A smudge in the night sky can contain many wonders!
Ground-based, wide-field view of NGC 2366 from Digital Sky Survey 2 - Image courtesy of NASA
The blue streak in the above image is the dwarf galaxy NGC 2366. It is about 10 million lightyears distant and located in the constellation Camelopardalis (the Giraffe), which is visible in the northern hemisphere. Barely visible to the bottom right of the blue smudge is a bright spot, which is an active star-forming nebula, NGC 2363 contained within the dwarf galaxy. In the image below you can see the nebula shining from the light of the hot blue stars that are forming in the upper right part of the galaxy.
Hubble view of NGC 2366 - Image courtesy of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope
Zooming in on the nebula in another Hubble image below, one can see the collection of bright stars embedded in the nebula. Of particular note is the very bright star that appears at the tip of the “hook” of the nebula. This massive star is known as a Luminous Blue Variable (LBV), which is about 30 to 60 times as massive as the Sun. This is a very rare type of variable and very unstable. The image captured the star during an erupting phase. Another, more famous star of this type is the giant, Eta Carinae, which is anticipated to turn into a supernova in the near future (astronomically speaking).
NGC 2363 - Star forming nebula in the dwarf galaxy NGC 2366 - Image courtesy of NASA
When you look closely at the image of NGC 2366 you will see many “nebulous” regions within it. They are actually very distant galaxies that are visible through the veil of the dwarf galaxy. I’ve highlighted some of the more prominent galaxies that can be found in the image below.
Galaxies beyond NGC 2366 - Base Image courtesy of NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope
Here is a composite of some of the major galaxies hiding behind this dwarf galaxy.
Galaxies behind the dwarf galaxy NGC 2366
NGC 2366 is just another example of what wonders are hidden within the smallest parts of the night sky and what amazing things are awaiting discovery.
What do you see in this image from Mars? A spaceship? Some sort of structure? Or, possibly a natural formation of some sort?
What is this mysterious object spotted on Mars?
Without too much of a stretch of the imagination I think one could be convinced that this is an image of an alien spacecraft. But, if you haven’t already peeked at the image below, take a look now to see the image above in the context of its actual surroundings.
Sand dunes on the Martian surface - Image courtesy of NASA
These amazingly fluid structures are formed by wind and sand and are known as barchan dunes. They are not unique to Mars but can also be found on Earth as seen below. Here is another amazing photo of barchan dunes taken by George Steinmetz/National Geographic Society. It’s difficult to look at this image and not feel an alien origin to the shapes we see emerging from the sea of sand.
Barchan dunes in the Arabian Peninsula - Image by George Steinmetz / National Geographic Society
Aside from the stark beauty of these images, I wanted to point out how easy it is to manipulate an image to show something or give the reader an impression of something that doesn’t really exist. Without seeing the context from which the “alien spaceship” was taken, it is difficult to assess the authenticity of the image.
The morale: Don’t believe everything you see and hear. Always keep an open mind with a bit of skepticism, ask questions and investigate!
In the first blog on finding exoplanets I discussed the transit technique that is used to find planets by the light they block as they pass in between their star and the Earth. That gives information on the size of the planet, its orbit as well as information on the atmosphere of planet if it has one. But, there is a critical piece of information that is not supplied by the transit technique and that is the mass of the planet. Finding the mass of the exoplanet is done by measuring its radial velocity – its velocity as it moves toward and away from us as the planet or planets pull on it while orbiting the star.
Theoretically, one could measure a star’s motion relative to stars more distant as a planet tugs it one way or another, but in practice it is extremely difficult to measure this tiny displacement. This is the branch of astronomy known as astrometry. This technique has has not had much success due to limitations in the optics used in the telescopes and atmospheric turbulence. The more distant the star of interest is, the more imprecise the measurements become.
The technique that has been very successful utilizes the Doppler shift or the change in frequency of star’s light as it is pulled back and forth by its planets. Just like the sound of a train whistle increases in frequency or pitch as it moves toward you, and decreases as it moves away, the light from the star increases in frequency (gets bluer or is blueshifted) when the star is pulled toward us and decreases in frequency (gets redder or is redshifted) as it is pulled away from us.
