What are the odds?

At the time that Comet Lulin was closest to Earth, and closest to planet Saturn in our skies, and at the same time 4 of Saturn's moons were about to pass across Saturn's disk, casting their shadows on the planet, Spaceweather.com asked rather rhetorically, and without elaborating, "What are the odds?"

Well, the odds of the four moons transiting Saturn are known, it can happen once every 14 to 15 years, when Saturn's axial tilt in relation to Earth is favourable. So although it is a rare event, it can't in itself be read as much of a sign.

But what are the odds the event would occur while Saturn is conjunct a prominent comet in our skies? With some bright exceptions, prominent comets tend to be of the parabolic kind, so-called "intruders", of which there is about one per year that captures our attention. Such comets tend to be steeply inclined to the ecliptic, and will rarely pass near a planet in our skies. The odds of them passing a particular planet are therefore about 1 in 1,300, assuming a generous 10 degrees as the maximum distance of the comet from the planet to qualify as a pass. The odds of a comet passing Saturn while 4 of its moons are transiting, are therefore roughly 1 in 19,000 years. A very rare event indeed, but still within the realm of a plausible coincidence.

Where it really gets interesting is in the odds of this event occurring while the comet is at its closest approach to Earth. A parabolic comet will be closest to Earth once during its visit, so we can say this happens once per year. The likelihood of this appearing within one degree of any particular place in the sky, is about 1 in 130,000.

And with that we've arrived at the total odds of the event that occurred on 24th February 2009 as being 1 in 2.5 billion years. In other words, what happened on that fateful Tuesday, could only have happened once before during the lifetime of our Solar System - if we assume a purely mechanical System.

That the extreme rarity of the event should get our attention should be obvious to everyone. What isn't so obvious is the signature that points us to the intentional nature of the event, the fact that we're seeing more than mere mechanics, but a story written in a certain language.

That language is the language of space and time, expressed in whole and partial numbers. The key, the signature number to help us decode the message of this event is number 4. It is 44 days after its perihelion that the comet comes within 0.4 AU of the Earth, at the very moment 4 of Saturn's moons are transiting the planet, 4 days before the comet will pass Regulus!

While you may claim that an event that can happen once every 2.5 billion years is only a mechanical coincidence, the numerical signature cannot be explained away on the same terms. Trying to dismiss what is obviously "written" as simple mechanics would amount to insisting that the pictograms in an Egyptian temple are but meaningless scribblings. The doubter really does need to see past their skeptical prejudice and begin allowing for the possibility that it is indeed writing in the sky that is being witnessed, and try to decode the message.

The message of course, as outlined in our first post, is the birth of our new Heavenly King, whose time has come to reveal to many what a few have always known, the true name of our Lord.

More details to follow.