Heavens and stars
The seven heavens
What's the intention of the seven heavens ? The Islamic interpreters and scholars have different ideas about it.Some believe that the seven heavens are the same seven planets: Mercury,Venus,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Moon and the Sun that in the old astronomers opinion they were of planets . Some others believe that they are the compressed layers of the air around the earth and diffrent layers which are over the others.Some say that ,seven,here and in similar verses does not mean number,rather it is an multiplicity number and means numerous and in Arab's word and even Qur'an there are similar and remarkable cases.So the seven heavens indicate the numerous heavens and plentiful globes with no purpose of any particular number.What seems to be right is that the intention of the seven heavens is the same meaning of the seven real heavens. The repetition of this phrase in different verses of Qur'an indicates that seven,does not mean increasing , rather it indicates the same specific number . The verses of Qur'an show that all the globes and planets which are seeables , all are of the first heaven.And there are six other heavens which are out of our sight and all together form the seven heavens.The witness of this word is the 12th verse of Ha Mim-the 41st Surah- and the 6th verse of Saffat ) The Rangers )- the 37th Surah-that says :
( Surely we have adorned the nearest heaven with an adornment,the stars. ) By these verses we can easily get that what we can see which are the world of the stars, all are of the first heaven,and beyond it there are six other heavens that we have no exact information from their details . The observatory,Palomar ) the largest telescope in the world from 1948 to the late 1970s ) discribes the grandeur of the world : since the telescope of the observatory ,Palomar, had not been made,the extent of the world which was seeable,wasn't more than 500 light years , but the extent of the world has been estimated about 1000 milion light years by this telescope.And after this space,there is a dark.
Tremendous and great space that nothing is seen there.By this,we find out that science with its fabulous development is at the beging of the world not at the end,rather it is a little bit versus the great universe.
Certain end (Death)
According to Qur'an's interpretations the world contains a perception.Verses as the 74th of Baqareh-the 2nd Surah-that mentions [ ...and surely there are some of them which fall down for the fear of Allah... [ and the 21st of Hashr ) The Benishment ( - the 59th Surah-that says, ] Had we sent down this Qur'an on a mountain, you would certainly have seen it falling down,splitting asunder because of the fear of Allah... [, or the 90th of Maryam-the 19th Surah-that mentions, [ the heavens may almost be rent thereat and the earth cleave asunder, and the mountains fall down in pieces [ all are as the witness. And perhaps because of this perception a loud voice which is called as , the trumpet is sounded and the trumpet will be blown, in Qur'an shall make all the stars go out of their orbits and the heavens shall be splited and the earth with its inhabitants shall be demolished.Many verses of Qur'an especially the short ones at its end show this fact that at the threshold of resurrection,a great change and surprising revolution shall occupy all over the world ; Mountains shall decompose and shall be as scattered dust , the sun shall become drak,and the stars shall be made to lose their light and even the Sun and the Moon shall be brought together,and a dreadful earthquake shall occupy all over the world. Yes,at that time a thick clud shall come into existence because of composing the heavenly spheres and the sky shall be covered dust because of the explosions of the stars and planets by which they shall be splited and the sky which you can see shall separate by the great explosive clouds . How shall they occure ? Shall the equilibrium between the gravitational pull and repulsive force be eradicated? Shall a mysterious force outshine it ? or whether the gradual expansion which has proved shall cause it . Nobody knows correctly. But we can deduce that,when these heavenly great spheres have such a fate,what shall happen to the weak man.
Cause of guiding
To the ancient people not only did the night sky hid in inself a lot of mysteries,but was also considered a part of their culture and religion.Considering the fact that people then believed that by studying stars and planets it was possible to foretell the fate of people and nations.Celestial phenomenon were used for foretelling the near future of a tribe,a kingdom and also issues such as the amount of crops,floods,wars etc. The primitive man who did not have a clock or a calendar relied upon reading the face of the sky,and as the different celestial bodies appeared in the sky,he decided about the time of hunting,fishing,caltivation and harvesting.In this connection,using the situation of stars in the sky was of immense significance.Long before the time when a year was divided into twelve months,the sky had been divided into a number of constellations or the shapes of luminous stars on the cellestial globe. Remnants indicate that perhaps Chineese were the first to have divided the sky into constellations about 15600 years BC. Of course the constellations,as we now know them,have reached to us from the first abylonians and Egyptions more than 0004 years BC.The Greeks copied this primitive classification of stars and eventually related forty eight constellations to the names and pictures of their mythical personalities,and,in the best way they could,conformed the shape of the stars to animals and people.At present eighty eight constellations have been named,and their limits in the sky were determined in 8291. Although constellations seem to be unchanged,after each century their shape does change.In spite of this fact,by looking at the constellations,one can easily recognize some stars and directions because each constellation is located in a specific spot in the celestial globe.It must be taken into consideration that the situation of constellations is affected by the latitude, season,and the time of observing stars at night.
