Eclipse 2024: Science, the News, Faith, and Me

Posted on April 6, 2024 by Brian H. Gill
Ernest Wright/NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio's map, showing 'the path of the 2017 total solar eclipse, crossing from Oregon to South Carolina, and the 2024 total solar eclipse, crossing from Mexico into Texas, up to Maine, and exiting over Canada'. (2024)
Paths of 2017’s total solar eclipse and 2024’s. (Ernest Wright/NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio)

Next week’s solar eclipse won’t be total here in central Minnesota.

I’m not terribly disappointed, since the odds are that I couldn’t see it anyway. There’s rain in the five-day forecast. We need rain a great deal more than I need to see an eclipse of the sun. Still, it would have been nice.

In any case, this household is still under quarantine: which wouldn’t keep me from stepping outside, but having COVID-19 again leaves me feeling less than chipper. I’m wandering off-topic.

Eclipses: Predictable, But Not Locally Frequent

Sagredo (2008), Cmglee's (2015) illustrations of eclipse geometries'. via Wikipedia, used w/o permission.
Solar eclipse geometries, illus. by Sagredo and Cmglee. (2008, 2015)

Eclipses of the sun, total and otherwise, happen fairly regularly. But they’re not all that frequent in any one place. The last total solar eclipse for the contiguous United States was in 2017, the next one won’t come around until 2045. Or so I gather.

The 2045 eclipse will follow a path similar to the one in 2017, so I suspect they’re both part of an eclipse cycle. But I haven’t researched that.

I have, however, put a few links to eclipse-related stuff at the end of this post. Some of it’s from my 2017 ‘eclipse’ post.1

Headlines, Religion, and Me

From my news feed, Thursday afternoon, April 4, 2024: ''For some Christians, a solar eclipse signals the second coming of Christ'.News coverage of this year’s total solar eclipse isn’t quite like it was in 2017.

Partly, I suspect, because this is an election year; so I’m seeing my country’s traditional verbal fewmet-flinging.

And that’s another topic. Or maybe not so much.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen “Christians believe” in my news feed, followed by the latest End Times Bible Prophecy.

And, although I suppose it’s inevitable that someone’s put an apocalyptic spin on this year’s eclipse, at least the headline I noticed said “…some Christians…”.

Maybe word’s getting around that we’re not all gullible marks, eagerly waiting for someone with Bible bits, imagination, and a not-unreasonable confidence that the last fizzled End Times Bible Prophecy is long-forgotten.

I’m a Christian, and a Catholic, so I see a “religion” angle to next week’s eclipse: but it’s not some variation on the usual ‘signs in the sky’ prognostication. I’ll get back to that.

NASA’s Eclipse Chasers

If I was feeling less sick, I’d probably talk about this. A lot.

But I’m not feeling chipper, so I won’t.

A point I’d be making is that besides being a spectacular show, solar eclipses give scientists wonderful opportunities for collecting data. And occasionally uncovering something new. New to us, that is.

Which reminds me. I’ll probably be watching NASA’s eclipse broadcast online.

God, This Universe, and “Even Greater Admiration”

NASA/ESA's image, detail: LH 95 stellar nursery in the Large Magellanic Cloud. (December 2006) And 'scientific discoveries...greater admiration' quote from Catechism of the Catholic Church.I like living in an era when we’re learning a lot about this universe, fast.

Even if I didn’t, insisting that recently-uncovered data mustn’t be so because it doesn’t line up with preconceived assumptions isn’t an option.

That’s because I think God is large and in charge.

“Our God is in heaven and does whatever he wills.”
(Psalms 115:3)

And, again, I really like living in an era when we’re learning so much, so fast.

I also enjoy beauty. And I think truth matters. Happily, that’s part of being a Catholic.

Accepting truth and beauty is one reason I have no trouble with science.

Detail, Hubble Space Telescope's ACS' view of NGC 602 and N90. (July 14/18, 2004) from NASA/Hubble, used w/o permission. (NGC 602 is an open cluster of stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud.)No matter where we look in this universe, we’ll find truth and beauty. They’re expressed in words, “the rational expression of the knowledge of created and uncreated reality”. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 32, 41, 2500)

They are also expressed in the visible world, where anyone who pays attention can see “the order and harmony of the cosmos”. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 32, 2500)

Seeking truth and beauty will lead us to God. If we’re doing it right. (Catechism, 27, 31-35, 74)

“For from the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen.”
(Wisdom 13: 5)

I’ve gone over this sort of thing before, probably will again, and I’d better move along.

God is infinite. Eternal. All-powerful. Incomprehensible. (Catechism, 1, 202, 268-269)

God creates and sustains a (basically) good an ordered world. And is present to all creation. (Catechism, 299-300, 385-412)

Although God is here and now in every here and now, God is not ‘inside’ space and time. (Catechism, 205, 600, 645)

This is where I’d start talking about secondary causes. (Catechism, 304, 306-308)

But that’s not going to happen this week.

