where people interpret the information. This enables conscious perception of the surrounding world. We link posts from 2012 and 2014 where we discuss the sense of vision and audition:

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2012/12/getting-picture.html

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2014/07/astounding-transducers.html

In the link entitled “astounding transducers,” we discuss sound waves. Sound waves travel through air at about 1100 feet/second. Sound waves of a certain pitch, middle C on the piano, for example, are composed of 256 regions of air molecule compressions separated by 256 regions of air molecule rarefactions. These regions of compression and rarefaction strike your ear drum at 1100 feet/second—the speed of sound. Our physical ear mechanism then converts these regions of compression and rarefaction to electrical impulses transmitted to auditory regions of our brain through millions of neural circuits. Therefore, it is not really our ears doing the “hearing.” It is our brain! The complexities of vision and audition supply an opportunity to worship the God of Creation. He created the visual and auditory sensory systems of humans as well as all living creatures.

Human visual and auditory systems are joined by three other sensory systems which detect odor, taste, and balance. All sensory systems are transducers. The chemical signals of odor and taste have been studied by thousands of bioscientists. Our understanding of how these senses function increases continually.

There are many other sensory systems enabling humanity to be aware of their environment. The five major sensory systems are termed special senses. They are supplemented by the somatosensory system, a subset of the familiar sensory system. These senses are termed general senses. They provide information on temperature, pain, and body positioning, sometimes called muscle sense. These receptors are also transducers able to convert energy from one form to another. Our brain receives a storm of electrical impulses from our sensory receptor cells.

When we search for information on human sensory systems we become aware of the recent proliferation of knowledge of human body function, especially our sensory systems. For instance, the last several decades of visual research have resulted in a greater understanding of cellular signal transduction processes in the eye than in any other organ of the human body. Similar statements could be made concerning research in many other fields of human physiology.

God is not only the Creator of time, space, matter, and energy, but also He designed interlocking bodily sensory systems to provide enjoyment of our environment. One of our favorite personal scripture passages is Psalm 139:14 (NIV): I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. A study of human sensory systems spectacularly affirms the truth of this passage. 

      

  

Localized Weather Disasters

 Natural evil is a difficult concept to define and difficult to explain. The GotQuestions.org website defines natural evil as follows: “Natural evil is that which causes pain and suffering to humanity but which is NOT due to direct human involvement. Congenital diseases, tsunamis, earthquakes, droughts, and famine are all  outcomes of natural evil.”

In the past year there have been increasing instances of natural evil publicized in the media. For this post our focus will be on tornadoes and hurricanes. Tragically, these violent weather events have caused fatalities. The danger of tornadoes in the United States frequently occurs in springtime when tornadoes are generated on the Great Plains of the United States while hurricanes are generated over warm oceans from early summer to late autumn. 

This country has a geographic region sometimes dubbed “tornado alley” where  tornadoes commonly occur from March to June.  Cold, dry air masses from the north funnel south and collide with warm, moist air masses from southern water bodies producing conditions favorable to tornado formation. This happens on the Great Plains, a broad flatland area generally between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River. More tornadoes occur in this region than in all other countries of the world combined.

There is a caveat to the nickname “tornado alley.” The Great Plains region of the United States is  known as the “breadbasket of the United States” sometimes even the “breadbasket of the world.” Grain crops thrive better in Great Plains alternating warm and cold seasons. Crops are widely exported to other countries of the world. The Ice Age left behind rich glacial soils when the thick layer of ice melted—ideal for agricultural production.

Planet Earth is the only satellite in the universe known to possess life. Therefore, it is the only satellite where death occurs. The implications of this fact are far-reaching in terms of the existence of natural evil. We conclude that natural evil is most meaningful in relation to the ability of living creatures to experience death, suffering, or pain. In this respect Earth is a unique planet in our universe. There are many reasons why Earth is unique as a home for humanity. A few science authors have offered plentiful justification that there may be no other planet on which human life could possibly exist, in spite of their boundless optimism that other locations in our universe provide the necessary environment for sentient humanity.

Scientists have used a humorous phrase to describe vital planetary physical conditions for human life. The conditions must be in the just right “Goldilocks Zone,” not too much, not too little: (1) just right temperature, not too hot, not too cold (2) just right quantity and phase of water, and (3) just right atmospheric composition. Our list is incomplete—many other conditions must be “fine-tuned.”

Our planetary weather system functions because heat is its driving force:

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2019/03/weather-is-all-about-heat.html

Heat energy arrives from the sun by infrared radiation. When it arrives on Earth the thermal energy is transferred from one location to another. Conduction, convection, and radiation are methods of heat travel. Planet Earth is a water world. Without an adequate supply of water, life would not be present on our planet. When liquid water evaporates or water vapor condenses, an enormous quantity of heat is generated. Latent heat of evaporation and latent heat of condensation are terms to describe such heat transfer. Thermal heat energy fuels the formation of tornadoes and hurricanes in our atmosphere. Likewise, if we did not have an atmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen in plentiful supply, life as we know it would not exist.

