We have always lived in an enigmatic expanding universe. So, witnessing its exploration and having access to a full scientific understanding of its early ages is what many laymen and scholars long for.
In many minds, the impact produced by the very first series of scientific images, detailed and in color, of a tiny point of our universe recently unveiled by the James Webb space telescope has just accentuated this desire…
Experts say that the dimensions of this portion of the sky captured by this telescope correspond to those of a grain of sand that we hold between two fingers at the end of our outstretched arm.
These images reveal thousands of galaxies and even one, primordial, the most distant ever observed. They were formed shortly after the Big Bang, more than 13 billion years ago.
Existential questions
Since the dawn of time, faced with the mysterious and infinite immensity that surrounds and envelops us, humanity has asked itself the same questions: what is the composition and the real history of the galaxies of this universe? Where are we in the universe? What are we objectively in this universe? Are we alone in this universe? Etc.
The astronomers, designers and architects of the James Webb telescope and its multiple exploration projects have just laid a magnificent stone in the edifice of demystifying our universe.
By their genius, their passion and their colossal work, they thus contribute, very probably, to the elaboration of a set of scientifically enlightened hypotheses which, one day, thanks to researchers, will end up answering rationally some of these existential questions. …
They deserve our respects.
We’ve come a long way
Interest in understanding our universe is not new. We must refer to our history books of astronomy and go from the time when human beings used myths, legends and religions to interpret the sky, then go to the time of those who opened the scientific paths and inspired generations, from one century to another until today…
Centuries before the legendary Albert Einstein, there was notably the Polish astronomer Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) who developed and defended the theory of heliocentrism according to which the Earth revolves around the Sun and not the reverse; which was contrary to the dominant creed of his time. Without knowing it, he had just caused trouble in the garden of the next generation.
Galileo (1564-1642), considered the founder of physics, was unfortunately condemned in 1633 by the Roman judges of the Inquisition for having supported the thesis of Nicolas Copernicus. This was contrary to the official opinion of the political and religious authorities of his time.
However, the posture of the Roman Catholic Church in its scientific doctrine has ostensibly fluctuated in the last century. And it was only in 1992 that Pope John Paul II formally and definitively rehabilitated Galileo.
The road to science has long been paved with pitfalls. But we are elsewhere… We no longer trifle with science.
