For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,...For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, ...so that THEY ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE: Col 1:16 / Rom.1:20

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Job's Astronomy: Arcturus

Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? 
Job 38:32

"God described
Arcturus, one of the brightest stars in the night sky. God challenged Job to “guide Arcturus with his sons.” With this challenge, God appeared to be saying, “Hey Job, you think you can direct Arcturus anywhere you want? Well, I can!”

While Arcturus certainly appeared in antiquity to be a single star, in 1971 astronomers discovered there were 52 additional stars connected directionally with Arcturus (known now as the Arcturus stream).
Interestingly, God described Arcturus as having “sons” and Charles Burckhalter, of the Chabot Observatory, (again quoted in Wonder Worlds) said “these stars are a law unto themselves.”
Serviss added, “Arcturus is one of the greatest suns in the universe, is a runaway whose speed of flight is 257 miles per second. Arcturus, we have every reason to believe, possesses thousands of times the mass of our sun… Our sun is traveling only 12 ½ miles a second, but Arcturus is traveling 257 miles a second…

Burckhalter affirmed this description of Arcturus, saying, “This high velocity places Arcturus in that very small class of stars that apparently are a law unto themselves. He is an outsider, a visitor, a stranger within the gates; to speak plainly, Arcturus is a runaway. Newton gives the velocity of a star under control as not more than 25 miles a second, and Arcturus is going 257 miles a second. Therefore, combined attraction of all the stars we know cannot stop him or even turn him in his path.”

Arcturus and “his sons” are
 on a course all their own.
Only God has the power to guide them, just as described in the ancient book of Job."
J.W. Wallace