In order to find answers to these questions, let’s consider ourselves sitting at home after a long, tiring day. Are we aware that we are moving very fast even at a moment when we seem to be resting? When we travel by bus, we are motionless from the standpoint of a sitting passenger, yet have a velocity compared to an outsider standing on the sidewalk. The trees lining the road seem to be going backwards, but they are fixed to the ground with no speed. Therefore, velocity is relative and we in fact move at different speeds while sitting at home depending on the objects of reference. We have a zero velocity relative to our guests sitting with us on the couch, but have various speeds compared to the center of Earth, the moon, the sun and the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Not only us, but all existence in the universe has a movement, or oscillation. This movement is usually in the form of a revolution for objects of important mass and as a vibration for particles with smaller masses.

The shining celestial bodies of the cosmos rotate around themselves like whirling dervishes. They revolve around other heavenly bodies or around their common center of gravities, such as pilgrims revolving around Ka’ba in Mecca. The gravitational force set in the universe pulls all objects towards each other. This gravitational force indeed pulls all masses together; however, it is counterbalanced by the motion of revolution given to grand heavenly bodies. As a matter of fact, everything is moving: a solar system with its planets, moons, and comets; the Milky Way galaxy, along with billions of stars, nebulas, galaxies, interstellar dust, gas clouds, and other celestial objects… all are moving in a giant rotating motion like a carousel. In this article, you are going to find some of the scientific findings of our revolving planet, the sun, and the universe, and how some verses in the Qur’an sound miraculously relevant to them.

The Earth’s motion

First of all, we have a velocity stemming from the Earth’s rotation. People living on the equator travel approximately a thousand miles per hour in reference to the center of the globe due to this rotation. While people on the poles never gain any distance over 24 hours, people on the equator travel nearly 23,800 miles! Inside a plane, because we move at the same rate as the plane, we cannot feel its speed. In a similar way, since we move at the same rate as Earth, we cannot feel the globe’s movement.

There are many benefits associated with the Earth’s rotation. The delineation of day and night, atmospheric jet streams, oceanic currents, and similar events rise from the rotation of Earth around its axis. For instance, it causes the warm water currents of the Gulf Stream to reach England, generating a warm and rainy climate.

There are verses in the Qur’an that point to the globular shape of the Earth and its rotation around its axis and revolution around the sun:

“He has created the heavens and the Earth with truth. He wraps the night around the day, and He wraps the day around the night. And He has made the sun and the moon subservient (to His command), each running its course for a term appointed (by Him). Be aware! He is the All-Glorious with irresistible might, the All-Forgiving.” (Az-Zumar 5)

Yet another verse furthers this point:

“It is He Who has created the night and the day and the sun and the moon. Every one (of such celestial bodies) floats in its orbit.” (Al-Anbiya 33)

The verb “wrap” is usually used for round objects, and the perpetual arrival of day and night are only possible with a circular planet. The Earth’s rotation leads to different days, on the micro level, and different seasons, on the macro level. The Qur’an concisely summarizes all these physical events with the simple phrase, “wrap the night around the day.”

The Earth’s primary motion is around the sun. We are roughly 93 million miles away from the sun and we make this orbit, which is nearly 584 million miles, every 365 days. According to the center of the sun, our average velocity on this orbit is approximately 66 thousand miles per hour.
In addition, other planets travel around the sun via different orbits and speeds, each moving on a separate plane. For a moment, it is significant to visualize the sun, which is more than a million times larger than Earth, with its planets and other viscera revolving around it via no visible bond between them.

The movement of the sun

As stated earlier, when we travel on a bus, we observe the trees and buildings near the road going backwards even though we are the ones moving. In a similar way, we see the sun as revolving around us, though in fact the Earth is the one moving. In the Qur’an, the chapter of Al-Anbiya, the verse reading, “each running its course,” is about the creation of the sun and moon, clearly pointing to their movements. Unfortunately, the verse that reads, “A(nother) clear sign for them; And the sun runs the course appointed for it for a term to its resting-place, for the stability of it(s system)…” (Ya Sin 38) was misunderstood as the sun revolving around the Earth. However, we know today that our sun is one of a couple hundred billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy. As such, it both rotates around itself and revolves around the center of the Milky Way galaxy, and confirms the miraculous declaration of the truth in the verse.

