Night sky remains full of wonders, some unexplainable

When I was child, my father helped me develop a love for astronomy. He lent me a book by the British astronomer Sir James Jeans, “The Stars in Their Courses.” The book tells about what we can see in the heavens.

The constellations dominate the skies. They consist of the 12 major groups of stars which make up the Zodiac, a different one being visible each month. A multitude of objects make their appearance in the sky. Of course, there are the stars but hidden in their identities are objects which are much larger than they appear to the human eye which are called “nebulae.”

There are nine major bodies we call planets which rotate around the sun. In order of position, they are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Living in Las Cruces, New Mexico has provided a ringside seat for the controversy among astronomers over whether or not Pluto is really a planet. It is especially significant because Clyde Tombaugh, who was a resident here, discovered Pluto with his homemade telescope.

Several years ago, National Geographic magazine published on its cover an amazing photograph that appeared to be made up of thousands of stars. Actually, each “star” was a galaxy — a huge grouping of stars. The universe has thousands of galaxies. We on Earth live in the Milky Way galaxy. It is hard to imagine the vastness of space and the variety of things which make it up in addition to the billions of stars, with new ones being created all the time.

I must mention meteorites which we often see passing overhead. Perhaps you have seen bright objects flying through the sky. They most likely are meteorites, pieces of iron. As they hit our atmosphere, they begin to shine and eventually fall to Earth. Now, since there is so much space debris floating around, it can be surprising what may show up.

In this present world, UFOs have appeared which seem to come from another sort of universe. They come and go and move about in unpredictable ways. Many strange reports of various sightings have become public.

Several years ago, I had a UFO experience. It was about 5 in the late afternoon. The sun had gone down but no stars had appeared. I saw five star-like objects arranged in something like how the stars are arranged in the Big Dipper. They were stationary in the same position for about 10 minutes. There were no other planets or objects in the sky. I checked for any evidence of airplanes or jet trails but saw none. Gradually, one by one the bright objects disappeared. The next day when I went to school another teacher reported to me that he had seen the same bright objects and watched them for about 20 minutes. I figured that they could qualify as UFOs because they were in the sky, and they certainly were unidentified!

Ruth Justice Moorer, a resident of Las Cruces since 1996, is a former public-school science teacher and United Methodist pastor.