Photo Caption: Astronomer Jeff Cooke, a native of St. Mary’s Parish in Westville who is credited with a major discovery this year, fields a question during his Dec. 4 presentation at Schlarman Academy in Danville.

By: By Tom Dermody

WESTVILLE — Jeff Cooke has seen the most distant edges of space and time, but the Westville native and world renowned astronomer also understands the awe a biologist can feel when considering the organisms in a single drop of water.

“Everything has its own awe-inspiring beauty,” said Cooke, who on Oct. 31 made world news by reporting the discovery of a pair of ancient stellar explosions that rank as the most distant such events known. Because of their distance and the speed that light travels, it is estimated the “super-luminous supernovae” took place some 10 billion years ago.

This week Cooke, the son of Darla and the late Donald Cooke of St. Mary’s Parish in Westville, was home on a break from his research at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. And while in the area, he spoke to students at Schlarman Academy in Danville on the topic of “our place in the universe.”

Students in grades 7 to 12 peppered Cooke with questions ranging from how long stars live to where black holes come from. And he tried to offer his young audience a sense of the universe’s vast age and distances.

Those are thoughts Cooke has pondered since he was a student at the former St. Mary’s School in Westville, where he was fascinated by a poster of the solar system in kindergarten and actually devised a theory of the solar system in fifth grade — much to the surprise of his science teacher. His parents furthered his interest by buying him a small telescope and a subscription to Astronomy magazine when he was 10.

“To think I now have articles about my work in Astronomy magazine!” he told The Catholic Post in an interview prior to his presentation at Schlarman.

Cooke, who has a doctorate in physics, said that while he now explores the mysteries of creation with the world’s best telescopes, he doesn’t necessarily feel closer to the Creator than more earthbound stargazers.

“That we have the ability to understand (the universe), at least in our own small way using human reasoning, is an aspect of creation that is absolutely amazing,” said Cooke, who said at times he does step away from the mathematical and computational duties of his job to “appreciate the full picture.”

But everyone can feel the same awe when considering the wonder of God’s plan, Cooke explained.

“A baker can appreciate all the ingredients on a very detailed level; their origins, how they react to temperature and chemicals, and then the final products which are creative, nourishing, and are vital in the full cycle of life,” he said.

“God created everything,” said Cooke. “The details get uncovered as you explore.”