In addition, the sun also has a secondary movement inside the local star cluster towards a certain direction. We can explain this with an example: the atmosphere is in motion along with the Earth. Each particle and particle set that makes up the atmosphere not only moves right and left, but also has a total revolution around the Earth. The sun behaves in a similar way within the star cluster and around the center of the Milky Way.

How are we going to define the velocity of the sun? We can determine the sun’s speed by referencing a constant point depending on the average velocity of stars in the section of the galaxy that we inhabit. The sun, according to a local constant point, travels towards the shiny Vega star in the Lyra constellation with an average speed of 43 thousand miles per hour.

Apart from their individual movements, the stars in our galaxy also revolve around the galactic center. The velocity of this movement depends on the star’s mass and its distance to the galaxy’s center. The sun completes one loop inside the Milky Way galaxy every 225 million years. It has completed a total of 20 tours around the galaxy’s center since the Earth’s creation. Our Earth, which moves along with the Sun, travels around the galaxy’s center at nearly 492 thousand miles per hour.

The motion of the Milky Way galaxy

Our galaxy is one of the billions of galaxies in known space. Galaxies are the biggest known structures. The universe expands and galaxies move away from each other, conforming to the meaning of the verse, “And the heaven, We have constructed it mightily; and it is surely We Who have vast power, and keep expanding it” (Adh-Dhariyat 47). Our galaxy, along with nearby galaxies, is pulled towards the Leo and Virgo constellations. The cause of this attraction is not understood yet.

Since all galaxies are moving, how can we determine the velocity of the Milky Way galaxy? As is known, the entire universe is filled with cosmic radiation as a remnant of the Big Bang. When this radiation is taken as a reference, the Milky Way travels at around 1.3 million miles per hour.

At the moment, when we think we are sitting in place, we are actually moving around the center of the Earth, sun, our local star cluster, the center of the Milky Way galaxy, and also moving away from other galaxies. We have velocity in relation to all of these movements. The revolution of the universe is also a fact verified by the Divine word: “I swear by the heaven ever-revolving” (At-Tariq 11).

While you are comfortably sitting in your chair or leaning against a pillow reading this article, you are rotating around the Earth’s axis at a speed up to 1000 miles per hour depending on how far you are from the poles. In addition, our planet is revolving around the Sun, in an orbit 186 million miles wide, at a speed of 67,000 mph. The Sun is taking its planets on a ride around the center of the Milky Way. In turn, the Milky Way, where the Solar System appears as no more than a small dust particle, is retreating from some galaxies and approaching others. For example, the Andromeda Galaxy is getting closer to us at a speed of 200,000 mph. And, even if you know all this, the apparent uniformity and order under which these movements occur enables you to feel at peace and to ignore them.

In distant space, new galaxies are being formed and many others are swallowed by mysterious black holes. Old stars collapse and explode to become supernova, or shrink and become little white dwarfs.

On our home planet which looks like a calm, blue marble from the space, atmospheric conditions from above and the volcanic forces from below cause continuous change in the layout of the continents and the oceans. Again, several centuries of scientific discoveries have shown that the continents are in constant motion, colliding on some fronts, and pulling apart in some other places. The theory of plate tectonics tells us that the continental plates float over the Earth and that when they collide, great mountain ranges (for example, the Himalayas) occur. For similar reasons, the Atlantic Ocean widens by four-tenths of an inch every year.

On the surface of the Earth, volcanoes rise and empty their contents as the building material for new lands. The wind and the rivers erode the soil, leveling the heights or causing deep canyons, slowly but steadily changing the layout of the land.

Animals and plants that sustain life on Earth come into existence and then disappear in lives that range from a few hours to several centuries. The plants recycle the soil and the gases and feed the animals, which return back to the soil when they die.

Your body is renewing itself without you being aware of it. Wounds heal, nails and hair grow. You breathe unconsciously and provide oxygen to blood cells that carry energy and nutrients to each and every cell in your body. The cells multiply for growth and renewal. The body fights against unknown intruders by producing its own medicines. The connections between your brain cells are constantly reestablishing themselves to enable you to understand and react to what you read or experience. Numerous decisions are made in the genes in the billions of cells in your body every moment to produce one or another kind of protein, which ultimately determines how your body functions.

