It is 1,390,000 km in diameter and at its' core, the temperature is a toasty 15,600,000 K (or 15,000,000, degrees C). I don't know exactly how hot this is, but it sounds hot enough to fry some eggs. Our Sun, which is a "normal" G2 star, one of more than 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Oh, by the way... the Huddle Space Telescope site estimates that there are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe. Some astronomers working with some German super-computer simulations estimate that the number may be as high as 500 billion! Yikes! That's a lot of stars and a lot of galaxies in the universe!
I don't know why I'm thinking and writing about the Sun this morning. I think it's because it was so dang hot last night that I couldn't sleep. Bothell, WA is suppose to be cool and have no humidity, but I felt like I was back in Orlando, Florida yesterday. My house felt like the inside of an oven. Most folks out here don't have air-conditioning and we're no different from "most folks." We do have a basement which has become a cooling off station for my family and I. I once remember hearing a message by Louie Giglio about how massive the stars, the galaxies and the universe really is. In light of that truth, how small we are and yet, the God who made everything in the universe knows and loves little people like me. I remember being incredibly moved by that thought. Haven't you ever felt so small in this gigantic world wondering whether you're heading in the right direction or that you're doing the right things in life? For one whole year, I did my quiet times by just looking at pictures of the different stars and universes from a picture book of the universe. I got the idea from the talk Louie gave and I bought the picture book from Borders Bookstore. It was a good year because somehow, through meditating on those pictures along with some choice passages from the Bible, my insecurities seem to melt away. Not all my insecurities, but certain thoughts of God's profound love and care for me were more real to me than ever before. How can a BIG God love and know such a tiny person like me? But He does according to Scripture and according to every fiber of my being... I believe without a doubt that He is real and that He knows and loves His children. It's a powerful thought if you take time to consider it more deeply. It will make a person be more secure and cause him or her to take some radical steps for the Kingdom of God.
Going back to the Sun... our "normal" star was personified in many mythologies. For example, the Romans called it "Sol" or the Greeks called it, "Helios." The church often uses a word play to personify the Sun by calling it "the Son." I can see why because of the similarities in many respects. For example, like the Sun, the Son is the source of energy of the solar system, which makes life possible on earth. All things revolve around the Son... like the Sun and without the Sun, life on earth would not exist. Our planet would be a frozen dark ball, drifting dead in space. Sounds like it would be the same thing if we didn't have the Son in our lives, in our universe. We would be like zombies... alive and moving, but really dead and we'd be just drifting lifeless on this planet.
I like your posts but your profile picture is kinda scary. Please change it - hope you, VA, and Tabs are staying cool in WA.
Posted by: Olivia | 07/28/2009 at 10:00 PM