Instead, I’ll wrap this up with the usual ‘vaguely related posts’ list:

1 Solar eclipses and cycle(s):

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COVID-19: It’s Back

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Brian H. Gill

First, the good news: number-three daughter went to the emergency room Friday night, but she was back home Saturday. She’s got COVID, so this household is under quarantine.

The rest of us probably have it, too; so we’re resting as much as we can, and drinking plenty of fluids. I can’t say that I’m enjoying the situation.

But as I said a couple years back, it could be worse. For one thing, I normally only go out twice a week: so the quarantine thing isn’t that big a change in my routine.

What I’ll have ready for Saturday is still a big question mark.

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He’s Alive, I’m Forgiven, Heaven’s Gates are Open Wide

Posted on March 31, 2024 by Brian H. Gill

Easter Sunday: when we celebrate the best news humanity’s ever had — so far.

This isn’t what I was hoping to have ready for today. This household has been having an interesting week. That’s something I may talk about in another post.

Today, I’ll repeat something I’ve said before, add a few links, and call it day.

Brian H. Gill's 'Watching.' (2014)God loves us. All of us. Each of us. And wants to adopt us. (Romans 8:15; Ephesians 1:3–5; Peter 2:3–4; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1-3, 27-30, 52, 1825, 1996)

Accepting God’s offer isn’t all good times and parties. But oceans of joy surround us, even when we don’t notice them. Remembering that isn’t always easy for me. But it’s a good idea:

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Four Strange Easter Cards from Yesteryear

Posted on March 30, 2024 by Brian H. Gill
Paw Rabbit, Maw - Rabbit?? Chicken?? Two Young Rabbits and - a baby chick. (Victorian Easter Card)
There may be quite a story behind this.

I’d planned on posting this today, with an ‘Easter’ post tomorrow. But, although I’m not feeling as awful as I did Wednesday morning: that’s not going to happen.

It’s “nothing serious”. Probably the same “nothing serious” that’s been plaguing this household for a month and more. My temperature’s stayed below the 103° F threshold, so I’m a comparatively happy camper. And that’s another topic.

Now, about these cards: the first three are Victorian-era, part of this selection:

“Quirky Victorian Easter Cards Reveal Surprisingly Twisted Humor“
Racing Nellie Bly (April 19, 2019)

“…As with any art form, humor relies on knowledge of its social and historical context. Military motifs appear frequently in these quirky Victorian Easter cards. As Europe edged toward world war, is it possible that people needed to laugh at that which worried them sick? Humor generally doesn’t travel well to other cultures, not to mention other eras. Even so, these Easter cards are amusing, if not a little disturbing….”

I don’t find them disturbing, but my teens and the Sixties overlap almost exactly, and that’s yet another topic. Topics.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these.

Three rabbits smoking: some sort of flowers, apparently. (Victorian Easter Card)
“…Beatniks and politics, nothin’ is new. A yardstick for lunatics, one point of view….”
Rabbits, bearing pink flags, riding chickens: led by a martial rabbit, also riding a chicken. (Victorian Easter Card)
Rabbits riding chickens, led by a military hare. So many questions.

The fourth one: The text is “Happy Easter!” in Russian. This card was apparently published in the Russian Empire during the early 1900s, the Wikimedia Commons description dealing with intellectual property rights runs to nearly 300 words — but I’m pretty sure it’s in the public domain over here.

Russian Easter card: five chicks enjoying a nice drive in the countryside. (early 1900s)
“Take me home, country roads”???

Finally, Easter is a very big deal.

I’ve talked about that before, and probably will again:

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Cancer Update, Household Events, and Holy Week

Posted on March 26, 2024 by Brian H. Gill
U.S. Drought Monitor: Minnesota. Current conditions: March 19, 2024; released March 21, 2024.
Minnesota drought conditions. (March 19, 2024; released March 21, 2024) via MN DNR

There’s a winter weather advisory in effect until 2:00 p.m. — but most of the snow has already fallen and/or gotten blown around.

I gather that three to five inches came down here. That’s three to five inches more than we had before. This has been an unusually warm and dry winter, so this snow is welcome. I hope it changes our status from “moderate drought” to merely “abnormally dry”.

I haven’t heard anything about my brother-in-law (February 7, 2024) — so I’ll assume that no news is good news, and that he can walk again.

Number-two daughter started radiation therapy March 11, so this is her third week of taking maybe three hours out of each weekday.

That situation has been uneventful, although I’m told that now everything has a metallic taste for her. Unpleasant, but probably not unexpected. The treated area is right under her chin. I’m just glad there hasn’t been nerve damage. Not serious damage, at any rate.

More good news: my son noticed a leaking pipe Saturday night, and we shut off water before some electronics in the area got damaged.

Even better, he rigged something that directed water away from the could-have-been-affected equipment. Long story short, we had running water again Sunday: and my wife had someone come in and fix the plumbing.

And best of all, heavy snowfall didn’t start until mid-morning, day before yesterday; so I got to Mass on Palm Sunday. There’s more weather forecast for the weekend, but I’m taking this one day at a time.

Holy Week, the time between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, is a very big deal. I’ll be talking about that later.

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