...all nature sings & 'round me rings the music of the spheres

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹ 

The heavens^(A) declare^(B) the glory of God;^(C)

    the skies^(D) proclaim the work of his hands.^(E)

² 

Day after day they pour forth speech;

    night after night they reveal knowledge.^(F)

³ 

They have no speech, they use no words;

    no sound is heard from them.

Psalm 19:1 - 3

Last night my husband, Strike and I headed outdoors to look up! ...  in order to view the Perseids meteor shower. What fun! Between the three of us and within about an hour or so we saw probably  10-12 shooting stars! And Strike woke me up around 4:30AM  to go back out again - but I think it was just a bit too late to see any more meteors as it was juuust beginning to get light out again. The sky was so-o clear tho' and Venus, the crescent moon and Jupiter were aligned in a straight diagonal line overhead. Beautiful! Even my husband got outta bed a bit earlier than usual to enjoy the view with us before heading off to work. 

via

It all reminded me of a presentation the girls and I prepared on the solar system back when we all were homeschooling  (I say "we" because I learned so much right along with them!!) . Back then I was the one waking the girls up in the wee hours of the morning to view such fascinating celestial events while much of the rest of our world was fast asleep - but now it seems the tables have turned given that Strike was the one who came and woke us up for "such a time as this" eeaarrlly this morning.  Anyhow - I revisited that report.  A-mazing information when you really stop to think about it! ...

The Solar System

Genesis 1:14 – 19 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights – the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning the fourth day.

You probably know that our solar system is the sun and all the planets that travel around it. …but, did you know that about one million earths would fit inside the sun?

And --- did you know that the planets are aligned in such an amazing way that they actually hold the earth in place and keep the earth from moving too close to, or too far from - the sun?

Psalm 104:5 He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.

Did you know that without the sun there would be no color at all?

Did you know that Mercury is the closest planet to the sun – but it’s not the hottest!

Venus is the 2^nd planet from the sun and it is actually the hottest planet in the whole solar system..

Venus rotation is strong evidence that the universe did not begin by a big bang because it spins in the opposite direction of most planets.

Earth is the only planet in the small area around the sun where life can exist.

Earth is the perfect distance from the sun to keep life on it from burning up or freezing.

*Earth has the perfect mass! - That’s important! - because mass determines the amount of gravity. Because of this, many dangerous chemicals rise up out of the atmosphere and into space, leaving our air cleaner and safer to breathe.

*Earth has the perfect rotation! It’s perfectly timed for our need to rest – and it keeps the earth’s temperature in balance.

* Earth has the perfect atmosphere! – with oxygen we need to breathe. It protects us from extreme temperatures and it protects earth from falling space rocks – sometimes called shooting stars.

*Earth has the perfect tilt! Without it we would not have seasons so food and plants would not grow well – if at all.

Earth has the perfect land! Some planets have no land.

Earth has the perfect magnetosphere! It pulls many harmful particles from the sun away from earth. Without it, we could not live!

Isaiah 45:18 He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited..

Mars is called the red planet - and it has bluish sunsets. Imagine that!

Between Mars & Jupiter is an asteroid belt.

Did you know that all the other planets in our solar system could fit inside Jupiter? -and Jupiter has a big red spot twice as big as earth that is a giant storm --- like a hurricane.

– and Jupiter is like a protective mother to earth. She has a very strong gravitational pull that pulls most comets and asteroids into her…keeping them away from earth!

Saturn is a lot like Jupiter. They’re both made of gasses and we have known that Saturn has rings --but recently astronomers discovered that Jupiter has rings around it too. They weren’t seen until a spacecraft got close enough to take a picture of them.

Did you know Saturn is the only planet that would float in water!

Uranus looks like it’s lying down because it’s north and south poles stick out the sides……… This makes it look like a rolling ball traveling around the sun --- and it has rings that make it’s rotation and orbit look wobbly – it also spins in the opposite direction of most of the other planets.

Neptune is the brightest blue planet in the solar system! and it’s the farthest planet from the sun. Did you know ---- that some astronomers think the rain in the storms of Neptune are made of diamonds?! Experiments show that in the conditions some think exist on Neptune, methane can be turned into diamond dust.

Psalm 19:1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

Pluto used to be considered the 9^th planet – but just recently, scientists have said that it is not actually a planet after all…..

The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.Proverbs 18:17

The girls have shared with you tonight - both from Scripture and from what research has shown us about creation….we hope you have a better understanding of how God has lovingly created this very special place we call Earth, with us in mind --- in such a way to meet our every need and to help us get to know Him better – and we hope we’ve helped you to understand that just as people could learn a lot about you by looking at things you’ve written or things you’ve made……we also can learn soooo much about God by studying His Word and His Works.