Cosmos and Gustav Holst’s The Planets

Jonti Horner talks about ‘a cosmos that is infinitely varied and remarkably old’ on an ABC Radio conversation. His use of language and understanding of cosmology was inspiring and expansive. The music overlay of Gustav Holst’s The Planets, was at once still and contemplative and also dramatic and colossal.
Cosmos ponderings are easily undertaken whilst floating on the Bay of an evening. Some snippets from this interview with Jonti Horner follow…

“earth would be stripped of its mantel”…
“material would be sloughed off into space”…
“devouring and cannibalising it’s way through the depths of space”…
“gravity nudges and tweaks”…

“Jupiter stirring things up making a bigger mess than ever”…
“the ongoing beauty of the solar system. It’s a chaotic place”…
“over hundreds of thousands of years causes the earths orbit to periodicly rock, tilt… a little more circular, a little yes circular”…
“the light of the moon is about one millionth that of the sun”…

“revealing itself not by light but by gravitational sculpting”