The atoms, the building materials of all living or non-living matter in the universe, interact with other nearby atoms or even with atoms that are millions of light years away, reacting to their gravitational or electromagnetic forces. Atoms are bound to their neighbors, forming strong compounds or breaking bounds and releasing energy.

Even inside a single atom that is seemingly stable, a constant movement and renewal continues. The electrons circle the atomic nucleus at one percent of the speed of light. Even though matter in an atom constitutes a negligible part of the observed volume of the atom, the movements and resulting forces form the illusion of solid matter. When you are looking at a solid rock, are you aware that you are looking at an object that is 99.999999999 % empty? While the electrons continue their restless turn around the nucleus, they jump up and down the energy levels. The electrons seem to disappear from one level and reappear at another level without any continuum in between-hence the term “quantum leap.” When changing levels, electrons emit or absorb photons that are the building blocks of light.

The space-time continuum, first explained by Einstein, tells us that we will not be in the same place or at the same time twice. You will have traveled thousands of miles in the universe by the time you have finished reading this sentence.

In summary, everything in the universe, from the little subatomic particles to gigantic clusters of galaxies, is in a constant state of change.

In all this seemingly chaotic rush, there is a hidden order that keeps everything on course. When astronomers inspect the deep skies, they gasp when observing the beauty of celestial objects, like the nebulae structures recently discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope. On Earth, life continues to function on its course. Your body works until it has fulfilled its expected life span. And, despite all the electrons that are flying, disappearing, and reappearing, the book you left on the desk this evening will be there tomorrow morning-unless you have children at home.

It should be clear that any mishap, even for the slightest moment, might render the universe useless. So, why isn’t everything turning into a chaos of colliding, rotting, disappearing particles? What is the force that sets the harmony in the universe? This is best explained by Said Nursi, who wrote a century ago:

“The Glorious Creator of the universe is Self-Subsistent, that is, He subsists, continues, and endures of Himself. All things subsist and continue through Him, they remain in existence and have permanence. If that relationship of Self-Subsistence was cut off from the universe for even the fraction of a second, the universe would be annihilated.”

References

• See “The Great Attractor” at http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/Cosmos/GtAttractor.html.
• Charles Flowers , Instability Rules: The Ten Most Amazing Ideas of Modern Science, John Wiley & Sons, 1st edition, March 15, 2002.
• See “Complete Coverage of the Hubble Space Telescope” at http://www.space.com/hubble.
• Nursi, Bediuzzaman Said, The Flashes, Sozler Publishing, 5th edition, December 1996.

As we approach the new millennium, satellite-based communication systems will be the next frontier for this industry. They will assume a vital role in infrastructure, securing telecommunication links during disasters and supporting humanity’s space-based efforts.

A new epoch in space-based wireless communications has already begun with the deployment of two low-Earth-orbiting (LEO) communication satellite systems: Iridium and Globalstar. The Motorola-led Iridium consortium successfully launched the last five satellites in its strong network during the last year. The entire Iridium network integrates terrestrial phone systems and satellites.

Several other satellite systems having global or broad geographical coverage will join this new arena within the next 3 to 4 years, thereby complementing and extending existing terrestrial wireless services. Users of conventional terrestrial cellular services, business people, travelers, maritime vessels, aeronautical and industrial facilities, journalists, government agencies, the Coast Guard and emergency-related organizations, others on the go, and people living in sparsely populated areas will be able to communicate with each other via these services.

Satellite-based mobile communication systems are characterized by the distance of their satellites from Earth. LEO satellites are typically located 310 miles (500 kms) to 932 miles (1,500 kms) above the planet, whereas medium-Earth-orbit (MEO) versions are located from 3,100 miles (5,000 kms) to 7,456 miles (12,000 kms) above the planet. Geosynchronous Earth-orbit satellites, located 22,245 miles (35,800 kms) above the equator, move in synchronism with Earth’s rotation. While GEO satellites seem to be stationary to an Earthbound observer, LEO and MEO satellites appear to be in constant movement.

