Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 27, 2016

THE WORLD AROUND US

10

Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 27, 2016 


PLANET FOUND IN HABITABLE ZONE AROUND NEAREST STAR

Astronomers have found clear evidence of a planet 
orbiting the closest star to Earth, Proxima Centauri. 
The long-sought world, designated Proxima b, 
orbits its cool red parent star every 11 days and has 
a temperature suitable for liquid water to exist on 
its surface. This rocky world is a little more massive 
than the Earth and is the closest exoplanet to us—
and it may also be the closest possible abode for life 
outside the solar system. A paper describing this 
milestone finding was published in the journal 
Nature on August 25.

 Just over four light-years from the solar system 
lies a red dwarf star that has been named Proxima 
Centauri, as it is the closest star to Earth apart from 
the Sun. This cool star in the southern constellation 
of Centaurus is too faint to be seen with the unaided 
eye and lies near to the much brighter pair of stars 
known as Alpha Centauri AB.

 During the first half of 2016, Proxima 
Centauri was regularly observed with the 
HARPS spectrograph on the European Southern 
Observatory (ESO) 3.6-meter telescope at La Silla 
in Chile, and simultaneously monitored by other 
telescopes around the world. This was known as 
the “Pale Red Dot” campaign, in which a team of 
astronomers led by Guillem Anglada-Escudé, from 
Queen Mary University of London, was looking 
for the tiny back-and-forth wobble of the star 
that would be caused by the gravitational pull of a 
possible orbiting planet.

 The Pale Red Dot data, when combined with 
earlier observations made at ESO observatories 
and elsewhere, revealed the clear signal of a truly 
exciting result. At times Proxima Centauri is 
approaching Earth at about 3 miles per hour—
normal human walking pace—and at times 
receding at the same speed. This regular pattern 
of changing radial velocities repeats with a period 
of 11.2 days. Careful analysis of the resulting tiny 
Doppler shifts showed that they indicated the 
presence of a planet with a mass at least 1.3 times 
that of the Earth, orbiting some 4.5 million miles 
from Proxima Centauri—only 5% of the Earth-
Sun distance.

 Although Proxima b orbits much closer to its 
star than Mercury does to the Sun in our solar 
system, the star itself is far fainter than the Sun. As 
a result, Proxima b lies well within the habitable 
zone around the star and has an estimated surface 
temperature that would allow the presence of liquid 
water. Despite the temperate orbit of Proxima b, the 
conditions on the surface may be strongly affected 
by ultraviolet and X-ray flares from this very active 
star—far more intense than the Earth experiences 
from the Sun.

 This discovery will be the beginning of 
extensive further observations, both with current 
instruments and with the next generation of 
giant telescopes such as the European Extremely 
Large Telescope. Proxima b will be a prime target 
for the hunt for evidence of life elsewhere in the 
universe. Indeed, the Alpha Centauri system is 
also the target of humankind’s first attempt to 
travel to another star system, the Starshot (https://
breakthroughinitiatives.org/Initiative/3) project.

 Guillem Anglada-Escudé concludes: “Many 
exoplanets have been found and many more will be 
found, but searching for the closest potential Earth-
analogue and succeeding has been the experience 
of a lifetime for all of us. Many people’s stories and 
efforts have converged on this discovery. The result 
is also a tribute to all of them. The search for life on 
Proxima b comes next....”

 You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@
MtnViewsNews.com.


OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder

CHRISTOPHER Nyerges

NATIONAL DOG DAY

HOW FAST THE SHADES OF SUMMER 
HAVE FADED

[Nyerges is the author 
of “How to Survive 
Anywhere,” “Extreme 
Simplicity,” “Til Death 
Do Us Part?” and other 
books. He can be reached at www.SchoolofSelf-
Reliance.com or Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 90041] 

 “The Character of a Nation is determined by 
how its animals are treated” Ghandi 

 Did you all remember to commemorate 
National Dog Day last Friday? This is a special 
time for all of us to remember how close we are to 
our canine pals. 

 And readers of this paper are lucky to have the 
excellent tales from our weekly “Happy Tails” 
columnist, all about our wondrous relationship 
with our dogs (and other animals). 

 On this National Dog Day, I reflected upon my 
17 year relationship with Cassius Clay, a purple 
ribbon pit bull who I obtained from a pet rescue 
service. 

 I have many fond memories of Cassie, but I 
remember the end the most right now. I thought 
that I was taking care of Cassie and helping and 
saving Cassie – I had to carry him in and out, and 
was always concerned about his welfare. In the 
end, I realize that Cassie was helping and saving 
me. He instilled in me a sense of responsibility and 
caring that maybe I never had before. 

 I thought about his role in my life. I thought 
about how I tried to see his dog pictures of the 
world, how he processes the many smells that he 
takes so long each day to smell. When I attempted 
to go into his mind, like Beatrice Lydecker 
described in her What the Animals Tell Me 
book, I “saw” a colorful, very dynamic image of 
flowing geometric shapes that all moved like the 
wind in varying patterns, in a three-dimensional 
complexity. To me, it was the complexity of odors 
that meant so much to Cassie, and very little to me. 

 Shortly after he died, I asked him to show me 
his picture, and I “saw” in front of my his big face 
licking mine. He was telling me that he was happy, 
in peace, no pain and that I was OK. 

 On the day Cassie died – an Easter 
Sunday – he seemed OK in the morning, 
though he had had trouble walking for 
weeks. When I came home in the early 
evening, it was dark and Cassie was warm 
but I could not rouse him from his house, 
and when I pulled him out, I knew it was 
over, even though I tried to bring him 
back. There was no music, no singing of 
birds, just the quiet of the night and the 
final sounds of his dying body. 