Normally with regard to the situation of the constellations such as the Great Bear or Ursa Major,whichare easily seen in the sky,one can also find other constellations. For instance the continuation of the handle of the Dipper points to the Arcturus star, the continuation of the line which forms the bottomn of the Dipperreaches the Gemini constellation,the continuation of the two stars of the body of the dipper which are beside the handle , gets to the Leo constellation,and the continuation of the two stars of the body of the vessel , in the opposite direction,reaches Polaris or Capricorn which is located at the end of the Little Bear or Ursa Minor.Similarly, by using the observed and identified constellations,one can also find other stars and constellations.
Among the significant stars in the sky is the Capricorn or the North Star which is located at the end of the tail of the Little Dipper.Capricorn is the star which is more shining that the sun and is located within fifty light years from the Earth.It should be mentioned that the capricorn star with less than one degree deviation is located in celestial pole.With the help of this star,sailors determine latitude and their direction.
Adornment and greatness
To make remarks orderliness in universe especially on heavens and celestial bodies demands only eloquent and well-expressed remarks of Imam Ali peace be upon him. Actually the remarks of that magnanimous Imam in conection with heavens and stellar corpses is so firm and definite that following many years of research and investigation by geniuses and prominent scientists in this connection,day by day scientific value and importance of remarks of that great Imam has been augmented. Anyway,probably pointing to a scanty part of the magnifiscence of heavens and galaxies revalved hither to by the far from perfection of human knowledge . Will help a bit to elucidate the order and harmony governing them.Note that a series of stars and planets showing harmonic motions and determined location with a constant order and arrangement is called a system like the solar system . A group of system usually in the form of a cluster of a particular configuration situated in a position in the immense sky is called a galaxy such as the Milky Way,in which the solar system is located. This galaxy contains more than a hundred billion stars resembling our sun. It's worth mentioning that the Sun revolves in the milky way galaxy at the speed of 250 km/s every 240 million years . The diametter of this galaxy sums up to 0001 light years and its thickness has been estimated to be 5 thousand light years ( a light year is the distance travelled by light in one earth year at a speed of 300000 km/s (.Employing telescopes,scientists have counted the number of galaxies to amount to several billion. The mean distance between each of them amounts to one million light year.
Milky way galaxy itself is a fraction of a collection called Local Cluster . This cluster is composed of twenty adjacent galaxies and extends through space with the radius of approximately 5 million light years.The two galaxies of Magellanic Clouds and Andromeda are part of this cluster . It seems that the local group itself is a part of Super Cluster . A super cluster contains several thousand galaxies , in a volume the amplitude of which is estimated to be millions of light years. The central part of a supper clusters usually is occupied by a giant galaxy the mass of which being several hundred times more than that of ordinary galaxies around which also revolve other galaxies . Sometimes the speed of galaxies have been measured to be up to 06 thousand km/s. Generally galaxies ,without being randomly scattered and distributed, have been gathered beside each other in filiform or leaf-like configurations and occupy a vast and empty region of space. A special type of galaxies called Quasars are the remotest celestial bodies ever seen through man-made telescopes.From the nucleus of such galaxies,some as remote as 12 billion light years from us, an incredible amount of energy is emitted by the whole milky way.It's worth consideration that all such celestial bodies are moving on their particular orbits, a motion the rules and order of which are testified by all physical and mathematical proportion and formulas.
Glorification and obedience
One of the basic principles of various philosophical schools is based on from which point of view man looks at the world of existence and nature . Some people consider the world of existence as mere matter lacking any intelligence, and some believe that only a dust of life has been sprinkled on the world of existence. Some other thinkers believe that the principal substance of the world is alive. Philosophical schools like Monaad believe in the livingness of all components of existence.Some others have gone further, and in addition to life,believe in a kind of freedom and autonomy for the components making up nature . Some are on the opinion that if matter did not inherently possess life or power of life,the transfiguration of matter into life would not be imaginable; and some others believe that man himself is the world and supperlife.However,in this very limited opportunity, we intend to cast only a cursory glance at islam's view on the perception and intelligence of the world of existence.
