#213, that's a troublesome concept, yes. God made everything beautiful, but (for His own reasons) He's granted us free will, and He takes that concept very VERY seriously. So when human beings get together and decide to do ugly things, He refuses to override their free will (famine is always a political event; weather changes can be adapted to unless there are people in power interfering for their own purposes). Which is a good thing. I love Him and want to obey Him, but I still don't want Him physically forcing or preventing me to do anything, even when I choose small ugly acts, and I can't imagine anyone would like it. That would be a Stepford universe, and thank God we don't live there.

Awesome pictures.

definitivamente não estamos sozinhos no universo, pois é maravilhoso demais para apenas um punhado de "humanos" poder admirar o cosmo.

Great great great pictures !

... and may God protect us from religion ;-) !

Thanks for the astronmy photos Becky, I love looking at those. I recall sitting on the roof of our house in El Dorado one starry night and realizing that the universe and everythng in it is under no obligation whatsoever to be the way I think it SHOULD be........

So sick of Carl Sagan quotes! He's his own little religion. (False god?) Otherwise a nice set of photos!

-------------------
11.
This should be good! Looking forward to the pics, i'm sure they're going to be amazing as usual :)
But why not call the Holiday Season what it is? Christmas...
Posted by Richard December 1, 08 05:17 PM
-------------------

SO IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY TODAY---MERRY CHRISTMAS.

THE SEASON IS MORE THAN JUST TODAY. IT STARTED FOR ME ON HALLOWEEN AND THANKSGIVING AND RUNS TIL LITTLE CHRISTMAS/EPIPHANY.

stop being so silly. your anger is showing

Doesn't anyone think it's interesting that we only "see" the "visible spectrum"?

Well...

I've sent this calender to all my love-to-have-their-minds-blown friends.

Thank you.

Big pictures of big stuff. Been looking at them for years.
The bottom line is, So what?

Thank you.

Our sun is a star. There are up to 400,000,000,000 (400 billion) stars in just our own Milky Way galaxy. Moreover, there are up to 500,000,000,000 (500 Billion) galaxies in the universe.

Most American "Christians" believe that man/woman was made "in the image" of the being that created all this. Most also believe we are on the only planet where "life" exists in this entire, vast universe.

And they were willing to kill more than 1 million people, most entirely innocent, for Bush’s war of choice in Iraq that was based on lies. With no consequences for the liars?

We are so lost without the Father! Thinking anyone of us has in our mind all we need. The moment we think that, we begin to slip away in more ways than most are given to understand. And to think that many believe the lie that existence happened on its own. Whatever you are convicted of, research it with all you've been given because you will need to be able to stand. Never stop questioning.
Please don't be afraid to call out to the most High to show you the way. What have you got to lose but an amazing spiritual experience and eternal life. There is truth and it will become self evident. Beautiful pictures!
Love you all. John

What a glorious array of images... I live in beautiful Perth in Western Australia and discovered your blog on my own voyage of discovery around google news. Have sent link to my NASA mad brother. Many blessings to all Bostonians from Perth. Rosie xx

SUBHAN ALLAH:
ALLAH IS GREAT; AND IS EVERY WHERE AND EVERY THERE.
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND AWESOME PICTURE FROM GALAXY I HAVE EVER SEEN.

WISHING YOU ALL A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2009

Believe what you will, but please don't take Albert Einstein's name in vain. No, he never said " the complexity of the universe demands the existence of a creator, but we may never know Him." Did your preacher tell you that?

Referring to- 215.So beautiful, so complex, there are physical interactions to numerous to count every second in the universe and yet it holds together, in balance, exploding here, imploding there. Einstein said the complexity of the universe demands the existence of a creator, but we may never know Him. The joy of this season is that we can.

Posted by Rob December 22, 08 10:40 PM

Stop and think for a minute !!!!!!!!!
has anyone noticed that with all our science studies there has been no trace of life in all of these photos.Well,how come the earth is completely away from all that mess out there?doesn't any body see that we were placed here to enjoy our beautifully created earth. you can believe in all the science you want,but you better believe that there is a power out there we should all be appreciative of.

