Edwin's Epiphany

 

Once there was a little boy called Edwin with insatiable curiosity. He liked to sit outside at night and observe the shining stars in the sky far away from the city lights. He would often wonder. 'How many stars are there? How big is the universe? How did the universe come into being?' Edwin's early obsession with the sky led him toward the stars through the adventure of science. He kept on looking and looking in the sky until there was an epiphany that revolutionized the understanding of the universe. 

He showed the world how big is the universe. He identified previously unseen stars. He realized that these stars were quite far away beyond our universe. This meant that there were other galaxies too. He proved the Milky Way is no more than a tiny dot in an incredibly big universe that is expanding. He is Edwin Hubble, a notable cosmologist who got a Space Telescope in his name. I've always been captivated by the incredible photographs of the cosmos that NASA releases taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. This telescope sure is a true feat of engineering. There are useful laws and constants named after him as well. The Hubble Constant aids us to study the age of the universe and how fast it’s expanding. Over the years scientists found answers to puzzling questions just like Edwin who was once a boy looking up at the night sky and had a marvellous epiphany.

At this time of the year, we mark the Epiphany when the three kings or Magi came to visit baby Jesus with their gifts. I’ve imagined the Star of Bethlehem in my mind a gazillion times. I reckon it was no big, gleaming beacon like that we see in Christmas Cards. Rather, it was something only astro-nerds like Edwin or the Magi could interpret. We could say the Star of Bethlehem was a miracle. But for the sake of science, I thought of speculating on the astrology of the Greco-Roman world.

Scientists think that the Star of Bethlehem was presumably not a star at all. Had the Magi followed a star they would’ve walked in circles because stars set and rise. A possible astronomical explanation for it is a conjunction between planets and stars could have led the Magi. Michael Molnar, an astronomer suggests a plausible conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn, the moon, and the sun in the constellation of Aries could have happened around that time. This conjunction occurred in the early hours of morning which coincides with what the Magi told King Herod – a morning star rising in the East. So, is Jupiter the Star of Bethlehem? This is an interesting hypothesis! We might not know this for sure, but I believe this mystery will pique the interest of many year after year.

The wonders of our universe and the science behind it are awesome. So, I would say science is the language of God and it makes sense. A starry night sky brings joy and even more when science can make the phenomenon more alive and tangible. Earth is the only place where we can celebrate each of these momentous events. The best way is by doing it again and by being curious about questions that beguile us. 

It’s fun though to share my last name with the astronomer Edwin Hubble. Well, that’s an epiphany that came to me on Epiphany. Look up and be star-struck!