The Amazing Cruithne
OK, this is not my typical sort of post and it probably won't be of much interest to my regular readers (either one of them). It's not political, it's not funny and it's not some shit-stirring rant designed to rack up the hits and the comments.
This is just me being taken totally by surprise and left kinda in awe at how strange the universe is.
I know a lot about space. Enough to put me in the borderline nerd/geek category. The only thing that saves me from crossing over into pocket protector land is my lack of math skills. That allows me to keep my "layman" status.
But in all my years of absorbing astronomical and aeronautical data like a sponge, I had never heard a word about this.
A three mile wide asteroid named Cruithne, that shares Earth's orbit and has this absolutely incredible horseshoe shaped orbit. Not around Earth, but around three of Earth's Lagrange Points.
I had no idea this thing existed! My twelve year old daughter, little Galdriel Tanqueray Onassis is convinced that I know everything there is to know about space.
Thank God she doesn't read my blog! For this, and other reasons.
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6 comments:
Interesting and amazing. Almost as if it were designed by some kind of hyper intelligence.
(There. That oughta start some controversey and rack up some comments for ya!)
Huh uh. Not buying it, emaw.
Basic orbital mechanics explains it quite well.
Don't have to look any further up the "chain of command" than Isaac Newton to explain this one.
Okay. I guess you need that Lagrange guy.
And maybe some astrophysicists.
But supernatural intervention isn't required.
That's what makes it so cool.
I appreciate the attempt to generate traffic and comments (REALLY! I DO! Keep up the good work!)
But if an Omnipotent Divine Being could do what ever She wants (anyone who's ever been married has to know that God is a woman...a man could never get away with being that demanding), then the universe would hold no mystery. No wonder.
We would just observe strange stuff, shrug our shoulders and say "Must be God!".
I think that a universe without a God is a much more wonderous, glorious, mysterious and awe inspiring place to live than a universe where virtually anything can happen just because "God wills it".
That reduces everything to a divine whim.
Another case of people preferring simple answers to complex questions.
Whao! Who said anything about god?
But since you brought it up, a really smart guy once said, "God does not play dice with the universe."
I always liked that quote.
Alright, the "really smart guy" you alluded to was Einstein and I'm pretty sure the exact quote was "God doesn't shoot craps at the Ameristar". Could be wrong, but I doubt it.
The point is, The Universe is a fabulous, wounderful, incredible place without a God.
With a God, it's just whatever. Nothing matters. Nothing is special or unique. Not even us. Everything is just a wave of a divine finger or the expression of a divine wish. God wants people? He creates people. God wants black holes? He creates black holes. No big deal.
But if the universe is truly random, then we are incredibly special and unique.
The lack of a God makes us more precious and accountable than the existence of a God ever could.
If there is no Divine Being to forgive us or swoop down from Heaven and save us, then we damn well better get our shit together and start behaving properly towards one another instead of waiting on God to straighten our shit out for us.
Ya think?
"we damn well better get our shit together and start behaving properly towards one another instead of waiting on God to straighten our shit out for us."
Sounds like something god would say.
;-)
emaw, consider yourself bitch-slapped.
You totally ignore my exquisitely crafted logical argument against the existence of a Diety and sieze upon the one throw-away quote that you think supports your position.
JEEZ! You remind me of my ex-wife!!!
You're her, aren't you?!?
DAMN! The name of your blog should have been a dead give-away!!
Three O'Clock In The Morning?!?!?
That's about the time she (you) finally shut the fuck up and went to sleep!!
When will it end?!? For the love of God, when will it end?!?
AAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
heh heh. Peace, brutha.
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