Amazing Scenes From Outer Space

A number of years ago I heard a recording of Hugh Downs in which he was left speechless while trying to describe the beauty of some spectacular ice formations in Antarctica. The ultimate crime in television or radio is dead air, but Downs was simply so awestruck he literally didn't know what to see. His first words, once he could find words, were an attempt to ask a profound question. Why would God make such incredible beauty and place it in such an inhospitable place where no one would ever see it?

That same question comes to mind when I muse on the photos that have been coming back from outer space via the Hubble telescope.

We've always known that it's an amazing universe. And photos from our Hubble spaceship telescope have made us aware of increasing quantities and varieties of remarkable vistas, images and scenes in nearly every corner of our impossibly vast universe. For example, the Sombrero Galaxy, above, 28 million light years from Earth, has 800 billion suns and is 50,000 light years across. Put your mind around those numbers.

The red image here is called the Cone Nebula. The portion pictured here with the red background is 2.5 light years in length or the equivalent of 23 million round trips to the Moon.

Numerous websites are posting these images. Do a Google search for Hubble telescope photos. You will be amazed. Some sites highlight the "top ten" and others share the "top one hundred." This blogsite here only makes note of a couple from the wondrous array of images, with the hope that you will proceed to explore further.

I am reminded of musings of David in his oft-quoted Psalm 8: "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him?"