EYE OF GOD

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The Helix Nebula, NGC 7239; also called Eye of God.

The Helix Nebula, given a technical designation of NGC 7293, lies about 650 light-years away towards the constellation of Aquarius and spans about 2.5 light-years. The above picture is a composite of newly released images from the ACS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope and wide-angle images from the Mosaic Camera on the o g-m Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Source: Sky Image Lab http://www.skyimagelab.com/helixnebula.html

RM:  Wow!  This nebula is so beautiful; it surely must be one of the great wonders of our universe!  If there were no composite image of this nebula, how could anyone ever describe its majesty?  This nebula, which is truly a masterful cosmic-art-sculpture, appears so three-dimensional and forms a near-perfect blue eye out in deep space.  There is even a dark spot in the center of the blue area (iris) which resembles a pupil.  To give you some perspective of the enormity of this nebula, focus for a moment on the tiny point of light at the center of the pupil; this is a star, possibly similar to, or larger than our star.  Our sun has a diameter of 865,000 miles, which is 67.5 greater than the diameter of Earth.  Now, what are the odds of the gases, rock, dust, etc. of an explosion of a star forming the appearance of a blue eye in near-perfect detail, visible only to our largest telescopes, some 650 light-years away?  I will just leave that there, to your imagination and wonderment.

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The Man in the Moon

Rocky Montana / 1-2-2015

Each time I see an image of the above nebula, I am reminded of a much smaller, but equally wonderful (at least to me) light-show-in-the-sky I witnessed a few years ago.  I was driving west on I-8 in the California desert.  It was about 3 a.m and there was no one else on the road at the time.  I noticed how big and bright the moon was.  It was about 3/4 full and juxtaposed about 30 degrees above and a little to the left of the road.  The sky surrounding the moon was hazy; the moisture in the atmosphere reflected and refracted the moon's light so much so that only a few of the brightest of stars could be seen.  As I watched the moon as I drove, I was astonished to witness a single cloud forming to the right side of it.  The cloud then slowly moved over to superimpose itself around the moon.  Using the moon to represent an "eye", a portion of the cloud formed above the moon, resembling an eyebrow; a portion formed over the top of the moon, resembling an eyelid; and a portion formed under the moon, resembling a cheek and bone structure at the outer edge of an eye.  The clouds were so beautifully back-lit from the moon's light that the combination of the moon and clouds framed a perfect depiction of the right side of a man's face looking down upon me.  This, what I can only be refer to as a cloud-sculpture, formed in about 5-7 minutes time.  The cloud around the moon was so masterfully sculpted that I could hardly believe what I was seeing.  But there it was, an honest-to-goodness kinetic-art-show in the sky.  It was truly an awesome and inspiring event, one I had never seen the likes of before.  The cloud sculpture held its shape for about 15 minutes and then dissipated back into the firmament of the night sky; only the bright moon and hazy night sky remained.  When I think of the logistics involved to pull this off, as the moon is some 240,000 miles away, and the cloud which formed just a few miles above me, together to form a perfect lighted portrait at my vantage point on the earth, it seems an impossible task.  But I cannot dismiss this cloud sculpture as simple, random happenstance--it was too perfectly executed.  I am left in the wonderment and awe, and in gratitude for having witnessed it.  This was one of the most mysterious events thus far in my current physical journey. 

I ask myself: could this event possibly be the outward manifestation of an inner desire for confirmation from my unseen, lighted guides who watch over me?  Could they have possibly been giving me a playfully and masterful sign confirming to me?:  Yes, we are here watching over you.  I think so. 

I share this account now, frankly, because it is fun to think about and because it is too rare and precious an experience to keep to myself, and because I hope it will inspire others to keep an ever watchful eye on the sky, so that, perhaps, they too will witness their own miracles from above.

A note to the skeptics:  I can understand those who are skeptical of my account; I might be also be skeptical if I read this account from another and never personally witnessed it.  I was disappointed I didn't have a camera with me to record the event.  The skeptics can rule out the idea that this was a figment of my imagination or an hallucination.  I don't have a good enough imagination to conjure an account such as this, and I don't have hallucinations nor do I take hallucinogenic drugs.  I, also, would never lie about witnessing such an event.  

 rockymontana@cox.net