To use this technique the light from the star is broken into its constituent parts by using a spectrograph and the shift of the spectrum can be measured with great precision as the star moves, allowing astronomers to calculate the minimum mass of the planet(s) that orbit the star.
The shift of a star's spectrum as it is pulled by an orbiting planet
In the image above, one can see the star moving around a center of mass determined by the mass of the star and the planets orbiting it. The spectrum shows black lines which are created by elements in the star’s atmosphere that characteristically absorb electromagnetic energy—light—at different frequencies. These lines are used to determine the composition of the star’s atmosphere, but it is the displacement of these lines that astronomers measure to determine the radial velocity and then the minimummass of the planet. The last image in the graphic shows the absorption lines as they shift toward the red and blue ends of the spectrum.
Note the emphasis on the minimum mass. This is the mass calculated by the component of the star’s velocity that is directly toward/away from us — its radial velocity. If the orbital plane of the planet is not directly in our line of sight (i.e. its orbit is inclined at some angle) then we are not seeing the total velocity of the star due to the planet, only a component of it (Remember your vectors!). If we don’t know the orbital inclination of the exoplanet to its star, then the mass we calculate based on the radial velocity we measure is a minimum mass and could be higher. If it turns out that the planet is orbiting in a plane directly in our line of sight, then the mass measured would be the actual mass.
HARPS can resolve radial velocities to 1 meter per second. That translates to a star moving toward or away from us at a velocity of 3.6 km/hour, or 2.2 mph—that’s average walking speed for humans! To get an appreciation for these numbers, consider if we were looking at our Sun from a distant star using the HARPS spectrograph. We would easily be able to detect Jupiter’s influence on the Sun, which provides a radial velocity of 12.7 m/s. Earth, however, would not be detectable because it only disturbs the Sun on the order of .1 m/s. But, it is not just the size of the planet that determines how much it will affect the radial velocity of the star but also its distance from the star.
Having a value for the mass of an exoplanet allows astronomers to determine the planet’s density and determine its probable composition. Having an educated guess at the planet’s make-up and knowing its distance from its star, and therefore its likely surface temperature, one can then speculate as to the state of water on the planet if present and the likelihood of life as we know it.
More and more evidence is surfacing that keeps increasing the number of potential planets in the average galaxy. The higher the number of planets, the better the odds of finding a habitat that is conducive to life. And, if we extend our theorizing to the number of moons that may orbit these planets, the number of potentiality habitable planets is…well…astronomical!
Extraterrestrial civilization on a moon of a gas giant in a distant solar system. -RC Davison
With Kepler increasing the total number of potential planets discovered almost daily, (as of 3/10/2012 the total is at 2321 with 61 planets confirmed) it is becoming easier to take this exciting news for granted. There is a lot more going on behind the scenes to these discoveries than just pointing a telescope at the stars and waiting for the planets to go by. Kepler uses a technique called the transit method to identify potential planets, but there are other ways to find planets, which I will discuss in a future post.
The transit method requires that the planets revolve around their stars in a plane that is within our line of sight, so from our perspective the planet blocks the light coming to us from its star. In concept this is pretty straight forward and simple. But, as they say, the devil is in the details.
If you click on the image above you will see a simulation provided by the Kepler site of a planet transiting the star it orbits. What’s interesting to note is the gradual slope of the curve as the planet first begins to cross the star or ingress and is repeated on the other side when the planet egresses the star. Also, as the planet transits the face of the star the light curve is not flat but curved due to limb darkening effects. The curve is not smooth, which indicates the variability in the brightness across the star’s surface. Note that in most cases the amount of light blocked by the planet is only on the order of 1% – 2%.
Consider this. As you watch the light dim from the star are you really seeing a planet passing in front of it or are you seeing the star itself dim because it is a variable star or has a large starspot (sunspot) on its surface that just came into view or some other phenomena is affecting the light you are seeing?
Maybe the dimming is due to the fact that this is not one star but two in a binary system – two stars orbiting each other in a plane that lies along our line of sight. What you perceive as dimming due to a planet could really be one star eclipsing the other. You would get the brightest image when they are not eclipsing, the dimmest when one is behind the other. These are known as eclipsing binaries. (Note that Kepler has discovered 2165 eclipsing binary stars as of this blog post) And, what if it’s a trinary system – three stars orbiting a common center of mass? Throw in a few planets and try to imagine the light curve for that system!
