“Photos released by NASA show once-invisible spiral galaxies and a first look at star formation”

Researchers at NASA used infrared wavelengths to take three photos of galaxies, “getting their first look at star formation, gas, and dust in nearby galaxies with unprecedented resolution.”

The Pleasured Light of God

“Songs of Thomas Song —My Father Evoked Holy Fire. My father the pleasured light, the pleasured light, the glory, my father the pleasured light, the pleasure, the holy light, my father the pleasured light, the pleasure, the esteemed light. He summoned the aeons of light, he chose them to enjoy his greatness. He summoned the aeons of peace in whom no flaw or loss lives. He summoned the aeons of light and his sons in whom he put the aeons. He summoned the aeons of peace. He called his wealth, set it in them. He summoned the aeons to repose. He called his angels, set it in them. He founded places for life. He set living icons in them. He set living icons in them, which never disappear. He summoned clouds of brightness, dripping with dew and light. He evoked holy fire that burned sweet. He evoked wind and air that breathed a living breath. He evoked holy mountains pouring out fragrant roots. They are all concord and melody. In them is no flaw or loss of lives. They were ecstatic in brightness filled and inhabiting eternity.”

“A son of light looked down from high and saw him. He said to rich brethren, O my brethren, sons of light in whom no flaw or loss lives, I looked down into the abyss. I saw the evil one, the son of evil. I saw the evil one, the son of evil, who wanted to get into war. I saw his seven companions too and his twelve helpers. I saw their tent pitched and a roaring fire in it.” ~The Coptic Manichaean Songbook

The Pleasured Light

God is the pleasured Light because God’s Light is pleasing, even though it is very bright. God is all about Light, and when He created, He started with the words, “Let there be Light”. Of course, there is more than one kind of light, and while all light does good, Spiritual Light is better than physical Light because it awakens and nourishes the soul.

Aeons of Light

Just as there are aeons within the physical realm, there are aeons in the spiritual world of Light. As we in Cosolargy know, we are now at the end of the fifth aeon and the beginning of the sixth. The sixth aeon will return us to the spiritual beings we were always meant to be.

The song also says that God also summoned aeons of peace in which His wealth was set. This also refers to the spiritual realm, which is always at peace within itself. In the realm of Spirit, there is no war, no death, no disease, no greed, and none of the negative things that are found in the physical realm.

A Son of Light

The song says that a Son of Light looked down and saw him. In this case, him probably means Mani, the founder of Manichism. This statement tells us that there is more than one Son of Light, or it wouldn’t say “a son of Light.” There are indeed many sons and daughters of Light in Heaven, but if this one is looking down toward Mani, then he is also seeing them on Earth. There are sons and daughters of Light on Earth, but they are, for the time being, fallen from the Light. It is up to us to try to return to that Light. When we do try, we are aided by God and the Angels of Light.

I saw the Evil One

Of course, when you look “down” at the physical realm, you will see the evil one, the Devil and the demons of darkness that rule the physical domain. Their evil ways are limited to some degree by God, but they exercise them nonetheless. Their tent with fire in it is a reference to hell. Although the idea of Hell as eternally burning souls is outdated, it is probably how most people thought of it in the time of Mani. In any case, I think this short song, the last paragraph in the quote, was sung as a warning to those who embraced the realm of matter and turned away from the Light of God.

“RECORD BROKEN: Hubble Space Telescope Captures Stunning Image Of ‘A Star At The Edge Of Space-Time'”

After a week of anticipation, NASA has finally released a historic Hubble Space Telescope image – and it is really stunning.

To summarise, the photograph seems to show the farthest distant star ever discovered by humans. According to the scientists behind the finding, this not only breaks a record but also gives valuable information into the early universe and sets up a “major confirmation” for the ultrapowerful new James Webb Space Telescope.

“We almost didn’t believe it at first, it was so much farther than the previous most-distant, highest redshift star,” said astronomer Brian Welch of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the lead researcher behind the new image, in a blurb about the finding.

Read the entire article here.

“’Runaway’ black hole the size of 20 million suns found speeding through space with a trail of newborn stars behind it”

Runaway black hole

Astronomers have spotted a runaway supermassive black hole, seemingly ejected from its home galaxy and racing through space with a chain of stars trailing in its wake.

According to the team’s research, which was published on the pre-print server arXiv.org(opens in new tab) and has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the discovery offers the first observational evidence that supermassive black holes can be ejected from their home galaxies to roam interstellar space.

Read the full article here.

“Bright planets Venus-Jupiter 2023: Great photos here”

Photo by David Constante

Thank you to all who submit images to EarthSky Community Photos! View community photos here. We love you all. Submit your photo here.

