Since I got a $50 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble, I decided to make a stop there tonight. Not that I need a gift certificate to do that but it does make it much easier when I find something that I like and want to purchase. So Kathy, my wife, and I poked around to see if there was something that we’d like to take home. She found a great quilting book [she’s won four blue ribbons for quilts at the county fair] and parked herself in a chair to look through it while I prowled the aisles.
Found some interesting things that I looked through, and then one in particular that struck my fancy. It’s titled, What’s Out There – Images From Here to the Edge of the Universe. Space, physics and those kinds of things fascinate me so, I picked up the book and decided I’d buy it. My cell phone rang and it was Kathy, saying she’d meet me at the Starbucks counter and we could drink some café mocha while we read our books. “I’ll meet you there,” I replied and it was done.
Anyway, after looking through the first few pages of the book, and being totally overwhelmed, I began to think, as those things always make me think, of the significance of humans, and our planet and things of that nature. So, I thought I’d just make some notes here about what I’ve read.
We’re a part of the Milky Way galaxy, an important galaxy since we’re here, but actually only one of approximately 150 billion galaxies. Think of that. 150,000,000,000 galaxies, much like our own out there. That’s a pretty big number and I have trouble really grasping what it means. What does 150 billion of anything look like. Maybe grains of sand on a very large beach. That might do it I suppose. And, to compound things, estimates are that there are 200,000,000 stars in our galaxy while some of the larger galaxies may have as many as 3,000,000,000 stars. Hmmmm.
Looking at our galaxy, there’s a bulge in the center, where the black hole (more about that later) resides, and that bulge is a disc about 100,000 light years across. Now, what does that mean. Well, without going into too much detail, a light year, rather than a measure of time, is a measure of distance. It’s about 5.9 trillion miles. That’s a long way. That’s 5,900,000,000,000 miles. Now, if that bulge is 100, 000 of those light years across, that means it’s 5,900,000,000,000,000,000 miles wide. If I couldn’t comprehend 150 billion, how can I try to get a grasp on a number like that. And that’s only the “bulge” in our solar system, not the whole system. And there are 150 billion of those things floating around with more space between them than they are wide. I think you see where I’m going here.
To give you a hint of our feebleness, the Voyager I spacecraft was launched 27 years ago and it's still zooming through space, sending us images from 8 billion miles away. That’s 8,000,000,000 miles. Compare that to the numbers in the last paragraph and you see how puny it is despite the fact that most of us can’t really comprehend what 8 billion of anything is, unless it’s the sand on the beach.
There were some other interesting numbers there too. A blue giant star has a basic temperature of about 55,000ºF (31,000ºC). Now, let’s see. My wife complains when the temperature outside gets much above 78ºF. Hmmmm. How hot is 55,000ºF? Well, not very hot when compared to the corona layer of the sun which hovers around 3,600,000ºF (2,000,000ºC) and is nothing compared to the superheated core of the sun that’s about 27,000,000ºF (15,000,000ºC). Thank goodness the basic temperature of the sun is a mere 10,300ºF (5,700ºC) and we get along very nicely with that.
Then we get to black holes which are collapsed stars and have infinite density in a size smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. We’re just learning about them but, time stands still in a black hole, something hard for us to comprehend. Nothing that goes past the “event horizon” of a black hole can escape, not even light.
I’m going to keep reading my book of course, but things like this always make me smile as people I meet try to act like they’re very important and have major significance in our world. And perhaps they do. But what’s significant in that respect is not a huge factor when you look at the universe and those numbers above. And, those are SMALL numbers as you begin to expand outward into the universe and inward, into the area of sub-atomic things. In each, we soon get tired of writing zeros.
Our significance comes I think, from the fact that, as far as we know, we are the only thing in this universe that’s like ourselves, and that we were chosen to be here. Some may well disagree, but in my mind, that “chooser” is God, who controls and has the intellect to understand this universe. Modern string theory postulates that there are at least 10 or 11 dimensions to our existence, not the three we normally think of, or four if we add time. Who comprehends these dimensions? For me it’s the infinite wisdom of the creative God. Many won’t agree, and that’s fine, but it’s my firm belief.
Anyway, going to keep reading and learning and trying to comprehend. But, knowing these things, like the numbers above, and comprehending them are two different realities indeed. It’s fun to try though. And, you'll have to excuse me if I smile when you try to impress me with how important you are.
The column is fairly self-explanatory. And, for those who are interested, I've discovered there are approximately 226,560,000 grains of sand per cubic foot. Read on and you'll understand why that's important.
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An intriguing write.The numbers fascinated me and for some reason I read the whole thing...Guess you have a wonder way with words which keeps the reader hooked...
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You know you had me.. You really did.. Up until the point where your wife called you from inside the store.. Life cracks me up.. Only because I recently did that and the grew completely disgusted with myself. It was after Christmas and like you I was weighted down with gift cards (only imagine the six of us and several beautiful friends? and me who hates to shop at the mall? Paul it wasn't pretty)
anyhow I lost V.
Seriously couldn't find him. I had to call my own husband on his cell. And I was so annoyed that I had to do it.
That's when I knew that I was this little tiny little person and this world was to big. I made him take me and the kids home and swore to never ever go back to the mall.
I love you for being you. I love you for picking up the phone and calling to wish me a Merry Christmas instead of sending me a email.
Most of all I love you for trying to make us all see how big this world and universe really is.
Always your fan,
Cat -
I have felt for some time that our universe is but an atom in some unfathomed structure. Just look at the way it's put together, planets as protons and electrons orbiting the nuclear sun. I have written about my musings on myspace. I am in awe of the whole setup.
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Whats the book called?
Im interested :} -
amazing
Needless to say, I feel ridiculously small right now. I didn't know that time "stands still" in the black holes. that's just CRAZY to me. This was really good and incredibly interesting. Fantastic job with this. Now I want to read that book! I'm amazed. Oh and I LOVE the ending. Very good.
Love you!
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It sure puts what to have for Christmas dinner and where to go on New Year's into perspective.
I think that, if there are so many stars out there, there is a good chance statistically that some of them have habitable planets. SETI was set up to try to find them but good luck when the distances are so vast. If there is an intelligent creator, that entity may have chosen many more than one planet to contain "intelligent"life. That would make us even more insignificant. Quotes because everything that is going on may give us cause to question our true intelligence. We've got a lot to learn and I hope we can learn it.
It is quite fascinating and mindboggling. Must keep my eye open for that book though novels and poetry are more my speed.
Hope you had a Merry Christmas, Poppa, and Happy New Year. Thanks for the column. You're going to get a lot of responses! -
Thank You, Thank You, Paul
In the huge range between the very smallest and the very largest things we are aware of within the 3 dimensions of the universe we presently are in, -- within the vast spectrum of this range, we (the average individual human body) fall in the exact middle! This is not accidental. Whether the universe was designed around us, or we around it... well, it looks like it is both... -
Oh we are less important than that grain of sand in truth. Only to those who love us. So how precious is that I ask you? We are because we think we are. Therefore so what! It degrades our whole self image to assume otherwise I guess.This does solidify my own belief that the longer I live, the less I'm sure of. So what really gives us dominion over plant or animal? Zippo!
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