It has been challenging to keep up with images coming from the Hubble and Webb telescopes over the past several months. But the Nov. 18 Politics & the Nation article “Webb telescope spotting most distant galaxies yet” summed it all up. The article opened with suspense and awe: “From its perch a million miles from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope has sighted two of the most distant galaxies ever — and delivered a brilliant surprise … challenging our view of how the cosmos took shape in the aftermath of the big bang 13.8 billion years ago.” A scientist pondered, “Somehow the universe has managed to form galaxies faster and earlier than we thought.” Who needs mind-altering drugs when you’re reading stuff like this?
These space photos should humble us
As the article explained, one galaxy “dates to about 350 million years after the big bang,” while the other “galaxy is estimated to have existed about 400 million years after the birth of the cosmos.” Of course, 350 million years “is relatively early in the life of our universe” for things of stars and gas. Then, “Looking back to the very early universe allows humans to ask profound questions about our place in the cosmos.”
This isn’t Star Wars, folks. If we’re paying attention, this article would humble us. The article skated on the edge of God without saying so: “We’re trying to figure out. … We’re looking back through 98 percent of all time to see a galaxy like this … bringing us closer to understanding how it all began. … It’s part of our origin story.”
I was inspired to ask my church for a sermon on the Webb images and revelations.
Source: WP