Each one chooses where to place their faith-in themselves, mankind, technology, knowledge or in something larger, that they cannot fully imagine, understand, fathom or quantify. The pictures speak to the unimagined, unknown,
unfathonable and unquantifiable- beyond desciption.

@245:

AMEN to that brother!

@Boston big picture: Thanks for being in my life ;-)

These pictures are amazing, but what most people don't understand and what is rarely mentioned is that these sorts of astronomical pictures, while undoubtedly beautiful, are largely the result of intense image enhancement and manipulation.

None of the objects look much like the pictures . The colors have been greatly exaggerated and lighting improved to provide details. The objects would be unrecognizable to the naked eye looking directly through a telescope.

At best an observer would see a fuzzy gray image with a slight hint of color.

Mr. Taylor:

Your work is a true and real gift. I have been a fan since the first days of The Big Picture. I have laughed out loud. I have cried. I have marveled at the goodness of man… and the evil. I have seen jaw-dropping images and been rendered speechless. I have shared your artistry with everyone I know. I have added many Web sites that you’ve mentioned to my daily cruise to check out the condition of life here on Earth. I am much better educated since having met you. I am eternally grateful.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth. (Psalms 57:5)

If people are going to sit here and comment on what they feel to be factual scripture. Can you at least use some grammer or fix your spelling?
There is nothing worse than someone acting like they have a brain or are more intelligent than others, and they cant even type the language properly.
I dont understand how the majoritory of religious nuts appear to be uneducated illiterate sheep. Has anyone else noticed that it was the religious people that started this argument in here, by pushing their beleifs on a scientific community?

As an example of this i give you poster #199
(actual post)

"The photographs of galaxies so far away show us the POWER OF A CREATOR, we human cannot and will not fathom the extent and mysteries of the CREATION. As we understand so far CREATION & DESTRUCTION is an unending cycle. I cannot understand the thinking of some earthlings as to why the front door has to be marked with sheep blood to make it easy for the CREATOR to know that his chosen ones live in the house. I am referring to Passover. The CREATOR does not tell tale signs."

(This would have made more sense typed as)

The photographs of galaxies so far away show us the power of a creator, we humans cannot and will not be able to fathom the extent and mysteries of creation. What we understand so far of creation and destruction is that it is an unending cycle. I cannot understand how some people (earthlings? are you from outer space sir?) still feel the front door has to be marked with sheeps blood to make it easier for the creator to know that his chosen ones live in the house. I am referring to Passover. (I dont understand how that fits into the discussion) The creator does not tell tall tales? (tale signs. what are tale signs?)

This whole post is not really relevant at all to the topic. Apart from his initial comment. He goes from the photos showing the power of a creator to passover (which has absolutly nothing to do with the topic at hand) in three sentences. Im sure the greater religious community can dredge something better from the bottom of the barrel, people that post things like this are just an embarrassment to all concerned.

If your going to try and sound intelligent you may as well look intelligent.

If i were religious i would NOT want to be associated with dullards like this.

Thank you so much! What a gift you've given us by putting these online. The images were stunning and totally provocative. And I thought the Dec. 25th Carl Sagan quote was also perfect. Once again, many, many thanks and I hope you keep the site up for a long, long time!

Laws of the Universe tell us that something greater exists. We are all part of this vastly expanding Universe, we are all energy and contribute to the overall power. Each and every one of us is connected to this incredible universal expanding energy field. Knowing this and seeing these photos reminds me of just how large we really are as humans. We all have a purpose in the here and now as well as infinitely. Realizing God is a loving law that governs this and not a being separate from us helps this whole experience make sense to me. God does exist to me and because we question this fact is all part of our growth as spiritual beings residing on this planet earth. IMHO .

wrong

These pictures owe as much to the artistry of the image technicians as the telescope itself. It's great that the telescope can capture such fine detail, but it is the post-processing that makes these images as beautiful as they are.