 As I thought about Cassie, I realized that 
Cassie’s gift was his unconditional love. And now 
that he was gone, I tried to sort out the meaning 
of that love. I have heard it said that Eternal Life is 
synonymous with Eternal Love. That Eternal Love 
is also impersonal. It is universal loving without 
concern for prejudice or opinion or preferences. It is 
doing what is right, and not being concerned about 
my group, or my party, or my race, or my gender, or 
my family. It is finding those ways of thinking, and 
of living, that exemplify the Golden Rule, and Jesus’ 
command to “Love ye one another as your self.” 
Which means we must love our spiritual self, and 
see that every single one of us is the same. 

 Cassie taught me to be a better person. He 
taught me to see that only through impersonal 
love can we ever find real meaning and harmony. 
Of course, I feel a personal love for Cassie, and for 
other close people in my life. But now again, Cassie 
has made me realize that death is inevitable, and 
personal love is full of pain and heartache and 
disappointment. Impersonal loving is not focused 
exclusively towards one person or animal but 
is a way of thinking about all life, including all 
animals. This was Cassie’s gift to me. 

 I hope each of you with a close dog companion 
also has a wonderful life with that pal.

Am I getting old or his time passing faster than it used 
to? It seems I just settle down to do something and 
before I know it, it is over.

 Back in “the day,” a minute had 60 seconds. An hour 
had 60 minutes. A day had 24 hours. Oh, for those 
good old days.

 I am not exactly sure how many seconds a minute 
has or how many minutes an hour has because he goes 
by so fast I cannot keep track. Technology has taken 
over and I for one object.

 For example, I like looking at my wristwatch and 
seeing the second hand slowly tick around the dial. 
Now, we have cell phones with a digital clock. Unlike 
these digital clocks, all they tell me is what time it is 
right now. I like to look at a wristwatch and get a whole 
view of time: past, present and future.

 I know that a week does not have seven days 
anymore.

 I set out on Monday with high hopes of getting 
something accomplished during the week and by the 
time I clear my throat, it is Friday afternoon. Where 
did all that time go?

 Years ago, the Beatles had a song called “Eight Days 
a Week.” Nowadays it is more like three days a week: 
yesterday, today and tomorrow!

 Today is tomorrow’s yesterday and I am not exactly 
sure how to keep up anymore. By the time I get to 
tomorrow, I forgot what I was supposed to do today. 
Then, when I get to today, I cannot remember what I 
did yesterday.

 I used to plan a whole week of activity, now 
that luxury is yesterday’s news, or is it tomorrow’s 
headlines?

 I like summer, which may explain why it goes so 
fast. Maybe I should take a chapter from Murphy’s Law 
and say I do not like summer, then it would drag by a 
without end in sight.

 Interestingly, the thing I like to do the most goes 
by so quickly, that which I hate doing drags on for 
centuries. Which has me thinking maybe I should not 
voice what I like or do not like?

 One thing I like about summer, when I can catch 
my breath and enjoy it, is the fact that it is made up 
of those lazy, hazy days I enjoy so much. Not having a 
schedule, not having a deadline, not having anybody 
telling me what I should or should not do. Ah, those 
crazy, lazy days of summer.

 The fact that I did not get much done during the 
summer is no big deal. If anybody asked me if I got 
anything accomplished, I just said, “Hey, it’s summer. 
Relax. I will get to it eventually.”

 Well, eventually has caught up with me and it is 
called winter.

 The difference between summer and winter is that 
during the summer, you can get away with doing 
nothing but in the winter, there is nothing you can get 
away with.

 During the summer my wife will ask me if I have 
done such and such and I respond by saying, “It’s 
summer, I’ll get to it. I got plenty of time.”

 During the winter, my wife will remind me of all the 
things I was supposed to do during the summer and 
that now I have to do because winter is a coming.

 Summer is hazy and lazy, while winter is “Hurry up 
and get it done.”

 More is expected from a person during the winter 
months that during the summer. I object very 
strenuously to this kind of attitude. Of course, this 
attitude comes from the Gracious Mistress of the 
Parsonage. She has the idea that winter, or at least the 
beginning of winter, is the time to clean up everything. 
By everything, she is including the garage.

 Now that summer is over and the lawn does not 
need to be mowed anymore, I can, according to her 
logic, transpose that energy into cleaning up things. 
Then she will confront me with a favorite saying of 
hers, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.”

 One of these days, when I get up the courage, I am 
going to ask her to show me where that verse is in the 
Bible. I kind of think a person can be too clean, like 
squeaky clean. You know how squeaky gets on people’s 
nerves, especially mine.

 My favorite saying is, “Laziness is next to 
everything.”

 Perhaps that is why I like summer so much. There 
are shades of laziness that can only be exploited in the 
good old summertime.

 Some people, like the one who shares a residence 
with me, things that laziness is a very negative thing. 
This person honestly believes that if she is not doing 
something all the time she is lazy. Something good can 
be said about being lazy. You get to savor a moment of 
non-activity.

 The thing I like so much about summer is the 
activity you do do is only the activity that you want to 
do like sitting on the back porch, drinking a glass of 
lemonade, which is what summer is all about.

 Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, understood 
this concept very well. He says, “To everything there 
is a season, and a time to every purpose under the 
heaven,” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV).

Time goes by so quickly that a person hardly has 
enough time to really appreciate the time that they 
have.

 Dr. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God 
Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives 
with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him 
at 1-866-552-2543 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. His 
website is www.jamessnyderministries.com.


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