The holy Qur'an mentions the glorification of the Lord by all creatures in almost ten verses . By using the word adoration in four verses , Qur'an has shown creatures' consideration towords the Lord.This general consideration has also been shown in such phrases as praise and prayer.It must be noted that understanding the divine will and not opposing it , and also acting in accordance with the divine will are the most obvious ways of admiration and adoration of the most high ) the Lord (.However,this important duty has always been neglected by some people.
This negligence is well observable from the browbeating of such verses as ] ... but you do not understand their glorification ... ( Al.Isra / 44 ( [ or ] do you not see that Allah is he whom do glorify all those who are in the heavens and the earth?) Nur/14 )]. And since the time man used his own imperfect knowledge instead of love for learning about the world ,day by day this negligence become more obvious . It also affected a group of moslems like Motazeleh so much that they rendered incorrect paraphrases of Qor'an in connection with this undeniable fact.
Certainly the only way of knowing and observing the glorification of the Lord by creatures of the world of existence is freedom of man from nature boundedness matter and earthly desires . In the beginning , one thinks that only a dust of life has been sprinkled on the world of existence , but as one moves forward, phenomena and rules governing the world of existence change the scene and bring a person like Plato from the world of reason down to a world of inner feeling.From then on thought and logic assume a finer and more superb meaning. And when brain's perception of the laws and relations governing the world of existence commences,gradually a wonderful unity which is under the will a super being governing the world of existence ,reveals itself; and it is at this very point that the unlimited submission of a unique existence against a super will , obviously incarnates glorification of the world of existence.
In fact, the world seems to be inanimate when only looked from natural properties aspects and when hidden under the solid crust of humane laws and hypoteses.However, the transformation of Moses' rod into a serpent , the glorifying melodies of the mountain and Dawood , the making of iron pliant in Dawood's hands,the making of wind subservient to Sulaiman the division of the moon into two separate parts by gesticulation of mohammad,all indicate the whisper of all creatures' loving glorification to their Lord.
And in this regard it was only man who was bestowed the honour of the adoration required by the law of God while other creatures adore the Lord merely in the arenas of naturally destined adoration.
True
The world is composed of elementary particles which are connected together by the gravity,electromagnetic and nuclear powers.The quality and its evolutional path are also controlled by the characteristics of these elementary particles and their resultants.We can never see the elementary particles and we do not either expect to be able to describe them with one of the known methods.We can just observe the track these particles leave behind them.Scientists have classified the elementary particles on the basis of their mass while immovable,to Barions ) heavy particles ), leptons ) light particles (,and mesons ( moderate weight particles (.Just the same as rain drops,which are formed from the accumulation of gaseous? molecules of water in cloud mass,a star is also formed by the compression of the gas molecules existing in the galaxy.These molecules must be the elementary particles metioned.
The mass of cosmos clouds is composed of %79 hydrogen molecules more than %20 of the atoms of helium and less than %1 of all various elements known to man,especially iron.Hydrogen and helium can be considered as the world's fuel reserve,which when well compressed and condensed are the building materials of the main stars seen in the sky; or in the form of enormous cloud-like masses in which new stars are gradually born and begin to activate.cosmos cloud masses are extremely cold ) about 002 degrees c.below zero (.Such clouds if remained intactcan exist stable and in the previous condition for good.Because at this temperature and in an extremely low density ) about ten atoms in a square centimeter ( and the very slight movement of atoms and molecules,the gravity force can not have any effect on this constant stability;only when there is a disturbance in these cloud masses,star drops,like rain drops,are formed.
Different mechanismsfor the sedisturbances and the formationof stars inside cosmos clouds have been proposed.One famous proposition states that in the galaxies called Spiral a hugemass of clouds like a ball in the center and extremely big arms on its sides is rotating.The arms are slowly revolving around the ball,and since in these arms there exists atoms and molecules,as a result of this revolution their density increases and they get close together and consequently the force of gravity gradually increases following each revolution and the compression increases more and more and eventually a dense mass of atoms concentrate.
As a result of the increase in pressure and hence the enhancement in the contact between atoms and molecules,the temperature inside the gases increases and gets to millions of degrees,then suddenly the connection reaction between atoms begin and in this way a star is born.
