What, Oh Man, Now Do You Know?

Photo credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

See, oh man, His hand of might;

Study here His glories bright.

Can you summon half this show?

What, oh man, now do you know?

-- K. Hartnett, August 2002

Where were you when I laid the Earth's foundation?  Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!  Who stretched a measuring line across it?  Do you know the laws of the heavens?  Can you set up God's dominion over the earth?  (Job 38: 4,5,33)

The And Nebula - Much to Explain

Named because its shape  resembles the head and thorax of a common garden ant, (as viewed from small, ground-based telescopes) this amazing object defies as easy an astronomical explanation of its nature.  Most scientists agree that the central star of this nebula is near the end of its normal lifetime.  Stars are immense and extremely complex energy sources with strong magnetic and gravitational fields. Nuclear fusion at their cores produce expanding pressures that are marvelously balanced by the weight of the overlying gas layers.  As the ratio of fuel to fuel-products in a star changes over time, mathematical models predict situations can exist that alternately cause the star to implode or explode.  Sometimes stars apparently blow off their outer layers, collapse and then live to explode again.   In the case of the Ant Nebula (also known as Menzel 3) multiple out gassings have produced a very complex structure.  The reason for its overall bi-polar shape is not yet understood.

He who teaches man knowledge- the Lord- knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath. (Psalm 94:10,11)

The scripture verses cited above from the book of Job are only a few from this much larger chapter of similar challenges from God to Job.  The basic message of the section is this: our wisdom and understanding cannot even begin to compare with God’s.  What astronomers thought they knew about the causes of planetary nebulae they now recognize as only a very small part of the complete picture.  This poem picks up the spirit of the challenge in Job 38 and applies it to man’s comprehension of these marvelous and mysterious celestial objects.