Ceres and the Titius-Bode Hypothesis

The following essay is written with the information taught as fact by the Ron Paul Curriculum. Whether or not the information is true is debatable, but since is a school assignment, I will write the essay as such.

In space, even our longest or largest “earthly” measurements of distance are dwarfed. Such measurements of kilometers or miles become unwieldy. This called for a new unit of measurement.

Astronomers created the Astronomical Unit. One AU (Astronomical Unit) is the distance between the Sun and the Earth. Thus, there is .39 AU between the Sun and Mercury, .72 AU between the Sun and Venus, 1 AU between the Sun and the Earth, and 1.52 AU between the Sun and Mars. Astronomers noticed a trend. They called this trend was called the Titius-Bode Hypothesis which stated that the distance between the planets and the sun would approximately double with each planet.

…then suddenly, there is 5.2 AU between the Sun and Jupiter. This did not match the Titius-Bode Hypothesis. So Astronomers began searching for another planet: Planet X. This planet would fall in the space between Mars and Jupiter. Finally, after much searching, they came across an object orbiting in space. Astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi (the astronomer who first found the object), believing this object to be the missing planet, named it Ceres. The problem was resolved.

For a while, Ceres was considered a planet; however, as time went on, numerous more objects were found orbiting in the same plane. Astronomers soon realized that these were not planets, but rather, smaller groups of objects called asteroids. They then found that these asteroids are only a few of thousands of objects orbiting in the asteroid belt. Astronomers now realize that, although they found Ceres, the hypothesis that forced them to strive to find Ceres was, unfortunately, built on a faulty ideology.

The Sun | A Conventional Essay with a Biblical Opinion

The following essay is written with the information taught as fact by the Ron Paul Curriculum. Whether or not the information is true is debatable, but since is a school assignment, I will write the essay as such.

“Of all the celestial objects with which we are acquainted, none make so strong and universal an impression upon our globe as does the Sun. He is that very light, ‘the greater light to rule the day,’ as stated in the first chapter of the book of Genesis; a vast and fiery orb, kindled by the Almighty on the morn of creation, to cheer the dark abyss, and to pour his radiance upon surrounding worlds. Compared with him, all the other solar bodies are of inconsiderable dimensions; and without him, they would be wrapped in the gloom of interminable night.”

~Hiram Mattison¹

We are often amazed by the complexity of our planet: Earth. However, it would be impossible to perceive this complexity without yet one more amazing planet: The Sun.

The Sun provides the necessary light and heat required for humans, animals, insects, and plants. It is exponentially larger than all the planets in our Solar system. Let me put the Sun into perspective for you:

1. It would take 300,30,000 Earth sized objects to equal the mass of the Sun
2. Our Solar system is approximately 99% composed of the Sun.
3. The diameter of the sun is 864, 059 miles¹

The Sun isn’t just big, as everyone knows, it is incredibly hot as well. At its core, the sun is 15 million degrees Celsius or 28 million degrees Fahrenheit! To protect us from this super-hot light, we are (Earth is) positioned 93 million miles away from the Sun.³Many are aware how fast sound and light can travel (known as the speed of sound and the speed of light); but believe it or not, if there was a sound that could travel the necessary distance from the Sun to the Earth, it would take at least 14 years, and Sunlight coming to Earth at a rate of 186,262 miles per second takes over eight minutes to reach us!¹

You might say, “If the sun is just a swirling mass of hot flaming gas, what is the Sun made of? How does it burn being that there is not oxygen in space? And if it does burn, how come it doesn’t burn up?”

Well, the sun is 98% composed of Hydrogen and Helium. To answer the second two questions, it is important to understand that the sun doesn’t really “burn.” It creates its light from a process called Nuclear Fusion which happens when protons collide and release energy (in the form of light) in the process.²

Here is a super cool illustration/explanation of how the sun operates:

“As for its energy production, it is believed that the sunlight we see every day is made of units of radiant energy called photons which originate in the inferno of the Sun’s core. They may take many years slowly wandering up to the surface, then in a little more than eight minutes they speed across the 93,000,000 miles of space to the Earth, if they happen to be headed our way. Depending upon the wavelength or amount of energy a photon has, it may be absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere, reflected back into space, or it may zip down to the Earth’s surface to warm a flea or a blade of grass for an instant.”

~ICR.org

You can see why the sun has to be so big for such a large consumption of photons every second (with such a small production rate) to be possible!

Important Note: The above information was from a view taught by the conventional educational facilities. It is not necessarily right. The following provides reason (for Bible believers) for doubt and question as to the validity of what we have been told.

Opinion:

Something that is important to remember is the sequence of creation as recorded in Genesis. Many may not realize that the first light God created (Genesis 1:3-5) was not the Sun. Actually, Genesis 1:16 shows that the creation of the Sun, Moon, and stars only happened on Day Four.

As you saw, I bolded “stars” for a reason. Genesis doesn’t say the Sun is a star, on the contrary, it says that the Moon (a light to rule the night) and the Sun (a light to rule the day) are lights – not planets or stars. This also implies that the moon does nor reflect the sun’s, but rather, gives its own light.