These colors as shown to not exist in nature; they are evidence of a creator but unfortunately that creator is an image specialist sitting in front of computer adding colour and clarity.

Picture #6 is a cosmic reminder that the eye of God looks upon all sinners with love and compassion.

Peace in 2009

Images are a bit noisy. Run them through Noise Nina, boost contrast, and maybe lower the f-stop on hubble by a little bit. Where is the EXIF data?

: )

In the Book of Barney Rubble, II:14, heretofore unpublished, it is said "let the fools among us change the subject and debate the undebatable; as for me, I shall enjoy the aesthetic miracles of the Hubble".

Thank you very much for these; they are simply glorious.

Best Advent Calendar of the year, I think!

Amazing how these photos bring out the best and worst in some of us. For the Atheist I say, If you are right and their is no God that created the stars and all that exists other than the earth, then once you breath your last breath that's it for you. However if you believe in God who claimes to have made it all, then you have what he promises, eternity to study his Creation and if your wrong then you have what the Atheist has, nothing. Much better to be in the ark if there was a flood, Christ has the answere to the Universe no one else claimes to have it. Thanks for building my faith with you pics and information on them.

Is there a Calender to hang on our walls?
"They are many we are few, what to do? Close your eyes before you go crazy!

No life out there? When you look at a drop of water at your feet you do not see the microscopic life. Your looking at light that has been compiled over years of pictures and thousands or more years of travel. I doubt we'll know there is no life out there until we've traveled everywhere.

Awesome!!!! And for those of you who DO think of God while viewing these pictures....I'll see you in Eternity...the rest of you...., well, I'll pray you see the REAL light.

Astounding photos and processing. Disappointed, but not surprised, that the comments contain no references to the physics behind the shapes and patterns, and in particular, the electrical nature of the universe.

Unbelievable. Carl Sagan's quote nails it home for me. We are absolutely inconsequential in the scheme of things. We are merely a speck of floating dust among an infinite amount of other specks. What I hold on to so dearly in this life may seem important to me, but looking at these pictures makes me feel my belief system is absolutely stupid(for lack of a better word). Lately I have been thinking about the messed up nature of humanity in the world today but in a way these pictures make me feel better. I hope everyone out there someday realizes we are in a tiny corner of the universe and all we have is each other. All we can do is love one another until we die off and make room for others.

boston.com has the most amazing photo collections, and this is the best of all. thanks for closing with that magnificent quotation by the late great Carl Sagan. I have chills!

EVERYBODY BELIEVES ONE DAY, SOME BEFORE THEY DIE, SOME AFTER. This is a world of examination. Even Though Allah writes "Allah exists" in the sky, some people will find some other explanations to say it's because of this or that reason. If you close your ears or if you are determined to hate music, let Bethoween play his most beautiful pieces of music. If the picture you have drawn doesn't recognise you as the master, it doesn't change the fact that you have drawn it. It only shows that the picture lacks intelligent.

#279 These visions of Hellfire are just but a hint of what the Lord has in store for you mocking atheist goons.

wow theres some nasty christians here

Both the atheists and the religious are being particularly silly and rude here.

Instead of telling them that they are wrong, try to educate them.

Explain to the religious the physics of these events so that they can understand why we don't believe a god is necessary for such beauty (hell, beauty is subjective to humans anyway).

And the religious can explain to the atheists that these old scriptures prove them wrong...oh wait never mind. Physics > Bible.

All this amazing beauty, and NONE of it is described in any ancient religious text.

Science brought us these images - the search for truth through evidence and methodology. In other words, the exact opposite of what "religious education" teaches us.

Science, facts, evidence, critical thinking, cooperation - only these can carry us past our current problems, can preserve our beautiful blue ball, and can one day carry us beyond it.

Thank you for a truly inspiring set of images.

@ 291.-
"Instead of telling them that they are wrong, try to educate them."

Did you try to educate a fundamentalist?. Just try once, it's the most frustrating thing ever.

