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.

A Ridiculous Piece of Utopian Literature

English Lesson 160

As you will all remember from my last post in which I covered several aspects of the very popular socialist utopian fiction novel Looking Backward (written by Edward Bellamy), the main character Mr. West (a man born in the 1800’s) was miraculously preserved in a vegetative sleep for over a century. I left off in my last post discussing the fallacious actions of Dr. Leete. I have now completed reading the book.

This book, as you will see if you complete reading my last post and this one, was a ridiculous piece of utopian literature. However, it amazingly inspired many people of the 18th century (the time in which the book was written) to embrace the concepts of communism. This book was a huge proponent in the rise of the communist ideology.

To bring you up to speed, Mr. West finds that he has fallen in love with Edith Leete. He then finds out that she is the grand-daughter of Mr. West’s old fiancé (the one to whom he was betrothed before he left her behind in the 19^th century). He finds that she has also been in love with him…

And so it seems that they will live happily ever after. Then he goes to sleep.

Now he wakes up…except, he is back in the 19^th century. The author now informs us that his vision of the 21^st century was all merely a dream! Mr. West goes around views his society and the class system therein to be horrendous. It is with new eyes that he lectures and rebukes the men of the day on his enlightenment and the glory that the future can hold. However, the men reject him and are violent toward him – calling him names. Then, all of sudden…

He wakes up. Now the author informs us that he dreamed about having a dream and that the reality was what we would consider the least probable and the most akin to fiction. It is now that he goes and lives his utopian life.

This essay will be my opinion on which of the two “dreams” was more realistic: When he woke up in 1887 or 2000.

I will inform you that it was, in fact, rather disappointing to read that his utopian revelation had been but a dream; and that it was rather relieving to find that his dream of having a dream was a dream. However, it is my opinion that that his dream of waking up in 1887 was much more realistic.

The first reason for why the dream of waking up in 1887 is more realistic is because of the reactions of the countrymen. While Mr. West had been a pushover and simply accepted everything as “the way it is,” the countrymen thought him looney. They laughed and mocked him. Their reaction was a natural, realistic one.

The second reason for why the dream of waking up in 1887 is more realistic is because of the inconsistencies in the plot that had polluted the story thus far. While the novel had managed to convert thousands to the socialist mindset (in real life), it had not only failed to show how the characters in the novel had managed the peaceful, bloodless revolution of the transition from the peak of Capitalism to the alleged perfection of Socialism; it had neglected to include an action step – a call for action – the first step towards achieving the society outlined and portrayed in great detail throughout the book. It made no sense that the wealthy of society would, out of the blue, give up all their riches to the state where the state would re-distribute all the wealth. There was no mention to the steps of the formation of the government, only descriptions of how the government looked once fully formed.

In summary, the dream of waking up in 1887 after his vision of the year 2000 was more realistic than the “dream” of waking up in the year 2000 because of the reactions of the reactions to do socialist idealism and also because of the inconsistencies of the alternative option.

Role Models

English Lesson 76

As we can see from the sentence above, this post is an essay which was assigned by my school curriculum. The topic is: “Can people who are not famous be better role models than people who are famous?” I will address this topic, but I will take it a little further than I was assigned, because I want to show truth.

Let’s jump right in by picking a few examples of famous people:

1. Donald Trump
2. Norma Jeane Mortenson (Marilyn Monroe)
3. Benjamin Franklin

Let’s start with #1: Mr. Trump

Donald Trump

American president, former reality TV show star, and married (at least) 3 times.

Now, I will not bore you with my political opinions, but I will give you my opinion on him as a role model. First of all, his personal life is a wreck. He has a broken family (actually, several) and that by itself is a major hint that you would not want him as your marriage counsellor! However, though he may not be the best president in the history of the U.S. and though he has made some mistakes, he has not been the worst. Not to mention the fact that his reality TV days are not over yet! You see, as a president, he has more responsibility; yet, he acts much the same as he would if he were still an entertainer! But you wouldn’t want to copy his style of humour if you want to make friends!

Next, is Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn Monroe

American actress, model, and singer, married 2 times, had relations with those to whom she was not married.

Marilyn never knew her father and didn’t have a great relationship with her mother as her mother was schizophrenic and had mental issues. For these reasons, she was in-and-out of orphanages and foster homes. There is no doubt that Marilyn had a rough childhood (including being raped at age 11), but her actions were despicable in that she flaunted her body (with which her latter husband was unpleased) and made a living by provoking other’s minds to go to un-godly thoughts (to put it nicely). She eventually died of a drug overdose at 36 (believed by many to be suicide).

Last, we have Benjamin Franklin.

Benjamin Franklin

Printer, publisher, author, inventor, scientist, and diplomat.

Benjamin was the 10^th son born to a man who had 17 children. He helped draft the Declaration of Independence and was very influential regarding his study of the nature of electricity.³ Though Benjamin’s faults are known (his lust for women and his love for alcohol are well documented) he made an exceptional effort to become extremely virtuous. He made a chart on one column he wrote the 7 days of the week, and on the other he wrote the following virtues which he hoped to improve upon:

1. Temperance
2. Silence
3. Order
4. Resolution
5. Frugality
6. Industry
7. Sincerity
8. Justice
9. Moderation
10. Cleanliness
11. Tranquility
12. Chastity
13. Humility

He never did become perfect, but who could be? We all need a Savior and we all need to realize our faults. The Bible says we all fall short of the glory of God, but that through Christ, we can be saved and be made clean – as white as snow!

To sum up those famous people, I would say that obviously they are not perfect. Some of them made more out of their life than others. Some tried harder than others to correct their faults. I think that every person has something that they can share and that the listener can benefit from. They may be wrong in a lot of their beliefs and they may disagree with you on the rest, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have something valuable to say. To discard their advice by “shooting the messenger” would be to commit a logical fallacy called ‘Ad Hominem’ (Latin for, “to the man”).

So far, I have talked lots about famous people, but not so much about a non-famous potential role model. To finish up, I’d like to talk about someone I admire a lot. Someone I have learned uncountable life lessons from. Someone I would aspire to be like. That person is my Dad. He grew up in a Christian family in which Biblical worldviews were wisely impressed upon him. My Dad has gone through a lot in his life; he has done a lot of things. But the things I admire him most for are the things he did for God and others. My Dad is not super famous (though he has a successful business for which he is known within a specific group of people) but he has character. He is a man. He has something many people lack or have lost: honour.

In conclusion, people who are famous are not necessarily better role models (or worse role models) than those who are non-famous. I wouldn’t want to grow up and have my story play out like Trump’s or like Marilyn’s, but I would want to incorporate Benjamin’s love for personal perfection. My Dad, though he is not famous (and will remain for the time being anonymous), is my role model. He is not perfect either (pretty close, though, Dad), but he tries. If my Dad were to run for a high political position and should become famous, he would not lose his virtues. Then, in that case, there would be a famous person who was a better role model than most other people in the world!

~SonofYHWH

Sources:

1. https://www.biography.com/actor/marilyn-monroe
2. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/19268/14-breathless-facts-about-marilyn-monroe
3. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benjamin-Franklin