Sources:

1. https://www.icr.org/article/392/344/
2. https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question36.html
3. https://www.thesuntoday.org/the-sun/solar-structure/

The California Gold Rush

One of the most famous moments in US history: The California Gold Rush. This historic event has spawned many fictional novels and is a favorite of many.

The time of the California Gold Rush wasn’t the first-time gold was struck in the U.S. The first gold strike in America was in North Carolina in 1799. Here and there, people found gold; but these can be compared to the calm before the storm.

The blast that shook the world that started the Gold Rush was fired by accident in 1848. It all started with John Sutter who was trying to build a saw mill. One of Sutter’s employees, James Marshal, discovered flakes of gold in the river near the mill. He looked into it, and sure enough, it was gold. That was on January 24 1848. The two men made an effort to keep the news secret, but the story got out and was eventually announced by the President (which, of course, exacerbated things).

The Gold Rush emptied towns as people rushed to stake claims. News finally reached the East coast in 1849, at which point those people rushed as well (these people are called the “Forty-niners”). Even Asians immigrated to try their hand as gold seekers. The population of California at the end of 1849 (this excludes the Indian population), sprang from 800 (in 1848) to an estimated 100, 000 (in 1849)!

Despite the mass immigration to California, the trip was actually very expensive and quite dangerous. There were three ways to California from the East Coast:

1. By sea around Cape horn (at the bottom of South America) – a 6 months journey
2. By sea until you crossed Panama, and then sea again – 1 month (Unfortunately, this passage was not widely used until near the end of the Gold Rush)
3. Across the land – 4-6 months

However, though it was dangerous, as time went on, travel became easier. This helped to encourage Americans to populate the West and the Gold Rush was quite influential in expediting the process of annexing California as a state (California had been Mexican territory but California applied for annexation in 1849, and by 1850 it was granted).

Through the first few years into 1852, 81 million dollars’ worth of gold was extracted! Adjusted for inflation, this totals at almost 2 ½ billion! Incredibly, for a few years, the amount of gold extracted continued to rise.

However, in 1857, the number “only” amounted to 45 million and the amount continued to decrease from there.

Although the gold rush did some good things for the U.S., it also brought on some unfortunate sanctions, such as the following:

1. Men left their families in hopes to strike it rich. Few struck it really rich. Many fathers and sons died traveling. Others, after the expensive commute, found that they were broke and could not make it back, thus separating them from their families forever. This led many of these men to drunkenness and thievery in their depression.
2. Many Americans at this time believed in an ideology known as “Manifest Destiny.” This belief essentially states that Americans had the right to settle anywhere they chose. This led many disillusioned Americans to force the Indians out of California, or even shoot them if they resisted.
3. Many of the Asian (mostly Chinese) gold seekers were often discriminated against.

On a rather ironic note, neither of the two men who originally discovered the California gold (John Sutter and James Marshall) struck it rich. Sutter never even got to start his saw mill because of the major change in the California landscape.

It’s strange that nobody remembers them anymore.

What should Virginia have done before giving editor Norman $500,000?

In the utopian fiction novel, In His Steps by Charles Sheldon, a rich, popular, and prosperous newspaper man, Edward Norman, falls into near bankruptcy after making a pledge to do what Jesus would do. Edward Norman does not, in fact, in my opinion, do what Jesus would do. He acts stupidly (see the footnote for greater information) by refusing to advertise anymore for the tobacco and beer industries and he also decides he will not cover any of the subjectively “un-godly” important news or gossip. He quickly reaps the consequences of making such an action and loses a great deal of subscribers and is on the verge of bankruptcy when he pleads his case to a rich young heiress named Virginia Page. Virginia had been feeling rather conflicted about what is to be done with her inherited funds, as she had also taken the pledge to do as Jesus would do. She felt that it was wrong for her to be possession of such a great deal of wealth, and was unsure of “What Jesus Would Do” in her situation.

So, when editor Edward Norman pleaded his case to young Virginia Page, she readily agrees to give him $500, 000 (adjusted for inflation, this number would be equivalent to millions in today’s dollar).

In this essay, I will present my opinion on what Virginia should have done before giving Edward Norman $500, 000.

First of all, we can well see that Norman has a failing business. When one goes from a state of great wealth, to one of poverty in a relatively short amount of time, you know that there is a problem that must be resolved.

So, what was the problem?

The problem was not that Norman didn’t have the original funds to make the newspaper work; he was previously a very wealthy man. No, the problem was in his business plan. It was that his business plan was a failure.

Thus, the first thing Virginia should have done was to investigate his business plan, see that it was an obvious failure, and help him to design a successful business plan.

As it turns out, Edward did have a new business plan in mind. But Virginia didn’t know that. For all she knew, she could have been wasting a great deal of money that could have done a lot of good for the poor people of her area.

Footnote:

Some of you may be wondering why I think that Norman acted stupidly by quitting his advertising for the beer and tobacco industries and by not covering any of the subjectively ungodly important news or gossip.

First of all, while I disagree with his ideology that the Bible says that it would be wrong to advertise for the beer and tobacco industries, if one believes that God is telling them to do so, then one should definitely do as one feels led.

However, Editor Norman earned almost all of his income through those advertisements and through coverage of those “ungodly” reports.

I would argue that instead of going bankrupt, Norman should have sold his business and with his life savings (which were very large) start a new (subjectively) more “godly” one.