Worlds Without Number

If you have been following the recent search for planets orbiting other stars, you have probably seen the quick progress astrophysicists have made in the last few years. There are a couple of ways they can tell if a planet similar to earth orbits another star, measuring the light coming from the star and observing how the light changes / bends as the planet passes between us and the star. They can also use the gravitational pull of the planet on the star, since it causes the star to wobble slightly. But very, very, very slightly, since a planet is so much smaller than the star. The first method is easier to measure, but its very rare for a planet to align directly with the earth for us to observe. It seems that the more they observe, the most they realize that other solar systems are roughly like ours. In a recent paper publishing results of the first method mentioned above, the co-author admits, "We used to think that the Earth might be unique in our galaxy. But now it seems that there are literally billions of planets with masses similar to Earth orbiting stars in the Milky Way".

That pretty much sums it up. This one is simple. Astrophysicists used to think Earth was unique in the galaxy, in that few stars have planets that could possibly support life. Many other religions think that Earth is the only place with life. Now scientists know that planets probably exist around most stars. They are on the hunt for more. This lines up pretty well with what God told Moses in Moses 1:33, "worlds without number have I created" and in v35, "and there are many [worlds] that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man." We knew this back in 1830.

The next thing I am waiting for is this: confirmation of life on these other worlds. Scientists can tell what is in the atmosphere of a planet by how light is filtered through the thin film around the planet. It wont be long until they are sensitive enough to accurately measure the atmospheres of these new worlds. And it wont be long after that when they find one with an atmosphere that must contain life. That will shake things up a bit.