Another famous proposition states that in order for the formation of a star,the death of another star is essential.The wave resulted from the explosion of the dead star causes the cosmic cloud masses to become dense and in aflash of time thousands of stars are born.
In any case one should know that although these propositions are the result of years of human contemplation and suffering and all have been based on scientific principles, they are generally resulted from human imperfect knowledge and his presupositions.
Creation
The world is composed of elementary particles which are connected together by the gravity,electromagnetic and nuclear powers.The quality and its evolutional path are also controlled by the characteristics of these elementary particles and their resultants.We can never see the elementary particles and we do not either expect to be able to describe them with one of the known methods.We can just observe the track these particles leave behind them. Scientists have classified the elementary particles on the basis of their mass while immovable,to Barions ) heavy particles ), leptons ) light particles (,and mesons ( moderate weight particles (.Just the same as rain drops,which are formed from the accumulation of gaseous? molecules of water in cloud mass,a star is also formed by the compression of the gas molecules existing in the galaxy.These molecules must be the elementary particles metioned.The mass of cosmos clouds is composed of %79 hydrogen molecules more than %20 of the atoms of helium and less than %1 of all various elements known to man,especially iron.Hydrogen and helium can be considered as the world's fuel reserve,which when well compressed and condensed are the building materials of the main stars seen in the sky; or in the form of enormous cloud-like masses in which new stars are gradually born and begin to activate.cosmos cloud masses are extremely cold ) about 002 degrees c.below zero (.Such clouds if remained intactcan exist stable and in the previous condition for good.Because at this temperature and in an extremely low density ) about ten atoms in a square centimeter ( and the very slight movement of atoms and molecules,the gravity force can not have any effect on this constant stability;only when there is a disturbance in these cloud masses,star drops,like rain drops,are formed.
Different mechanismsfor the sedisturbances and the formationof stars inside cosmos clouds have been proposed.One famous proposition states that in the galaxies called Spiral a hugemass of clouds like a ball in the center and extremely big arms on its sides is rotating.The arms are slowly revolving around the ball,and since in these arms there exists atoms and molecules,as a result of this revolution their density increases and they get close together and consequently the force of gravity gradually increases following each revolution and the compression increases more and more and eventually a dense mass of atoms concentrate.
As a result of the increase in pressure and hence the enhancement in the contact between atoms and molecules,the temperature inside the gases increases and gets to millions of degrees,then suddenly the connection reaction between atoms begin and in this way a star is born.
Another famous proposition states that in order for the formation of a star,the death of another star is essential.The wave resulted from the explosion of the dead star causes the cosmic cloud masses to become dense and in aflash of time thousands of stars are born. In any case one should know that although these propositions are the result of years of human contemplation and suffering and all have been based on scientific principles, they are generally resulted from human imperfect knowledge and his presupositions.
The creation of the sun has most probably been like that of millions of other stars, the subject which was taken up when discussing the scientific points about the creation of the Earth and skies.In this section,therefore,the physical and chemical characteristics of the Sun and also the hypothesis about the future of this shinning tar is dealt with.
The Sun like other similar stars,is a spherical body made up of a mass of hot gases and has remained intact by its gravity force.The force makes the hot gases condensed and hence,all their particles become close together.The pressure produced by hot gases act in the opposite direction and tries to make the hot gases expand.The direction of the gravity force is towards the center of a star while the force caused by pressure is outward.The resultant of these two forces help the establishment and the stabilization of the ballancing force with the help of which the star can live for billions of years.
The pressure inside the Sun and its themperature amounts to 10 billion atmosphere and 14 million degrees Kelvin respectively.The high central pressure and temperature of the Sun are caused by the constant nuclear reactions and the tranformation of hydrogen to helium.The energy emitted from the Sun amounts to 4 x 10^26 Joul/second ) the following comparison gives a tangible picture of the amount of energy sent to the Earth by the Sun if for instance,for the lighting of all the streets of a city like Tehran one million 100 w light bulbs are needed with the help of the energy emitted from the Sun in only one second six billion big cities like Tehran can be lighted day and night for one hundred years).
The heat produced in the center of the Sun passes a vast tranformer layer and gets to a thin layer called Photosphere.These layers are seen as the surface of the Sun. Below these layers there exists a pink thin layer which can be seen only during a total solar eclipse and is called Chromosphere. The outermost layer of the Sun,Corona,is the vast area with rare gases and can be seen during a solar eclipse.Enormous explosions of hot gases emitted from the sun take place in Chromosphere and Corona. Considering the present rate of energy production and its emission,the Sun will have fuel for ten power ten more years. The Sun like the Earth revolves around on axis,and since it is not a solid body, its movement in its equatorial areas is faster than its movement near its poles. Its revolution in equatorial and polar areas is twenty five and thirty four days respectively.By studying the pace with which the spots on the surface of the Sun move,astronomers have been able to find the speed of its different areas.
