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Reflections in Nature: Our Earth, the blue planet

On Jan. 4, the Earth completed one revolution around the sun. This oval-shaped orbit reached perihelion (its closest point to the sun) on this date. Our word perihelion comes from two Greek words: peri, meaning near and helios, meaning sun.

The earth will reach aphelion (its farthest distance from the Sun) this year on the sixth of July. Our word aphelion comes from two Greek words: Apo, meaning from and helios, meaning sun. Why then is it so cold when the earth is closest to the sun? It’s all about the tilt of the earth. When the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, we have winter, and when the earth is tilted toward the sun we have summer.

 The more we explore the vast expanse of space the more we recognize that Earth is an exceptional planet. In her book entitled “The Blue Planet,” Louise Young wrote, “The Earth is The Garden of Eden of the Universe.”

There is no other piece of matter within a hundred billion miles that is so richly endowed with variety, beauty, dressed in magnificent and presenting ever-changing scenes.

Our word Earth appears in the first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1-1: “In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.” Gaea was the Earth Goddess of the Ancient Greeks and was known as Terra Mater (Earth Mother) by the Romans.

The Greek word for World is Kosmos, which refers to part of the Earth, the whole of planet Earth or the entire universe.

The light from most heavenly bodies is bright even in the case of our moon of which the light is less intense but still bright. Only planets that hold an appreciable atmosphere turn the light that they reflect. This light is altered, softened, and colored by its passage through various layers of vapor. Our sky seen from the outside-in is a luminous band of blue above the Earth’s surface. The planet Earth would surely be called the blue planet if intelligent life searching the skies spotted us.

At one time, we thought there might be life on the planet Mars. With their telescopes trained on Mars, scientists thought there were canals and irrigation systems on the planet. As a young boy, I can remember being afraid of an invasion of men from Mars. Today, with better equipment, we now know that Mars does not have any form of life, that is unless it is microscopic and different from any life form on Earth.

However, we have learned that there is water, in a frozen state, at both poles on Mars. We have sent many rockets to Mars, with the hope of humans visiting Mars in the future.

Although we have walked on the Moon and sent spaceships that sent back pictures from heavenly bodies they had come close to, we have not found any intelligent life. The U.S. government has spent $100 million on radio signals sent into space, searching for life, and no answer has ever been received.

Has this made us aware that our Earth is a very special and unique place in our universe?

We must stop and wonder if there is a far-off planet, perhaps in another universe that has just the right degree of warmth, atmosphere and mixture of rain and sun that makes plants grow. Could there be another planet where flowers grow and birds flit among the tree tops?

Scientists have come out with a long list of things that must be just right for life to exist on Earth. We must be the right distance from the sun. If we were farther away, the planet would be too cool for a stable water cycle, and if closer, we would be too warm for a stable water cycle.

The Earth must have just the right rotation. If our rotations were slower, the temperature difference between night and day would be too great.

If the rotations were faster, the wind velocity would rise to catastrophic levels. The size of our Moon is also critical. The tilt of the earth is stabilized in part by the pull of the moon. If tilted more, the surface temperature differences would be too great, and if tilted less, the temperature differences would also be too great.

The list is long — too fast, too slow, too red, too blue, too close, too far, too weak, and too strong. Many items must be just right for life to exist on earth. Earth is prepared for life through a variety of finely tuned characteristics (star, planet and moon) of our galaxy.

Here is something for you to ponder. Our Earth is a tiny speck compared with the whole universe, which consists of millions of stars. The Earth spins once around its axis daily at a speed of approximately 1,000 miles per hour, and travels around its orbit at a speed of nearly 67,000 miles per hour.

The solar system (as a whole) dashes through space in the direction of the constellation Virgo at about 43,000 miles per hour. So, this means we are moving in three directions at three different speeds and all at the same time.

While time marches on, our planet continues to spin on its path through space. We cannot question about its destiny or know its numbered days. We cannot number the sands of the sea, nor the drops of rain and the days of eternity, only God knows these answers.

All we can do is put on our seat belts, sit back, relax, and let Mother Earth take us on another journey through space.

Bill Bower is a retired Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Officer. Read his blog and listen to his podcasts on the outdoors at www.onemaningreen.com.

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