The dimming has to be periodic and repeatable to increase confidence that there really is something out there orbiting the star and not just an intervening asteroid or comet that happened to pass through your field of view. Kepler requires 3 to 4 events to record a potential exoplanet. The first planets Kepler discovered had orbital periods of several days, which allowed astronomers to gather a set of data in a very short time. These planets are very close to their star and are extremely hot.
Kepler has been observing for 3 years now, so it will be finishing up data sets on planets that are orbiting further from their star with orbital periods of a year or so. The longer Kepler looks, the more planets it will unveil.
Through various techniques like spectroscopic analysis one can determine if the star is part of an eclipsing binary pair. Through other observations one can determine if the star is a variable star and if the dimming doesn’t reappear, then it may have been a starspot or other transient phenomena. If the dimming repeats and you collect a set of light curves that show how much light is blocked by the object you can then begin to determine some interesting properties about this object, like how big it is, what its orbital period is and distance from its parent star. But, these numbers don’t come without some hard work.
It’s easy to get a relative size of the planet to its star by how much light it blocks when the planet transits the face of the star. But, one needs to take into account a number of physical phenomena that will affect the data that is collected. One of these is limb darkening – which is the effect that the star is not as bright at its edges (limbs) as it is at the center. This is due to the fact that one is not looking as deeply into the star at its edges as at its center. This means that the planet will block a greater percentage of light as it traverses the center of the star than at the edge.
Where the planet crosses the star will affect the shape and size of the light curve. Crossing directly over the equator of the star would produce the broadest, most shallow curve while crossing the star at higher latitudes would produce a narrower, deeper curve. This is a reflection of the tilt of the planet’s orbit relative to Earth. These will affect the calculations of how big the exoplanet is and how large its orbit is and must be taken into account.
Transit Light Curves - Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL
Starspots can also skew the data if they occur as the planet transits the face of the star. This is because they are dark and they will add to the amount of light perceived to be blocked by the planet, giving the impression that the planet is bigger than it really is.
An advantage of the transit method is that it allows astronomers to determine if the planet has an atmosphere. Using a spectrometer it is possible to determine the constituents of the planet’s atmosphere as the star’s light passes through the planet’s atmosphere as the planet passes over the edge of the star at the beginning and end of the transit.
The transit method provides information on how big the planet is, once the size of its parent star is known, which is a challenge in its own right. Once the planet’s size is determined and coupled with mass data gleaned from another technique—radial velocity measurement—the density of the planet can be calculated. When the density is known, approximations can begin to be made about the composition of the planet. Is it gaseous, rocky, or somewhere in between? This information, along with the knowledge of how close to its star it orbits, which determines the temperature of the planet, will dictate what state water might exist if present.
The science of astronomy is an amazing example of how inventive and ingenious man can be. We have harvested all we know about our Universe from just the light that comes to us through the vacuum of space.
The Obama administration released its 2013 proposed budget for NASA. A step in the wrong direction!!
If one looks at the fact that NASA’s budget of $17.7 billion is 0.47% of the proposed national budget of $3.8 trillion, and they’re proposing a cut of .3% of NASA’s 2012 budget, which works out to $59 million. Now, is that $59 million really going to help reduce the national debt—or will it just get lost in the pork-barrel legislation that seems to be prevalent? When you consider the impact it has on NASA and its plans for future space exploration and the benefits it will bring, is it really worth it? These projects stimulate employment and provide opportunities for technological spinoffs that can further stimulate the economy. And, we’re not even talking about the educational benefits by getting young people interested in and excited about science and engineering.
Speaking of education. Why in the world, with our decaying education system, would you cut NASA’s education budget? Cut by $36 million from 2012’s allotment of $136 million—26%! We have no business cutting any educational programs. If we want to save money we should be looking at how we can run them more efficiently and put more children into the programs. This is an investment in our future. Our 401K for the nation is the education of the children today. We can’t afford to let our technical edge get any duller than it is now.