The photos... I was speechless

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We find these pictures beautiful because we are wired up that way. And because the people who framed the images and, sometimes, who chose the colours (yeah, some of these pics show false colours) are... well... people. There is no god in that: there's only our minds working as they've evolved to work. Had they evolved any differently, the pictures displayed here would be different, and yet those altered people would stare at them in awe, just as we do.

Last but not least, we can see this beauty not because some bunch of mystical ascets prayed really hard, but because some people have dropped all dogma and began probing the true nature of things. We call them scientists, and they are the reason why we have a telescope in orbit, computers in our homes and the internt to bring that telescope's images to our computers. There's no god in that either.

Thanks, The Big Picture. You're one of the best blogs in the internet.

RE: post #273 Posted by Sick of religious nazi's pushing their belief's December 26, 08 10:13 PM

I'm not sure if you were just trying to be clever, but you misspelled grammar, majority and beliefs. Also, there were instances of unnecessary or misplaced commas in your post. Way to bag on other people though. And another thing, these photos have NOTHING to do with the existence (or the non-existence) of a God, Allah, Ganesh, Vishnu, Creator or any other deity you can think of. So just sit back, enjoy and by all means, LEAVE IT BE!!

Richard Dawkins & Charles Darwkin beats "Saint" Paul & Jesus "Christ" and day of the week!

InshAllah. Glory be to Allah. These pictures prove his power and goodness.

It doesn't matter what you believe about where all those stars came from or weather you believe in God. Keep those oppinions to yourselves. This is how Holocausts are created.
Think about how you would feel before you say something insultling.

Hey....#213.....
What if the universe IS God and God IS the universe?What if the entire universe is the cumulative mass of the original creator and we simply don't understand how to communicate?

yeh. great pictures. but i have a dream to see it by my own eyes.

WOW! don't think all this will ever be understood, so I think I'll go home and play with my 3 year old son and be glad I'm alive.
Peace to all

Comment from Julia (8 years old):

GOD IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The pictures are wonderful!!!!

#245 :-) Amen brother!!!!

> but i have a dream to see it by my own eyes.

Unfortunately, these objects look nothing like this to the naked eye. Even if you had the ability to view directly through the Hubble's optics, all you would see are fuzz blobs. These pictures are the result of heavy computer processing and coloring by image technicians. The pictures aren't a complete "lie" because you need Hubble to capture the fine details, but the public really should be aware of what the raw images really look like.

Wow! I appreciate the descriptions. They are without a doubt, nebulous!

no. 21 made me cry, wonder & just gaze.

& they say this is a tiny part of the big picture. WOW... speechless...

& this is all my entity represents. Respect... respect everyone, everything, everywhere... we are nothing.

Simply amazing.

Star Trek now makes more sense than ever. Who WOULDN'T dream about humans traveling around the universe in ships to see these incredible wonders up close.

Lindo, belo, inimaginável há anos atrás. Apenas vem demonstrar o quão infinitamente minúsculos somos no cosmos... obrigado. JotaErre

At one level of consciousness I experience awe and wonder and in one domain of language I stammer before the Great Mystery of it all - in the Ground of Being of which I intuitively sense we are each and all an interconnected sacralized part. Living the questions feels like a joyous grand adventure - like a kid in the candy-store of the Universe. Whee !!!

What beautiful images these are whether they are enhanced or not. Could you imagine being able to go to all these different places to learn about all the different things that must be out there in the Universe. Just think of all the things out there to be discovered and learned. God willing someday we will get to experience this. These pictures are beautiful and thank you very much for sharing them with us all.
Everyone please try and get along for a change. We are asked by God to spread his word to those who do not believe. Do this with gentleness and respect. I also think that everyone else should respect each others beliefs by letting that person state those beliefs without telling those who do not believe as they do they are wrong. Stop bashing each other because your beliefs are different or because you have a personal problem with how someone else chooses to believe. Accept that some believe different and get to know those people they might just be someone you might like.

Why don't we just enjoy the photos and let each other be? This arguing helps nobody and only makes us all look childish. We should each have our own beliefs and not force them on others. Respect each other and let us move forward.

