© 2024 Interlochen
CLASSICAL IPR | 88.7 FM Interlochen | 94.7 FM Traverse City | 88.5 FM Mackinaw City IPR NEWS | 91.5 FM Traverse City | 90.1 FM Harbor Springs/Petoskey | 89.7 FM Manistee/Ludington
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Discovering the world without technology

The phenomenon that's stirring up a craze about the night sky right now is not something you can see with the naked eye or telescopes, and it doesn't even require a dark sky.

It's the phenomenon of "internet acceleration", which is the rampant posting and broadcasting of images and news about even the slightest event overhead~whether it's a meteor shower, the super moon, or the northern lights~and the huge audience that can be reached with a simple post and click. 
The technology-based approach to the night sky goes way back to the ancients. They built pyramids and reflecting pools and all kinds of devices to observe and measure the heavens. But one of the most important technology-based discoveries in the history of humanity just might be William Herschel's discovery of the planet Uranus, in 1781.
 
Uranus is not visible to the naked eye, so it wasn't known to human until William Herschel caught it in his telescope. Because of this, Uranus developed a reputation for being related to the accelerated use of technology as the way for discovering things in our environment, to the point that simple naked eye observing is no longer trusted as a reliable and sufficient means for understanding our world.
 
Today, October 12, the Moon is at New Phase, occupying the same region of the zodiac as the Sun. Together, both Sun and Moon are standing opposite the current position of Uranus~but remember, even though New Moon is the best time of the month for stargazing, Uranus is not visible to the naked eye. What's more, Uranus is in a sparsely populated region of the sky right now, so chances are we won't be seeing many pictures of it popping up on the internet.  
 
Still, what I'm advocating at this Sun and New Moon opposition to Uranus is that we put aside our cell phone apps and laser pointers and telescopes and take some time out to re-examine our dependence on technology for understanding the world around us. We just might find that simply being human is central to the sacred mystery of it all.