Consider the benefits of raising NASA’s budget by just $59 million (.001% of the national budget). We would be joining the European Space Agency in two missions to Mars in 2016 and 2018. We would be able to expand the educational programs and further development of flagship mission that push the boundaries of space exploration. Just think about what we have learned from the Pioneers, Voyagers, Cassini, Galileo, the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity to name a few.
I know times are tough. I feel it every day as does everyone else. But, our government seems to be flailing about in a panic to leave nothing untouched in the effort to reduce the budget. Is that for the good of the country or just PR for the next elections? It seems to be Republicans pointing fingers at Democrats and visa-versa. Aren’t we all on the same team—team USA? I don’t get the feeling that we are seriously weighing the consequences of some of these cuts, the perceived benefits we see today won’t pay off tomorrow.
If we don’t carefully invest in our future, our future will be very bleak indeed…
Check this link to Universe Today for a review of the budget.
Take a huge volume of hydrogen gas mixed with some helium and other trace elements from the last star that went supernova in the cosmic neighborhood, wait for it to coalesce and blaze into an average star like our Sun, sit back and relax for the next 10 billion or so years and you will eventually get something that looks like this:
Helix Nebula Taken by the Palomar Observatory
Well, in 1952 that was the best image we could get of the Helix Nebula. It was taken with the 200 inch Hale telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California. This black and white image only gives us a glimpse of this planetary nebula – the remains of a Sun-like star’s final death-throws.
Today, the same nebula looks like this:
Helix Nebula by the Hubble Space Telescope
Please note that this striking difference is not evidence of the changes the nebula has gone through but the revolution we have had in astronomy, especially with terrestrial based telescopes with adaptive optics to compensate for our dynamic atmosphere.
This optical image of the Helix Nebula was taken in May of 2003 was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and composited with images taken with a smaller telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. The compositing was done because of the large area the nebula covers—almost half the diameter of the full Moon—and Hubble’s small field of view. In this optical image the red color indicates oxygen while the blue corresponds to nitrogen and hydrogen.
Looking deeper into the interior of the nebula one can see comet-like structures shown below.
Close-up view of the Helix Nebula by the Hubble Space telescope
To get a sense of size, these bulbous, comet-like shapes are on the order of the size of our Solar System. They have been sculpted out of the dust and gas by the high energy solar wind coming off the white dwarf star located at the center of the nebula. The material was blown off from the original star when it ballooned into a red giant several times as it aged and consumed its fuel—hydrogen.
The Helix Nebula is one of the closest at a distance of about 650 light-years from Earth, and it is about three to six light-years across. It can be found in the constellation of Aquarius. The Helix also goes by its catalog number NGC 7293.
Originally called the Helix because it was thought that we were viewing the nebula along its length. More recent research seems to indicate that the nebula instead of tube-like is more like a bubble with a ring of debris. This can be more easily seen in the video below where a 3D projection of the nebula has been simulated. This may be indicative of a binary system.
When we venture into the infrared part of the spectrum, we can see structures that are hidden by the dust and gas that absorb the visible wavelengths of light. The Spitzer Space telescope has presented several views of the Helix Nebula taken in 2007.
Helix Nebula in infrared by the Spitzer Telescope
The region of the white dwarf can be seen in the image below as a bright white dot in the center of the red zone. Note that this is not the star, which is about the size of the Earth, but the surrounding cloud of dust and debris that remains around the star. If you look closely you can see a circular zone of dust surrounding the white core, which is a high concentration of dust and debris akin to the Oort cloud that surrounds our star, which harbors a tremendous number of comets, asteroids, planetoids and debris from the early stages of the Solar System.
Helix Nebula by the Spitzer Space Telescope
The image below shows a composite between the visual and infrared. Hubble and Spitzer images have been combined to show even more detail. Higher energies exist nearer the center, indicated in blue to lower energy – yellow to the cooler reds at the edges.
Composite of visual and infrared image of the Helix Nebula by the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes
Still looking at the nebula in the infrared we get this amazing image on the left from the 4.1 meter VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) at the ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. Just as in the Spitzer images above we see much more of the structure of the nebula because we are looking at the longer wavelengths in the infrared.