Peace

This is my reply to the religious postings here:
-----------------------
John Lennon - Imagine lyrics

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

....

Search Google for full lyrics

Number 273: With all your grandstanding on the uneducated religious nuts you harp on in your tirade, you may want to wash down your foot with a nice beverage. And I quote you: "If your going to try and sound intelligent you may as well look intelligent." Nice job there liberal kook. Know the difference between "your" and "you're"....YOU'RE the dullard!

Number 273: 313 is right about your grammar. You should also know that "I" should always be capitalized. But, that is the what liberals do when they can't prove "the right" wrong. Liberals will point out a mistake and use that mistake to try and dispute the truth. I am not a college graduate, and I have probably made some grammatical errors here, but at least I know their is a God. I also know that you don't have to be "right wing" to be a Christian, or do you? Since the word Christian has the root word Christ, and in Christ's day people that acted like him were the only ones that were called Christians, I wonder if any of us can truthfully claim to be Christians. Read God's Word and you'll see Jesus was right wing!

What marvelous pictures! And I enjoy how the expanse of sky can stimulate thought that is not so fettered by the ol' mundane ... theology, for instance.

I have slept beneath the stars many a night. My friends and I have played "name that constellation" and invented our own; "Look, it's the tipsy teapot."

Once, waking with a clear mind, I could actually "see" the night sky as it really is. I could "see" the depths of space. I could see some bright stars were verrry far away, and I could see that some small, dim stars were rather close. For perhaps a second my mind did not interfere with the light entering my eyes. Then my conventional mind stepped to the command seat and the miracle of real sight disappeared and all those lights resumed looking like pinholes in a big, dark shell over us. Sometimes our education blinds us.

I was taught as a youngster that there are four fundamental forces in the universe; gravity, magnetism, electromagnetism, and the dance of strong and weak forces. I insist that there is a fifth force; life. Whenever the right constituents are brought together, life results. This is neither an argument for nor against a godhead, but my insistence that in this infinite Petri dish we are not the only culture.

Neat stuff. But where would I ride my 4-wheeler?

As a single sand
faces the vast open sea --
life:eternity.

REMARKABLE PHOTOS. SHOWS THE POWER AND THE GENIUS OF SCIENTISTS IN THEIR SEARCH FOR LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS. ONLY FREE MINDS CAN DO THIS, NOT RELIGIOUS FANATICS OF ANY PERSUASION.

Say, who says that its not of God? The only explanation I can speak of is "God always was and always will be".. How can it be explained, where did these beutiful creations start, from what beginning? Thank you God for the creations. I see it as all God in many miracle creations. All as one as we are all in one. Just my belief as one.

What I'm finding distressing here, far from the beauty and inspiration of these images is the yelling "at" one another going on from militant atheists to literalist readers of the Old Testament in the fundamentalist Christian camp. It seems, if nothing else that you need each other.

First, not all Christians and Jews take the Genesis story of creation literally or ever have. Literalists who say it's accurate word for word are a tiny minority of Christans. The first problem, of course, is which of the three creation stories interwoven in Genesis 1 is the right one to take literally?

Of course, lowering the volume on either side might mean having to admit that these images are moving, awe inspiring and simply beautiful no matter how the universe came into being.

For me, as a Christian, there is room for both God and science and these images celebrate both. And, for the record, no the universe was not created in 6 solar days some 4000 years ago. nor does anything biblical say it was.

Now then, let's just all enjoy creation for what it is, infinitely variable, stunning and wonderful.

Some of us are in for a big surprise at the end. Will it be those who believe or those who do not? One thing I do know is that humanity is a weak god. Whether or not you believe is unimportant to anyone but you. To engage in these endless and pointless arguments solves nothing and wastes a lot of energy and lives. The universe, depicted herein, will continue long after all of us are gone. Appreciate it in your own capacity; logical, emotional, or otherwise, but don't perpetuate hate. That is wrong no matter what you believe.