GEO SYSTEMS

GEO satellites have been used in such commercial communication services as television broadcasting and long-distance telephone trunking, and for maritime communication services since 1965. With the exception of the polar regions, global coverage can be provided by three GEO satellites equally spaced above the equator. In the past, GEO satellites were not viable for hand-held phone communications due to the lengthy signal propagation delay and large power loss. Advances in space technology, however, allow satellites equipped with large-aperture phased array antennas to increase their transmitting power, thereby making the GEO approach viable for delivering telephony to hand-held phones in vast areas of the world.

Several operators have opted for regional GEO systems, which typically require a single satellite. The Asia Cellular Satellite System (ACeS), which is being developed by a three-company consortium from Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines, will provide services in 26 Southeast Asian countries, including Japan, China, India, and Pakistan. ACeS’s satellite, positioned over the equator at 118 degrees east longitude above the island of Borneo, offers mobile phone, facsimile, data, and paging services. Hence, many people in this region who have no access to terrestrial communication links will one day be able to roam anywhere they wish and still keep in touch with each other.

Another regional GEO satellite, Thuraya, will furnish mobile satellite services to 1.8 billion people in 58 countries ranging from the Middle East and North Africa to eastern Europe, Turkey, the Indian subcontinent, and Central Asia. Thuraya will be positioned over the equator at 44 degrees east above the Somali coast. The program, a consortium of 14 telecommunications organizations in various Arab countries, is run out if its headquarters in the Thuraya Satellite Communications Co., located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The Thuraya system will use a time-division-multiple-access (TDMA) scheme and support 13,750 voice channels. Hughes Network Systems will supply the dual-mode handsets. The satellite will connect calls from users to other users through its 256 reconfigurable spot beams. The company presently envisions an air-time price of US $0.50 per minute for system users.

LEO SYSTEMS

LEO satellites at very low altitudes differ from GEO satellites in two main ways: they are close enough to receive hand-held device signals with a very small propagation delay, and they form cellular towers in the sky. The major disadvantage of LEO systems, when compared with GEO systems, is that they require more satellites with a smaller size and lighter weights to provide global coverage. Complicated ground-based tracking systems are needed to control LEO satellites.

The Iridium system operated by the Motorola-led international consortium of 20 telecommunications and industrial companies is the first LEO system to turn the promise of global wireless service into a reality. By integrating ground-based cellular infrastructures with 66 LEO satellites and thus forming a cross-linked grid 485 miles (780 kms) above the Earth, Iridium provides such global telecommunications as telephony, data, and pager services.

Each satellite in the Iridium constellation rotates around the Earth within a period of approximately 100 minutes at one of the six orbital planes of 86.4 degrees inclination. With one global telephone number and an Iridium satellite phone, you can contact anyone on the planet. The satellite’s on-board processor processes calls placed by hand-held subscribers or forwarded by gateways and routes to other Iridium satellites in the constellation or to gateways on the ground. This inter-satellite networking capability and direct access of hand-held subscribers to the satellite is a significant distinguishing feature of the Iridium system.

The system operates at four different links and in four different frequency bands. Each satellite in the constellation is connected by radio transmission to four others at frequencies between 23.18-23.38 GHz. Hand-held users can communicate directly with the satellite in the 1.616-1.626 GHz band. Links between the satellite and ground gateways also operate in 19.4-19.6 GHz (downlink) and 29.1-29.3 GHz (uplink) frequency range. Iridium handsets are dual-mode, working both as a typical cellular telephone and as a satellite telephone. Both TDMA and frequency-division-multiple-access (FDMA) technologies are embedded in the handsets, as in cellular GSM handsets. The satellites are controlled by a master control center located in Lansdowne, Virginia, USA.

Iridium launched its final satellites in early May 1998. The system is now operational and offers a wide variety of services to travelers, aeronautical industries, and military and governmental organizations. It provides voice, facsimile, and data communications for the cockpit and at passenger seats across all aviation segments. According to a recent press release by Stratos, an Iridium service provider, the American government had a contract with it and Hughes Global Services to obtain access to multi-network Iridium satellite services.

