How Small We Are

[sevenzedek]

I was looking up at the stars tonight when came across Betelgeuse (pronounced beetle-juice), a star (a sun) that is approximately 500 light years away—an unimaginable distance. I found out a few things about this star that amazes me. Not only does the distance of this star from earth amaze me, the size of it is mind blowing. To give you a sense of the size, let me explain.

First of all, to locate Betelgeuse, locate Orion's Belt. This is easily done by locating those three stars that form a nice, straight line. Once you have located this arrangement, look to left a small distance to find this very bright star. It twinkles just a little and it appears to have a yellow-orange color.

Now, if you were to locate Mars, it would also appear to be a speck of light in the sky as well.

Here is the amazing thing about Betelgeuse. The size! If Betelgeuse were to be put in the place of own Sun in the middle of our own solar system, the size of it would extend beyond that other little pin prick of light called Mars. It would engulf Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Its diameter is 650 times our own Sun's diameter. IT'S SO BIG!!! And we are so small.

 

[Tirian]

I think Tim Challies had a post about Psalm 19 recently and mentioned that David penned those sentiments having looked at the stars with the naked eye only. In the world of radio telescopes and such how much more should we praise God!

(How Great is our God)

 

[Jack K]

Betelgeuse (I pronounce it close to what you said: BAY-tel-jews) is one of the coolest stars in the sky not only for its size but because it is, well, cool. Relatively speaking. Its gases burn with a clearly red-orange color compared to hotter, blue stars like Rigel in Orion's shoulder. Betelgeuse is one of the reddest stars in the sky, and a favorite of mine too.

It amazes me how we can see the stars time and again and not notice their colors until we look for the color. Then, once it's pointed out to us, we can see the variety God has created in the stars.

 

[Backwoods Presbyterian]

Also remember most of our views of the stars are irreparably changed from what David saw thanks to earth-born light. He saw a much more vivid sky than even folks in the middle of nowhere can see.

 

[SolaSaint]

Anyone ever watch the video "Privileged Planet"? It is amazing where God placed Earth in our Solar System and in our Galaxy and within the universe. It is a special place where we can see out into the expanse of the universe and star gaze. Most other locations in our galaxy cannot see out due to all the space dust blocking the view. We need to thank God every time we look up into the starry night. If you have not seen the video, I HIGHLY encourage you to.