Dr Keith Souter with Sir Patrick Moore in his study.Dr Keith Souter with Sir Patrick Moore in his study.
Dr Keith Souter with Sir Patrick Moore in his study.
On Friday I was up before 4am to try to catch the lunar eclipse. The culmination of this bit of moon-watching was to be the blood moon. Unfortunately, I was stymied by heavy clouds and the fact that the moon would not turn red until after it dipped down below the horizon.
Dr Keith Souter writes: Nevertheless, the glimpses I did get certainly gave me a feeling of awe. I’ve had an interest in astronomy for many years and was fortunate enough in the past to look at the night skies through Sir Patrick Moore’s telescope down in Selsey on the south coast. It was truly awe inspiring to observe the sky through a huge telescope.
I use that word ‘awe’ because looking at the night sky can be very relaxing. Indeed, an interesting study published in February last year that found that people with a greater connection to the night sky had better mental health and felt happier. The experience of ‘awe’ has also been shown to reduce inflammation, lower the heart rate and increase oxytocin, a hormone that boosts positive emotions.
When you look at the moon, or at meteor showers it is hard not to feel awe at the magnificence of the universe. It can make you wonder at the vastness of space and the interrelationship with time. Just think, a light year is the distance light travels in a year, moving at a velocity of 300,000 kilometres a second. In one year, it can travel ten trillion kilometres. Thinking about something so awesome helps to reduce the focus on self.
Dr Keith Souter with Sir Patrick Moore's telescope.Dr Keith Souter with Sir Patrick Moore's telescope.
Dr Keith Souter with Sir Patrick Moore's telescope.
There is an important point here, because so many mental health issues have an amplified self-focus. Depression, anxiety, eating disorders all seem to have this focus on self.
Negative thoughts about self or feeling responsible that things happen are examples of this. Moon watching and star gazing induce awe and can make you realise that you do not control events and enable you to let go. Your earthly problems seem less important.
Psychologists say that awe arises in encounters with stimuli that are vast, or beyond one’s current perceptual frame of reference. We often advise people, to seek green spaces to bask in nature, and experience awe during the day. But there is a good case for night sky watching to experience the benefits of awe.