The Incalculable Size of the Universe

 
The Incalculable Size of the Universe

The delicate balances in the magnificently large universe prove that this flawless order came into being as the result of God's superior creation.


American scientists have discovered the furthest planet from the Solar System, of which our Earth is a part. According to a report on the Internet space site, the planet, the same size as Jupiter, revolves in a narrow orbit around a star 5,000 light years away from the Milky Way. The scientists stated that the planet revolves around the star in as little as 29 hours, and recorded that its surface is very hot, several thousand degrees. Astronomers at the Harvard Smithsonian Center located the star as the result of minute variations emitted by the star around which it revolves. The astronomers revealed that the planet passed in front of the star every 29 hours, during which times there was a reduction in the amount of light emitted by the star. The variation in that light, they announced, was the equivalent of a mosquito passing in front of the headlight of a car 186 miles away. Astronomers have also so far determined more than 100 stars outside the Solar System by this method.

The above scientific discovery indicates a very important truth; the magnificent size of the universe!

Bearing in mind that light travels at approximately 186 411 mps, the distance it travels in 5,000 light years is beyond human comprehension. In addition, that distance is only very small in proportion to the size of the universe, within the Solar System of which we are a part.

Even more astounding dimensions emerge when we consider the size of the universe.

Let us now continue this examination in order to understand the size of the universe... The planet Earth is a part of the solar system. In this system there are nine major planets with fifty-four satellites, and an uncounted number of asteroids all revolving around a single star called "Sun", a middle-sized star compared with others in the universe. Earth is the third planet from the sun.

The diameter of the sun is 103 times that of the earth. To visualize this, the planet Earth has diameter of 7581 miles. If we scaled that down to the dimensions of a glass ball, the sun would be about the size of soccer ball. But the interesting thing is the distance between the two. Keeping to the same scale, the two balls should be 919 feet apart. Some of the objects representing the outer planets would have to be set several kilometers away.

Big though this might seem, the solar system is a quite miniscule in size compared with the Milky Way, the galaxy in which it is located. There are over 250 billion stars in the Milky Way-some similar to the sun, others bigger, others smaller. The star nearest to the sun is Alpha Centauri. If we wanted to add Alpha Centauri in our model system, it would have to be located 484, 669 miles away.

That's too big for almost anyone to grasp, so let's reduce the scale. We'll assume the earth to be as big as a dust-particle. That would make the sun as big as a walnut about three meters from the earth. On this scale, Alpha Centauri would have to be located 398 miles from the sun.

The Milky Way consists of about 250 billion stars with similarly mind-boggling distances between them. The sun is located closer to the edge of this spiral-shaped galaxy than it is to the justify.

Even the Milky Way is dwarfed by the vast size of the whole universe. It is just one of many galaxies-nearly 300 billion of them according to recent calculations. And the distances between galaxies are millions of times greater than that between the sun and Alpha Centauri.

Doubtlessly, the design of the universe is evidence of God's power to establish. The precise balances and all the human beings and other creatures are the evidence of God's supreme power and act of creation. This result discovered by modern science is just a reworking of a truth revealed fourteen centuries ago in the Qur'an:

Your Lord is God, Who created the heavens and the Earth in six days and then settled Himself firmly on the Throne. He covers the day with the night and, each pursuing the other urgently; and the Sun and Moon and stars are subservient to His command. Both creation and command belong to Him. Blessed be God, the Lord of all worlds. (Qur'an, 7:54)