Looking at Saturn: the Macro versus the Micro Focus
On my wife’s birthday last night, we sat by a pool with a
very talented host who is both a great cook, and an amateur astronomer. So when
the sky got darker later in the evening, he pulled out his handy telescope and
searched the summer sky. The kids were playing in the water and mesmerized by
their HD hand-held mobile devices; each holding ironically enough computer
power to rival any Apollo moon-mission of the 60s or 70s. It made me think of the “micro”
self-centered focus of youth; versus the “macro” focus provided by a small
little lens through which a squinting eye could see millions of miles away.
Saturn is twice as far away from the sun as is Jupiter
and smaller in size, therefore it appears as a reduced image and less bright in
the telescope but surrounded by barely visible moons. Just seeing “rings” gives
such a jolt of excitement peering that far out into the solar system, and at
the same time, Jupiter had two moons clearly hanging out closely to the big red
planet. Amazing to see.
The earth’s moon on the other hand, only 240,000 miles from where we stood, is so detailed you can almost see what our neighbors are doing up there on their
gray beach, compared to the tiny jewel of Saturn at 880mil. miles out in the dark. We
looked at both, and were struck by the splendor of the heavens. The kids lined up for their view but were
quickly more immersed in the tiny red spot of Pokémon than the majestic planets
of our solar system.
Maybe it’s the magic of boys and girls together during summertime,
the orbiting spheres in the night sky held not the same wonder as the celestial
bodies reflected in the clear but murky waters of the dimly lit pool. The time
it takes for the reflection of light from Saturn to travel back to earth is
about 90 minutes travelling at light-speed. The size, scale, and distance is
mind-boggling. If it took the spacecraft Pioneer 11, six and a half years to
arrive at Saturn, then it would have consumed half of one of the young boy’s
lifetimes in route. That may account for some of the youthful indifference.
But when we can zoom out to the macro perspective it
sometimes helps us face our nearer battles. Turning from the navel to the
night sky can widen the aperture of our mind; forcing us to crack open the
space in our psyche which allows bigger thinking, even eternal contemplation.
It was humbling to see so far down the street that it hurt my brain, strained
my eyes, and shook my consciousness; comparing the small orbit of my life to
that of Saturn, which revolves around the sun once every 29.4 Earth years. How
many more trips will I take around our sun? It was fortunate to slow down the
speed of life enough to enjoy the heavens and look at life a little closer to
home. I'm grateful for every new morning, whatever it holds.
Happy birthday Carrie!
©Mark H. Pillsbury
