Super Moon and Loving the Environment

Kompas/Bahana Patria Gupta

The super blue blood moon is seen from Surabaya’s Sanggar Agung Temple on Wednesday (31/1). The rare phenomenon takes places every 152 years.

A natural event as unique and phenomenal as the Super Blue Blood Moon, a combination of three different phenomena, is truly astonishing.

We are grateful that nature is gracious enough to expose itself – sometimes its beauty (in the form of solar or lunar eclipse) and, at other times, its fury (through volcanic eruption or earthquakes) – to serve as food for our thoughts.

The phenomenon of lunar eclipses – in which the Moon, in its orbit, passes through the Earth’s dark shadows casted by sunlight – is in fact not a rarity. In one year, there can be one, two or three total lunar eclipses. However, this time, the total lunar eclipse was more than just about its frequency. This was a phenomenon where a total lunar eclipse occurred as the Moon was at its closest point to Earth, at around 350,000 kilometers away, which occurred three to four times a year. Furthermore, last night’s eclipse also occurred in what was called a “Blue Moon”, which is a second full moon in a lunar month.

Unsurprisingly, the combination of these three phenomena has resulted in widespread enthusiasm. Many wished to observe it. The more serious among us even shelled out money to purchase a telescope, in the hope of seeing the Moon’s surface and its craters more clearly.

We see this public enthusiasm, especially among the youths, on the Super Blue Blood Moon phenomenon as an encouraging sign. Nature seems to have opened its door to people’s curiosity in its phenomena at a time when reports claim that the youths’ interest on science is waning.

We see science as an important element for national progress. Other than helping us in understanding nature’s secrets, science can also awaken our curiosity to be followed by a spirit of research. In the realm of science, there are branches of astronomy related to the cosmos, celestial bodies and space phenomena, as well as physics, biology, chemistry, geophysics and meteorology.

In the past, these branches of sciences were often called pure science that were hard to master and it would be difficult for graduates of these sciences to find jobs. These allegations are merely superficial. If we dig deeper, we will find that they are untrue. Meteorologists, for instance, are highly sought after right now as mankind is facing climate change and global warming. Indonesia needs a lot of seismologists upon the realization that the nation lives in an earthquake-prone ring of fire. Food scarcity may be resolved with new breakthroughs in biology that are transformed into biotechnology.

The government has an important role in providing adequate research fund, considering that research fund only takes up 0.08 percent of the GDP thus far.

Apart from funding, we need to acknowledge that achievements in research are closely related to culture. We need to appreciate this culture of research amid the onslaught of materialism and consumerism.

We hope that the Super Blue Blood Moon phenomenon encourages the advancement of research and for nurturing a love of the environment among national scientists and youth.