I'm so happy you ended with Pale Blue Dot. That's about my favorite by far.

Happy Holidays and a happy and healthy 2009!

...which reminds me of the two fleas on the back of the dog arguing about who owned the dog.

Simply amazing, infinite and universal THANKS God and the Stars bless you!

To # 263... How does the "Most High" show you the way? What decisions does he/she make for you? Might it be that you are making decisions on your own and choose to frame them as direction from the "most high" to make yourself feel more comfortable with your path? Please note that I am a firm believer in a higher power and I see evidence of he/she in many places. I just don't understand how one person telling others to take direction from a higher power accomplishes anything. unless you think god speaks directly to us, what you really want us to do is make choices that are like yours so that you can feel validated as a person. All organized religion is about people feeling validated and not about god.

Recordemos que todos somos parte del cosmos y el cosmos es parte de cada uno de nosotros.
Fluir en armonía con el universo hace que el universo entero conspire a nuestro favor.
Gracias por estas bellas fotografías.

There's gotta be lives up there ... the odds have it ... some more advanced than us, some less but then, who's measuring? .... only our egos cause us to think otherwise! It's got nothing to do with whether there's a deity or not!

nosssa muito interessante todas essas imagens.,..
parabens....

Great pictures. Yes, amen to #245, brother! And curiously, it seems like only the religious freaks are the ones arguing here. Hmmm.....

God is.

Excellent comment #245, thanks. After viewing these extraordinary images, I took a moment to view Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot on youtube again. Reading his quote here was great, but there's something special in actually listening to him speak it.

@ 291, i agree with the first part of your comment, but the second part i found rather condiscending. as a very religious person myself, and future missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (serving in Fort Lauderdale, Florida speaking spanish as of February 4th, 09) I believe in the principle of teaching. Not debate (though i realize our sometime rather irrational minds lead us to that, even when we mean not to.) in the bible, and through the study of it you may find two doctrines:

1. That God wants us to know that "He's the boss" and much bigger than us in the Grand Scheme of things; that heaven is our ultimate goal and nothing else really matters,

and 2. That Christ often taught in parables and drew parallels to help us understand.
a
If so, I believe both of these come together to show what the Universe really is (concerning "The pale dot"): That we (represented by Earth) are, truly just noting when compared to The Almighty (represented by the Universe). Isn't it humbling to know that despite our seeming insignicant there is an ultimate God who cares for us each individually?

I myself KNOW there is a God who cares for me. NOT because someone told me, or explained it through reasoning, but because my Heavenly Father, through His Holy Spirit, revealed the truthfulness of it unto me, and therefore i harbor no doubt in my mind of the truthfulness of these things; else why would i give up two years of my life at 19 to go out and preach it to the world?

the comment immediately before mine (331) stated it simply: "god is;" and why His Son, Jesus Christ, created this universe and all of it's wonders matters not to me. the only thing that matters is that He did it and that my only reason for being alive is to serve Him Whole heartedly. even to death.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Son imagenes preciosas a la par que intrigantes.

Thank you so much for this fabulous Christmas gift! I was dazzled daily. Sure hope you do this again. Do we love the Hubble or what?!

Kiitos hienoista kuvista!

The atheists have the biggest amount of faith here.

I mean honestly, to look at these pictures and this it happened by chance... a big bang... I don't know how they do it.

Go read the Bible. Then look at these pictures

Absolutely stunning collection of images. I will have facinating desktop backgrounds for years to come. Well done, thank you very much.

Truly amazing and incredible! ....thankfully we don't inhabit the universe otherwise it would be pretty well trashed like our 'pale blue dot'

Mais uma vez podemos dizer que Giordano Bruno tinha razão.

@333 - The Bible authors claim that the world is a flat circle (Isaiah 40:22, the Hebrew word 'chug' CANNOT mean spherical in the context used). This flat world was immovable (1 Chronicles 16:30). The sky was solid (Job 37:18) with the sun, moon and stars affixed to this solid sky dome (Genesis 1:16-17). The sky dome existed to keep out the waters of the upper heavens (Genesis 1:6), with windows to allow rain and the flood of Noah (Genesis 7:11-12). Never let the truth get in the way of a good sermon.