In many past posts we have stated that Earth is “a place to thrive,” not “a place of brokenness and despair.” However, the operating system designed by Our Creator for the present created world allows for events such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and many other weather tragedies. Skeptics have inquired why God does not eliminate every instance of natural evil if He is the omnibenevolent Divine Creator. A statistical study of human fatalities caused by natural evil reveal that human fatalities from tornadoes and hurricanes and other tragedies are actually quite rare—a tiny fraction of 1%. We do not trivialize any human death but the description of Planet Earth as “a place to thrive” is still appropriate. Humanity is gifted with the ability to avoid many destructive outcomes of natural evil.    

Tornadoes, hurricanes, and all other manifestations of natural evil will not be evident in the New Creation described in the last two chapters of scripture—Revelation 21 and 22.      

Modern Tragedies

 Air disasters have been highlighted in our media to an unusual degree in 2025. Multiple people have lost their lives in airline disasters. Fatal weather disasters have also proliferated. Over the years this blog has reported on many current weather disasters and human-caused tragic events. These events have caused many residents to wonder if our planet is a place of brokenness and despair, or conversely, a place to thrive. 

In the past several years the phenomenon of war has been responsible for a significantly greater quantity of human deaths. The Ukrainian War beginning in 2022 and the Israel-Gaza War starting in 2023 have thrown these geographic regions into strife and chaos. At the same time many journalists have speculated that natural disasters have multiplied owing to global warming. Whatever the cause, many secular people have wondered why the Creator of humanity permits pain and death to exist on Planet Earth if He is an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God. This is a question people of faith commonly address in conversations with secular doubters.

Many tragedies are traceable to the presence of evil on our planet. A search for the definition of evil reveals wide-ranging results. Evil is recognized as something causing harm. What sort of harm are we talking about? Let us categorize two types of harm—moral harm and physical harm. These categories may help us understand categories of evil.

Moral evil is the source of most of the strife in our world. Humanity has a natural sense of what is right and what is wrong. Our world has people who commit wrong even though they betray their natural sense of what is right and what is wrong. This betrayal is a deliberate act. The natural sense of right and wrong is codified in the Old Testament by the Ten Commandments Moses received from God on Mount Sinai. Moral evil is evident in wars fought between or within nations where humans are depravedly killed. The Ten Commandments forbid many other moral evils.

Natural evil occurs in a different category of reality. Natural evil implies that the evil occurs in nature. The term natural evil connotes that physical harm results. For example, tornadoes and earthquakes occur in the world of nature. Physical harm, perhaps even death, results. Natural evil, therefore, is not the result of human behavior. Natural evil is more “multi-faceted.” Hugh Ross of the Reasons to Believe ministry prefers the term natural suffering rather than natural evil. 

An even more difficult question is why an omnibenevolent and omnipotent Creator permits suffering, premature death, and disease to occur. To this question, there is no clear answer except that God has a higher purpose unknown to humanity. The Old Testament Book of Job 42:2 relates Job’s thoughts: I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted (ESV). Many theologians have researched and discussed these topics in great detail. We encourage readers to make a serious study of these challenging issues.

  

   

Open-ended Questions

Recently we witnessed a wondrous recovery of US astronauts from the ISS (International Space Station). Two astronauts had planned to be on the orbiting space station just a few days. Technical problems prevented their return from the test mission and they were stranded on the ISS since June 2024. On March 18, 2025 they returned to Earth in a SpaceX capsule, splashing down in the Gulf of America near Tallahassee, FL. They experienced a trip in space aboard the ISS for an unexpectedly long nine-month visit.

In the 1950s US and Russian scientists started sending space vehicles into orbit around our spherical Earth. In order to inject a satellite into orbit, many laws of nature established by the Creator must be followed with great precision. For example, a satellite must achieve orbital speed of approximately 17,500 mph. The precision required for the achievements of the 1950s appear minimal compared with the currently orbiting ISS which was built starting in 1998 after being proposed by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. It is an international symbol of human cooperation as well as an outstanding human technological achievement. The modular space station was assembled in orbit but the modules were built on the surface of the Earth.

Humanity’s adventures in outer space are not directly addressed in the initial creation chapters of the Bible. Genesis 1:28 mandates humans to “have dominion over” living things. By extension, we may infer that humans are mandated to give attention to ALL aspects of God’s physical creation—light, sky, and land—as well as thousands of living plants and animals supported by the physical creation. In the thousands of years before human space travel, authors of Scripture were inspired to exult in all aspects of God’s creation. Psalm 8:6 proclaims, “You have given him dominion (authority) over the works of your hands…” Psalm 8:9 adds an appropriate benediction: “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

“Having dominion over” the outer space environment and our control of space vehicles operating in that environment is a challenging task. In the past century these challenges have been presented to humanity. Starting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, scientists began proposing space flights supported by rockets. Perhaps they were inspired by Jules Verne’s science fiction novels. Before Germany surrendered to conclude World War II, they developed advanced rocket technology. The US, Russia, and other countries expanded rocket technology after World War II and used leftover German V-2 rockets to enhance their space programs. Rocket technology has morphed into satellite and space travel technology. During the Cold War following World War II, several startling events occurred such as the launching of satellites by the USSR and the USA in 1957-58 followed by manned visits to the Moon from 1969 to 1972. The Space Race had begun.

