Happy Birthday, Hubble!

For me, the Hubble was a dream come true. Imagine being in space and taking pictures not of the earth, but perhaps of the earths and suns and galaxies to be or the earths and suns and galaxies that were.

What hubble is photographing is simultaneous future and past. And the exact place where WE ALL live, as well... the future and the past. We breathe in the past. We exhale the future.

And if you believe in God and are not a Biblical literalist, you might understand this, as I do, as witnessing with the Hubble the enormity of God with our current understanding of science and imagine what we would see in 200 years! Isn't it just exciting to even THINK and dream about that?!

With our first successful space mission, we busted our own earthly prison to look out into the creation of the past and future!

For instance, go here and see how the photos go from black and white to the magnificent photos here using light wave filtering so that we can see what we cannot see (not all earthly species see the same ranges of light)!

So with this in mind, enjoy a few of my favorite photos and let us celebrate and thank the fabulous scientists from so many fields, religious or not, as well, that think beyond the limits of the known into the greatness of what is... whatever that may be. For me, it is the greatness--the enormity and magnificence of God.

This, from the Swan Nebula, is one of my favorites. It reminds me of the man I loved for so many years, and still so deeply love. He had such a quiet elegance about him.

This (the second photo) one is one of my all time favorites.

At night, in the winter, I watch Orion March across the sky. I have always loved this constellation and this photo of the Orion Nebula is stunning. Had I ever had a son, his name would have been Orion (poor kid!).
This is for Leonardo whose photos and art work are always a gigantic and glorious burst of color.

This sort of reminds me of something slightly out of focus from Harry Potter. Or, it could be a manger with two staring down and the Easter Bunny behind. Heh, Rorschach... what do YOU see?

Happy birthday Hubble!