Solar and lunar eclipses have captured both the popular and religious imagination through the millennia. Eclipse records — and myths inspired by eclipses — date back to the earliest historical epochs. These include a multitude of cuneiform tablet eclipse calculations from Mesopotamia, where total solar eclipses served not merely as awe-inspiring events, but as vital religious omens as well.
Today, eclipses are well understood from a scientific standpoint. However, folk traditions surrounding eclipses remain a part of many cultures around the world, as the following articles in the Globe and Mail (Canada) and The New York times attest. In India, for example, one belief is that pregnant women should remain indoors during an eclipse, so as to avoid any harmful effects upon the fetus.
This week’s solar eclipse will begin on July 22nd at 00:51:17 (Universal Time) off the Indian coast, and is notable due to its extremely long maximum totality period of 6 minutes and 39 seconds. That won’t happen again for nearly 150 years.
Those interested in following the eclipse path may be interested in the following sites:
http://www.hermit.org/Eclipse/2009-07-22/
http://www.markstravelnotes.com/travelogues/2009/total_eclipse/eclipse_path/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z59WVrCxAR8
'Census Hopeful', by Camilla Kesterton
On a note related to my posting of March 3rd, here is a recent article on the BBC News site related to one of the Big Questions that touches upon the realms of theology, cosmogony, and astronomy. Among the respondents is Brother Guy Consolmagno of the Vatican observatory.
But really, whether or not more Earth-like planets are found, and whether or not the Drake equation really does closely estimate the number of potential intelligent civilizations out there, the likelihood of interstellar distances being traversed in time to make contact any time soon is rather low, in my view.
Both our conception of the universe and the views of the Roman Catholic church have, of course, changed immensely since the time of Copernicus. The Church has, in fact, come to take special interest in happenings astronomical. In this article, published by the University of Arizona News, we read of Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo’s recent visit to the Steward Observatory to meet with Vatican and UA astronomers. As the article reveals, “the cardinal reports about the Vatican Observatory directly to Pope Benedict XVI.”
On a related note, my thanks to reader Rebecca Kelley for sending along a link to a recent posting to the Uncertain Believer blog. The posting is entitled How Will the Church Respond to Discoveries About the Universe?
[Edited to add: I thought I'd read some rather enlightened comments from the Chief Vatican astronomer Reverend José Gabriel Funes on the question of possible intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, and indeed, here is one article in which he discusses the matter, as well as a quote within it exemplifying his views:
"Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures on earth, there can be other beings, even intelligent, created by God. This is not in contrast with our faith because we can't put limits on God's creative freedom," he said. [. . .] “Why can’t we speak of a ‘brother extraterrestrial’? It would still be part of creation.”]
14th c. Islamic astrolabe, Whipple Museum
This video item from ABC (Australia), complete with transcript, features Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, the first Muslim astronaut to travel into space during Ramadan. This led to the need for Muslim scholars to carefully determine the rules that would apply to prayer in outer space, not to mention the ubiquitous question “Which way is Mecca?”
I was especially interested in the reference to Islam’s “golden age” (circa 8th-16th centuries CE) during which Muslim scientists made various vital contributions to the world in the areas of mathematics and astronomy. This, of course, includes the invention of such devices as the astrolabe, pictured above.
For more information on Dr. Shukor, Wired published an earlier story about his career as an astronaut.
Astrophysics professor and Hubble Fellow Adam Frank has recently published a book that promises to transcend the standard science vs. religion dialogue. Entitled The Constant Fire: Beyond the Science vs. Religion Debate, it seeks a rapprochement between the two camps. I, for one, look forward to reading it.
An article about the book may be found here. Here are a few more publication details, including a table of contents, on the University of California Press web site.
Several days ago, in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first astronomical observations using a telescope, Pope Benedict praised Galileo’s work, and asserted that such observations of the heavens can lead to a fuller appreciation of God’s creation. More details here.
Star Over Bethlehem, free clip art by Midolluin.
Well, this article is certainly relevant. According to astronomer Dave Reneke, the star used by the three wise men to locate the infant Jesus appeared in June, and not December. For Reneke, even the status of the luminary as a star is in question. Definitely worth a read.
Here is another article on the very same topic from several different perspectives. Supernova? Jupiter? You decide.
It’s been a busy, busy month, what with the grading of tests and final exams, but I do look forward to doing some more frequent blogging over the holidays or in the new year.
Wishing you all a joyous holiday season!
This article, in the Vancouver Sun, is the first of a series on the topic of science and religion. Of particular interest is the reference to “the striking similarity between 16th-century Polish astronomer Nicolas Copernicus’s arguments for the Earth’s rotation and those of 13th-century Muslim polymath Nasir al-Din al-Tusi”, noted by science historian and Islamicist Dr. F. Jamil Ragep of McGill University.