Space technology has resulted in both positive and negative outcomes. The promise of benefits from dozens of ISS projects is complicated by international ambition and competition. In an ideal world we would focus only on the benefits of the multinational space program. Do the positives outweigh the negatives?  

The startling cost of constructing the ISS was $150 billion as of 2010. The ISS has been continually occupied since 2000 at a cost of $3 billion/year. Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, proposes de-orbiting the ISS as soon as possible, perhaps within two years. He advocates deep space probes resulting in a manned colony on the planet Mars. According to Musk, this could happen before the end of the current decade. Is this realistic? Is it probable? 

Recovery of our astronauts from the ISS has served to remind us of the early days of the US space program. We close with three personal memories from the early United States space program and link past blog posts where we discussed the events in more detail.

On Friday, October 4, 1957 I arose before dark in order not to be late for my first college class. I was a college student commuting from home. Media outlets had informed us when the newly launched Russian space vehicle, Sputnik, would pass overhead and become visible in the pre-dawn darkness. At the scheduled time, the 2nd stage rocket launch vehicle was visible. The launch vehicle and tiny satellite were traveling 17,500 mph. The satellite and the launch vehicle were in low earth orbit about 62 miles above the Earth and circled the earth every 90 minutes. This Russian scientific feat was unanticipated by United States scientists:      

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2008/07/progressive-science-education.html

From 1957 to 1968, United States space scientists recovered from their early failure and sent astronauts to the Moon. My personal recollection is a television broadcast from three US astronauts in orbit around the Moon on Christmas Eve—December 24, 1968. From my small screen color TV, came a spectacular Christmas message. Astronauts Borman, Lovell, and Anders each took turns reading a few verses from Genesis 1:1-10. The effect on millions of people around the world watching live TV from the Moon was electric! The related blog post:

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2010/12/blue-marble.html

We also retain memories of perhaps the most spectacular scientific achievement of humanity—astronauts landing on Earth’s Moon and returning safely to our planet. In July 1969, my uncle, my cousin, and I travelled to the western states on a three week trip. After visits to many US national parks, we were returning home through the state of New Mexico. Our automobile radio had kept us informed of the progress of the Apollo 11 crew. We stopped at a New Mexico motel in the early evening of July 20, 1969 just in time to view the TV screen with two of our nation’s astronauts walking on the Moon’s surface:

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2009/07/to-moon-and-back.html

We close with an open-ended question from Job 38:33: Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth? (ESV) 

   

 

Science and Faith--Allies, not Enemies

 Science makes human life more enjoyable and fulfilling. Faith, our religious belief system, imparts future and eternal significance to our lives. Individually, each entity is valuable, but linked together, they create synergy. One need not be a member of the clergy, a scientist, or a science educator to understand and benefit from the science/faith relationship. 

Scientific knowledge has increased dramatically since the beginning of the Scientific Revolution in the 16th century. In like manner, theological knowledge has also expanded as scholars have studied Scripture and the physical world to deepen their knowledge of the Christian faith. In our day It should be easy to discover how science and faith affirm one another. Unfortunately, many secular scientists do not perceive the relationship of the two realms.

The purpose of our blog is to demonstrate the linkage of science and faith. Some  challenge the validity of this linkage. They subscribe to the proposal of a well known scientist who popularized the acronym NOMA—non-overlapping magisteria—areas of inquiry. The scientist, Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002) was an evolutionary biologist who may have strengthened popular doubt about whether topics of faith and science affirm each other. Gould’s NOMA acronym may have affirmed the common belief that science and faith are not related.

Even scientists who believe science and faith are mutually supportive do not propose that science discoveries prove God’s existence. Rather, they may cite a preponderance of evidence—a legal term defined as “a high level of likelihood.” Other legal terms such as beyond a reasonable doubt may apply to topics such as God’s existence, the creative activity of God, the issue of evolution, and the subject of miracles. The relationship of science and faith is a complex issue in our society. It is not enough to merely state that science and faith are mutually supportive. That proposal cries out for a vigorous defense.

We illustrate with a past post:

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2010/06/intuition-and-induction.html

We exercise our intuition and powers of induction when we affirm characteristics of God, the Creator. Do we intuitively detect the existence of God by observing complex design features in the natural world wherever we look? Do we use inductive science to fortify our faith and belief in the reality of the Creator? 

We close by citing a 2025 volume published by RTB Press, Revealing God in Science. Reasons to Believe is an evangelical apologetics ministry dedicated to promoting the principle that Science and the Christian faith are allies, not enemies.

Revealing God in Science is an outstanding work on the relationship of science and faith. Reasons to Believe founder, Hugh Ross has stated that the Bible expresses accurate scientific claims. Ross is only one of twelve scientists of diverse backgrounds making a powerful case for the alliance of science and faith in this volume.