Psalm
148:2-4 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his armies! Praise him, sun
and moon; praise him, all you shining stars.
Praise him, you heaven of heavens, and you waters above the heavens.
Throughout
history stars have been used as navigational tools. Stars show God’s power,
wisdom, and His faithfulness. He knows how many stars there are in the sky.
Praise our all-powerful God creator of all things.
The evening
of March 13 was bright enough to observe the moon and possible stars, so, Stergos, our host, invited us to a private session in his observatory!
First we received an explanation of what we were able to see with the naked eye. Using a very strong laser beam, Stergos showed us were certain stars were in the night sky.
Around 19.15 we climbed the
narrow staircase of the round dome which he also built himself, like everything else on the premises. We were dressed warmly,
because the wind was cold and the big periscope was pointed to the open sky.
 |
| this is a 'simple' periscope |
Stergos
amazed us with his (self-taught) knowledge and his technical insight – he built,
assembled and acquired most of the expensive material himself. Soon, we were
dazed by all the information and sheer numbers … so many light years, so many
billion or trillion galaxies, so many -
etcetera.
He moved the dome according to the position of the moon, that
looked so beautiful over the calm sea. Then we took turns to look at the bright
light bulb, protected by a filter for our eyes. Stergos explained about the
craters and the dust hills and took these pictures through the telescope.
Awesome, isn’t it?
We observed the Star Aldebaran in Taurus, (Messier Objects)
M45 Pleiades (more
about them another time) and M42 Orion nebulae, Star Sirius
Big dog of Orion, Star Castor in the Geminis (double star), the Moon, and even
the Planet Jupiter.
During the
tourist season, when the Astronomy Café is open, Stergos gives a 15- minute
tour. That evening, we got a 2 hour (!) private tour! We felt so very special!
Before
stepping out in the dark night, we got a preview of Stergos' dark room’, which he uses to
teach school classes. He would try to show us this also, later this week. So, this
blog post is a preliminary write-up – more to come!
Isaiah
40:26-29 Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them
out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his
great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing. O Jacob,
how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say
God ignores your rights? Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The
LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his
understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. AMEN!