Soumyadeep Mukherjee of Dhanbad, India, captured photos of Venus and Jupiter heading toward conjunction on March 1-2, 2023, and wrote: “For the last couple of weeks, Venus and Jupiter have stolen the attention of astrophotographers! They were inching close to one another, slowly but surely.

Photo by David Constante

Read the entire article here.

Raise the Roof at Steamboat Healing Center

Travel Nevada featured Steamboat Healing Center in their 2nd Annual Nevada Pride Shopping Guide! This online guide showcases some of the artisans, entrepreneurs, and all-around amazing people who make Nevada’s small (and not-so-small) business communities so extra awesome. But this historical facility is in need of repair.

steamboat raise the roof

You can also donate by calling 775-853-6600, or click here to go to the GoFundMe page.

“Scientists Make a rare find: A Solar system with three Super-Earths”

super earth artist's conception

Three Super-Earths and two Super-Mercuries, a type of planet that is extraordinarily rare and distinct, have been found in a star system Ƅy astronoмers. Super-Mercuries are so uncoммon—only eight haʋe Ƅeen found so far—that they are extremely rare.

ESPRESSO’s spectrograph detected two ‘super-Mercury’ worlds in the star system HD 23472. Astronoмers have discovered that these planets are extremely rare. This study, published in Astronoмy &aмp; Astrophysics, looked at how the coмposition of tiny planets varies with planet position, teмperature, and star attriƄutes.

Read the full article here.

“NASA image reveals hidden sunlight that may help solve solar mystery”

NASA Newstar Sun

As a new series of NASA observations show, there’s a lot more to sunlight than meets the eye.

New observations by NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) revealed patterns of high-energy light from the Sun that are not visible to the human eye.

This hidden light could help solve a mystery related to our host star’s incredibly hot outer atmosphere, the corona.

Read the full article here.

Link contributed by Marilyn Taylor.

“Annular Solar Eclipse of October 14, 2023″

solar eclipse path, Oct. 2023

A big eclipse event for us in North America comes on October 14, 2023. Viewers along a narrow path in North, Central and South America will see an annular solar eclipse. At mid-eclipse, the moon – in a distant part of its orbit – will pass directly in front of the sun. But the sun – slightly larger in the sky on that day than the moon – will appear as a bright ring, or annulus, around the moon. Even for those along the eclipse path, eclipse glasses will be needed throughout. Still … a fascinating event!

Read the full article here.

Those Life Knows and Those Life Ignores

“I hear the voice of the seven planets, who whisper to one another, ‘Blessings on the Father of the poor one: he is the one who tends the fruit tree. We have no Father and no one to tend our tree.’ Welcome to anyone life knows, and sorrow to whomever life ignores. Welcome to anyone life knows, and who stays on earth free from the world of imperfection where the planets live. They sit on rebel thrones and work with a whip. Gold and silver excite them, and they cast war into the world. They cast war into the world, and they will roast in fire. The evil will roast in fire, their glory gone. But my family and I will ascend and see the place of light where the sun does not go down, where lamps of light never dim, the place, the house to which your souls are called and invited in, souls of our kin, of the good, and of our believing brothers and sisters. There life is extolled.” ~Song from the Mandaean liturgy

Voice of Seven Planets

To man ancient peoples, the planets were also gods, and I think it is in that sense that this song refers to the seven planets. It is odd, though, that this song has them praising the true God. This may also be an allegorical reference to the energy centers of the human body.

Blessings on the Father

As this song is from the liturgy of the Mandaeans, it should naturally begin by blessing the Father, although He really doesn’t need our blessing, we need His. The statement that this Father of the poor is the one who “tends the fruit tree,” means that He is the one responsible for life and creation. As for being the Father of the Poor, “the poor” are those who have not been trapped in the constant pursuit of material gain. They don’t necessarily live in poverty, but they place spiritual growth above the endless pursuit for material goods that so many engage in these days.

Those who whisper that they have no Father are the ones listening to the false gods of matter. They are lost souls unless they become awakened.

Life Knows

You might think that life knows everyone, but this is talking about those who have become spiritually awake and are living eternally, as opposed to those who have only a temporary life in the realm of matter. The soul is always immortal, but if you don’t awaken it and unite with it, you are not one of those who have eternal life.

Rebel Thrones

Those who sit on rebel thrones and seek gold and silver are the leaders who have turned away from God and embraced materialism. They are rebels because, in the distant past, kings took advice from priests and followed God’s Law. Today, few if any political leaders truly follow God. As the song says, these evil ones will eventually “roast in fire,” but that should be taken as an allegory. The point is, they won’t go to Heaven unless they change.

Place of Light

The song ends by saying that those who follow The Way, will go to the Place of Light, where the sun never goes down. This, of course, is Heaven, the highest dimension of reality, the highest level of consciousness that we humans can reach.