As for the future of the sun different ideas have been proposed.Probably when the sun's central sources of hydrogen are used up in a few million years a new phase in its development begins.As a result its glowing will slowly increase and it will inflate while at the same time the temperature on its surface decreases and it will gradually turn red.After sometime it will lose its cover,and its outer layers move away from the core and expand ) this may be a kind of decomposition (,and what is remained of it is the planetary nebula now known as White Dwarfs.These dwarfs, which will have the radii that are a few hundred times smaller than the radius of the Sun,will gradually get cooler and will become invisible after one billion years; because their energy is completely used up and have no other source and in fact will be transformed into Black Dwarfs.According to the calculations carried out it is expected that these phases in the Sun will begin in 8000 to 9000 years time and it will become a red giant.
The subject of " The origin of planets " has been ever interesting for human,beings and has occupied the minds of many researchers and scientists and the result being numerously different and varied viewpoints. But two basic predicaments have always confronted the researchers and explorers. They have first and foremost been obliged to present notions to link a transition with an unknown beginning to a knownend,and then as a result of the limitations of human knowledge,its only been the solar system that has always captured their attention and minor information has been obtained in that respect.On this basis,efforts for selecting the most satisfying viewpoints regarding formation of planets are somewhat formidable and dangerous at this time.
In any event,we could classify the given viewpoints into three general categories according to scientific principles : 1. viewpoints in which the formation of planets is not related to the formation of the Sun: Once the Sun was transformed into a star,the planets were formed from the matters separated from the Sun or another moving star.
2. the same view as above as far as the formation of the Sun goes,but the planets were formed by the matters that existed in the space separating the stars. 3. perspectives in which the formation of the planets is a direct result of the formation of the Sun.Since the interpretation and explanation of the above hypotheses requires specialized discussions,therefore we will concentrate on the two suggestions that are more acceptable regarding earth's origins.
A. Nebular hypotheses : According to this viewpoint when a star passes close to the Sun and collides with it,gaseous matters separate from the Sun and as they move farther away from it in a circular motion, they cool down and from a condensed outer crust and become the planets of which earth is one.It is more suitable for life due to its distance from the sun which results in a liveable temperature.
B. Dust hypotheses : According to this viewpoint,gaseous matters have existed within specified distances from the Sun. As a result of condensation and connection of these gases,planets of the solar system have been formed.According to studies it seems that even though the dispersion and wandering of these great masses of gas in space and the beginning of their condensation dates back to 15 billion years ago,but the formation of the Earth must have dated back to 5 billion years ago.
The 5 billion year life of the Earth has been divided into the following periods : 1. Precambrian period,or before life for which there hasn't been sufficient information and covered upto 600 million years ago.
2. Paleozoic period,or ancient life which covers 600 million to 255 million years ago. this period lasted 345 million years.First abundunt record of plants , invertebrates, amphibians and insects occured during this period.
3. Mesozoic period or the middle life which lasted 160 million years and covered upto 90 million years ago.During this period various plants and very large animals came in to existence.
4. Cenozoic period,or new life which lasted 65 million years and covered up to 25 million years ago . in addition to plants ; mammals, manlike apes and horses also appeared during this period.
5.Present period,or recent era which covers one million years ago to present time. Appearance and evolution of man is the most significant occurence of this period. In any event at present time the earth revolves around the Sun along with eight other planets in the company of their relative moons,and they altogether form the solar system.These planets in order of their proximity to the Sun are : Mercury,Venus,Earth with one moon,Mars with two moons,Jupiter with 14 moons,Saturn with 10 moons,Uranus with 5 moons,Neptune with two moons,and Pluto.
Sun as the nearest star to earth is at a distance of 150 million kilometers . in summary,some earth's properties are : mass, almost 1.25 million trillion tons . Volume, about one thousand billion cubic kilometers. Mean density,almost 5.5 times the density of water.Orbit around the sun,it has an elliptical orbit with a radius of almost 149.5 million kilometers revolving about the Sun. Further information in connection with the movement and other properties of this amazing planet can be studied in verses about occurence of day and night.
