Page 52 - Miracles of The Qur'an Vol. 3
P. 52
When the Heaven shall be cleft asunder, and become rose red,
like stained leather. (Surat ar-Rahman, 37)
The Arabic expression translated above as "become rose red, like
stained leather" is "wardatan kaalddihani." This term compares an im-
age appearing in the sky to a red rose. This description bears a close sim-
ilarity to red celestial bodies with a crumpled appearance, especially the
"Rosette Nebula."
Nebula is the name given to cloud-like masses of gas in space.
Before they become nebulae, they are stars - and since these stars are
very large, they release gasses into space because of their high internal
pressure and temperatures. These eruptions of gas are very large and
fast. These gasses then coalesce to form a gas cloud, with a temperature
of more than 15,000 C. 32
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One type of nebula is known as the "Rosette Nebula" because of its
close resemblance to a rose. The Rosette Nebula is also a vast cloud of gas
and seems to have an area five times greater than that of the full moon. 33
Its true diameter is estimated at 130 light years. 34
A team led by Leisa Townsley, a senior Penn State University re-
searcher in the field of astronomy and astrophysics, examined the Rosette
Nebula using the renowned Chandra X-ray telescope. They im-
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