Fabulouse photographs

Thank you for this beautiful gift

TAB~

OMG

@ 341 how do you even know that in Isaiah 40:22 "It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth" is even making a reference to the matter of the dimensionality of the earth? from reading the surrounding verses the reference is actually supporting my argument: in 18: To whom then will ye liken god... and then in 22 , "he" is God and the inhabitants, the grasshoppers, are being compared to us. You are also taking chronicles too literally. in fact, it is speaking in future tense here, if you want to take it literally, it implies the earth will become immovable in the future, thus implying that it moves at the current time this scripture was written. And with job, i don't even know where you get that the sky is solid. it says "hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and AS a looking glass?" this is obviously a mere simily, and this chapter is talking about God's control over the elements... if god wanted i'm sure he could make the atmosphere freeze over and become solid, heh.also, the verses 16-17 in genisis 1 make no reference to this dome, but that "God set them in the firmament of heaven" nothing there suggests them staying in one place or being affixed to one spot rotating around the earth.(firmamant meaning the atmosphere or the sidereal of heavens depending on the context). then in verse 6, the firmament dividing waters from waters is not any dome. (see firmament definition above). and again in noah you take the verse far too literally. and finally, for you further interest, see Helamen 12:15 in the Book of Mormon, which states that "...Surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun."

I hope this helps you see my point of veiw. also, please note that neither of us will ever convince the other of the others point without a way to find which is true for sure. who knows what man can find the truth? But surely God knows all and will reveal all if you but ask in his son's name, if it be true, and i promise you, if you ask with real intent, having faith in the Lord god, it shall be revealed unto you.

I like what Bob Marley said about it. "We're sick and tired of the ism schism game, died and gone to heaven lord in Jesus name. We know when we understand the mighty God is a living man". Thats it, enjoy eternity whether you believe it or not.

I too have loved these photographs, but as pure science - why term it an advent calendar. Why sully the secular nature of scientific achievement with religious rhetoric?

Carl Sagan was a great human being who truly understood the sheer mass of our universe as few can. His writing, however it is taken, is a gemstone in the crown of mankind.

Oh Gott
welch einen fantastischen Einblick bekommen wir.
und was für ein wunderschönes kleines blaues Sternchen ist unsere Erde
Ein Sandkorn im Universum, auf dem sich einige Verrückte, Geld und Machtpolitisch die Köpfe einhauen. Welche Kleingeister!
Gebt Euch die Hände und macht Frieden auf dieser Welt.
Gesegnete Zeit und Friede auf Erden. Erdling Horst

There is no time, there is no space
there is nothing like the human race
insignificant though we are, we dream and search
for truth afar
someday we'll find it on Earth under a star.

vamos morrer '0'

#302 GOD IS AMAZING
Posted by an EIGHT year old. You must wonder why and how an eight year old would have the reasoning and understanding to be convinced of a creator. The same reason Charles Darwin, originally a religous man and often (incorrectly) believed to be the father of the theory of evolution, invalidated religion in his mind - because children are often indoctinated with it from the word go. Perceptions and beliefs are often frivolous.

In my eyes, people get comfort, reason and an increased sense of significance from their religious beliefs (I do wonder how many religious people have treuly read the Old Testament - there is some quite horrific content). My issue with religion is why would such an almighty creator provide humans with free will and then sentence them to damnation when they question their existance or deny it - this would be hugely hypocritical. If one exists, then we are what they made us!

These images are phenominal! The mind boggles with the possibilities!

Pika pika!

I remembered someone had sent me a link to these photos early in December, but I forgot to check back daily. I just went through all of them and am in awe. Though I know the actual universe does not appear this way, these are absolutely beautiful photos. They gave me a wonderful feeling.

Then I read the comments from adults who should have learned how to let other people have their own opinions by now. I'm not looking forward to living on the same planet as you guys for the rest of my life.