Moons of Saturn a nice change from politics
Yes, the latest impeachment developments are very important. And yes, the president’s refusal to cooperate with Democrats’ congressional subpoenas will throw us into a legitimate constitutional crisis that will have real implications for the 2020 election and the future of our country.
But please, I beg you, let’s take a moment for something much bigger and so much more wholesome: our own cosmic neighborhood. For the sake of our sanity, for science and for the possibility that someday we’ll be able to pull ourselves out of our present partisan morass, let’s highlight the stunning discoveries opening up the world beyond our own and reminding us of what it’s like to feel collective awe rather than political rage.
This week, a team of astronomers — led by intrepid moon hound Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science — announced the discovery of 20 new moons orbiting our gaseous friend, Saturn. That brings the giant’s total moon count to 82, surpassing that of its rival Jupiter, which currently boasts 79.
Imagine that: We humans have been staring at the same sky for millennia, yet we’re only now detecting the scores of worlds that exist just a rocket blastoff away. What’s more, we’re using these shiny new celestial bodies to peer deep into the history of our solar system.
Scientists theorize that these moons are actually the remnants of at least three much larger objects that had once danced around rings of Saturn. But those structures were torn apart in the event known as the Late Heavy Bombardment some 4.1 billion and 3.8 billion years ago, when asteroids and comets wreaked havoc as they hurtled through our star system.
We call these moons “new,” but of course, they were with us all along. At the time of their theorized formation, Earth was just a spry ball of volcanic mess — likely hundreds of millions of years before it supported life. And there they remained until, at last, intelligent life-forms in Hawaii spotted them through a telescope and decided they should be given names.
At a time when our government seems hopelessly incapable of doing, well, anything at all, this discovery is an encouraging reminder that smart people outside the realm of politics and government continue to accomplish amazing feats — vastly expanding our knowledge of this small corner of the universe we call home.
Perhaps a little bit of space exploration is exactly what our country needs in this moment of political paralysis. At the onset of the Cold War, the promise to explore beyond the confines of our atmosphere was the scientific enterprise that helped mobilize and unite the country against our Soviet foes. Perhaps today, it could serve a similar purpose, though this time, our primary adversary is our own dysfunction.
Space exploration has the potential to unite humanity behind the common purpose of greater understanding. Our celestial neighborhood is so vast and so full of mystery that the scientific potential and sense of wonder it offers ought to eclipse the sources of the partisan polarization that divide us. Yes, Democrats and Republicans might have difficulty getting along at Thanksgiving, but the secrets of the reservoirs of water detected at Mars’s south pole know no party. And sure, the latest Trump tweet might throw the internet into another tizzy, but my goodness are those cryovolcanic plumes spurting out of Enceladus enticing!
No matter what happens here on Earth, Saturn’s moons will continue to orbit those spectacular rings, indifferent to the endless chaos just three doors down the interplanetary block. Three decades ago, Donald Trump was first flirting with Oprah Winfrey about running for president. Since then, Saturn has revolved around the sun only once. Pluto, for that matter, is only now finishing up a revolution that began while the American Revolution was gearing up.
By the time Saturn makes another trip around the sun, many of us will strain to remember the details of the Trump era. Figures such as former special counsel Robert Mueller or Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani will likely have faded from mainstream knowledge.
That constancy should bewilder us all. And we should use that awesomeness to our advantage. Once you’re done reading this column, by all means return to the main political crises we live in. They are, after all, the defining issues of our time. But perhaps, in the future, we can all allow the allure of astronomical science to distract us from the daily grind, reminding us just for tiny moments that it’s all quite insignificant.