THE GALAXY SPEAKS ABOUT ITS CREATOR

The Creator is truly great! He made such a vast universe, of which our galaxy is only a tiny part! The Milky Way, a disc-shaped barred spiral galaxy, is estimated to contain 100–400 billion stars. The Solar System is located within the disk, about 27,000 light-years from the Galactic Centre, on the inner edge of one of the spiral-shaped concentrations of gas and dust called the Orion Arm. The Sun is 25,000–28,000 light-years from the Galactic Centre. The Galactic Centre is marked by a concentration of mass best explained as a supermassive black hole with an estimated mass of 4.1– 4.5 million times the mass of the Sun. There are billions of other galaxies in the universe. The Milky Way has several satellite galaxies and together with the neighbouring Andromeda galaxy, it is part of the Local Group of galaxies, which is a component of the Virgo Supercluster, which is itself a component of the Laniakea Supercluster of galaxies. If a person could be far away in space and have a telescope with which he could view the entire Milky Way, he would be able to see a mindboggling spectacle. He would see that, in the vastness of space, there is a magnificent starry galaxy. It would take more than 3000 years to count the stars in the Milky Way at a rate of one star per second. On one spiral arm of this galaxy, our Solar System is situated. The planet Earth is part of this Solar System which, along with other planets, is continually revolving around the Sun. The Quran says: “God’s throne extends over the heavens and the earth; and their upholding does not weary Him.” (2: 255) Such a spectacle of stunning proportions will compel the gazer to exclaim in wonderment: The Creator is truly great! He made such a vast universe, of which our galaxy is only a tiny part! o