EU - Half a Million New Stars Discovered
A decade ago, the Gaia space mission was launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) with the ambition of creating a 3D map of our galaxy.
After observing some 1.8 billion stars, and having a near complete map of the Milky Way, scientists realized a crucial gap: They did not have a clear view of parts of the sky that were packed with stars.
Astronomers have been charting the Milky Way for centuries but the sheer number of stars in them can sometimes overwhelm telescopes and our ability to read them properly.
The half a million new stars revealed in Omega Centauri mean it is the most crowded region explored by Gaia so far.
The data can help us understand how the stars of the Milky Way are distributed and why some parts of the universe, like these clusters, have more mass than others.
Gaia has recently found 381 cases where evidence for gravitational lensing was observed. ESA scientists say this means that the Omega Centauri cluster’s gravity bent light coming from distant sources called quasars.
Quasars are remote sources of bright light that could be powered by black holes.
In the next data release in 2025, Gaia will give information about eight more such star-packed regions of the sky.
Scientists hope this will help confirm the age of our galaxy, locate its center, verify how stars change through their lifetimes and ultimately infer the possible age of the universe itself.
-www.dw.com, 10 October 2023
Arno's Commentary
The statement, “the sheer number of stars … can sometimes overwhelm telescopes and our ability to read them properly,” is true and will be proved by the next so-called discovery in the universe. Yes, it is infinite, because it was created by an infinite God, who was, and is, and forever will be.
The closing statement in this article expresses their hope—in reality, hopelessness—to: “confirm the age of our galaxy … and ultimately … the possible age of the universe itself.” There is infinite territory never discovered by humans. The Spirit of God reveals it, as we can see in Psalm 148:2-5: “Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created.”
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