Another LEO satellite system that will provide global voice and data services is Globalstar. This system is global in nature, except for the polar regions. It is a constellation of 48 satellites orbiting with a period of 113 minutes in eight circular planes, and is inclined at 52 degrees at an altitude of 879 miles (1,414 kms). Global-star’s satellites are less complicated and cheaper than their Iridium counterparts. They have no on-board processor or intersatellite links (Iridium does), and thus act like well-established reflectors in the sky relaying signals directly to ground gateways. Rather than directly connecting one caller to another by satellite, calls are first routed to gateways and then uplinked to the satellite. The satellite then downlinks this received call to another gateway.

The primary owners of Globalstar are Loral Space and Communications Ltd., and Qualcomm Inc. The system is operated and serviced by 12 telecommunications companies. In order to avoid communication linkage drops, three or four 16-foot to 20-foot (5-meter to 6- meter) dish antennas are installed at Globalstar gateways. Unlike Iridium, Globalstar handsets utilize code-division-multiple-access (CDMA) technology. Globalstar’s unique capability is that signals from three or four visible satellites are combined at the gateways, and the strongest one is chosen to maximize power efficiency and eliminate call interruption. Therefore, satellites will be seamlessly added to and removed from calls in progress, as they are constantly moving in and out of view. So far, Globalstar has put 24 satellites in orbit. “With only two more successful launches of four satellites each, Globalstar will have the coverage required to initiate a regional roll-out of service in September,” says Bernard L. Schwartz, chairman and chief executive officer of Globalstar.

OTHER LITTLE LEOs and MEOs

Other LEOs, notbly Orbcomm and Teledesic, provide such telecommunication services as broadband Internet access, videoconferencing, and multimedia; however, they do not allow phone calls. These satellites are relatively small compared with those of Iridium and Globalstar, and were designed for two-way data communications. Orbcomm is a consortium of Orbital Science Corp., Canada’s Teleglobe Inc., and Malaysia’s Technology Resources Industries Bhd. Orbcomm’s total of 36 little LEOs will travel in two different circular orbits: one is located 460 miles (740 kms) above the Earth with 70 degrees inclination in pair, and the other is located at 523 miles (825 kms) in planes of eight with 45 degrees inclination. The Teledesic system will consist of 288 little LEO satellites in 12 polar orbital planes. It will provide data rates of 64 Mb/s, data rates 2,000 times faster than standard telephone modems. The system’s operation frequency will be 27.5 GHz in the uplink (from user to satellite), and 28.5 GHz in the downlink (from satellite to user). The company plans to start commercial service in 2002. Its investors are Microsoft founder Bill Gates, cellular phone pioneer Craig McCaw, Boeing, and the AT&T Corp.

ICO Global Communications will feature 10 operational MEO satellites located at an altitude of 6,434 miles (10,355 kms) in 45 degrees and 135 degrees inclined orbits. ICO’s ground network will consist of 12 ground stations with multiple antennas distributed strategically around the globe. Its gateways will function in ways similar to those of Global- star. The ICO system will launch its full service in 2000. ICO satellites are derived from an existing Hughes GEO satellite, and are four times heavier than Iridium satellites: 6,063 pounds (2,750 kgs) in orbit. ICO satellites travel more slowly than LEO satellites, thereby reducing the need for frequent handovers from one satellite to another.

Ellipso, an MEO system owned by Mobile Communications Holding Inc., Lockheed Martin Corp., Harris Corp., and three others from Australia and South Africa, will become fully operational in 2001. With 17 satellites in three orbital planes, it can provide almost complete global coverage. Seven equally spaced satellites located above the equator at an altitude of 5,008 miles (8,060 kms) will serve a 25 degrees north and a 55 degrees south latitude region. Another 10 satellites will orbit in two elliptical orbits inclined at 116 degrees. Each satellite will be able to handle 3,000 simultaneous phone calls.

REFERENCES

• Big LEO/MEO/GEO Market and Financial Review (1998).
• Glenister, Simon. “Iridium to Offer Aeronautical Service.” Integrating Global Air Traffic Management, ICAO/ISC (June 1998). (See also: www.
• iridium.com/english/industry/wero/medialarticle_index.html.)
• http://www.globalstar.com.
• http://www.iridium.com.
• Miller, Barry. “Satellites Free the Mobile Phone.” IEEE Spectrum Magazine (March 1998): 26-35.