Helix Nebula in infrared by the European Southern Observatory
It is interesting to note that all the dust and gas that you see in the image, covering 6 light-years at its widest is star-stuff, debris from the star itself. It’s easy to see how stars, the factories of all the elements that we know, can distribute these elements across the cosmos. Under a more benign death such as this, material is being scattered across a huge area. Imagine the consequences of a supernova!
In about 5 billion years our star will begin to form its own planetary nebula. As beautiful as these nebulae are it is important to understand that they are transitory. They will spread out and disperse over time and disappear. In about 50,000 years the Helix will be gone. Enjoy it while it lasts!
Did you know that every time you use your GPS to guide you to your destination you are applying one of the most profound ideas put forth in the twentieth century—the idea of the space-time continuum?
Albert Einstein proffered the idea in 1915 with his new theory of general relativity. He theorized that space and time are not independent, isolated entities, but merge into one element or “fabric” called space-time. The general theory addresses gravity and acceleration and shows in part that one can not distinguish between being in a gravitational field or under constant acceleration. But, it goes much deeper, as we shall see.
One can see how space and time are intimately related when you consider how the Global Positioning System works. Your location is determined by your GPS device when it receives a signal from at least 4 GPS satellites in orbit. By comparing these satellite signals to a reference signal in your GPS it can calculate the time-lag between them and thereby your distance from the satellites. By using multiple satellites your location can be accurately determined. Precision clocks on board the satellites are required to generate the satellite’s signal. These clocks will drift because of two relativistic effects that affect them: the speed they are traveling at—14,000 km/hr (8,424 mph)—and the distance from the Earth—about 26,600 km (15,960 miles).
Note that if we used only Newtonian mechanics to design the GPS system it would not work. We need to incorporate both of Einstein’s theories—special and general relativity if we are to eliminate these errors. (Newtonian mechanics are still very important and useful in determining orbital parameters of spacecraft and the planets—except for Mercury, but that’s another blog topic!)
First, let’s look at the Special Theory of Relativity, since most people are familiar with its basic premise that the closer you travel to the speed of light, the slower time passes. (Remember the twins paradox?) For the satellite in orbit moving at a high rate of speed, its clock will run slower than a corresponding clock on the surface of the Earth.
Now let’s consider the General Theory of Relativity. If a clock is in a gravitational field it will run slower the closer it is to the source of the gravity field—i.e.: closer to the surface of the Earth. The further the clock is from the source of the field, the weaker the field is—i.e.: the higher your altitude above Earth’s surface, the faster the clock will run. (The field falls off as one over the distance-squared.)
The effect on the satellite’s clock due to the gravitational field is almost six times that of the effect due to its speed. The combination of these two relativistic effects would cause your GPS to accumulate an error, which is on the order of 6 miles or 10 km per day!
This application of Einstein’s two theories shows how time and space are tied together in a way that our day-to-day life experiences would never reveal. Our internal biological clocks are being affected by the speed at which we travel and when we move through a gravitational field. So it’s not just covering a distance when you travel from point A to B, but moving through time as your biological clock changes as your speed changes and you move through a gravitational gradient. These effects are very small at the speeds we travel and the typical change in altitude we might experience. They are on the order of nano-seconds (billionths of a second)—small but real.
For more details on the topic of GPS and relativity, check out my article at Bright Hub.
The center of our galaxy is a very busy place, and it has been under close scrutiny by astronomers since 1992. A team of astronomers have been watching our galactic core, peering through the veil of dust that shrouds the core using infrared eyes via the European Southern Observatory’s New Technology Telescope and the Very Large Telescope. What they’ve seen shows a group of stars doing a mesmerizing dance around an object that we can not see, but has a definite influence on their orbits. The following video from ESO gives a great introduction to this amazing phenomena.
A black hole? Like the saying goes – “If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, it’s probably a duck!” The motion of these stars and other information gathered over the years indicates that there should be an object at the center of our galaxy with a mass equivalent to about 4 million Suns. Based on the latest theories, this should be a black hole.
Recently, Dr. Reinhard Genzel of the Max-Planck Institute and his team have discovered a cloud of dust and gas that appears to be heading for a close encounter with this object dominating our galactic center. The dust cloud, which is about three times as massive as the Earth, has doubled its speed over the last seven years, not something an object can do unless it has its own propulsion system or it is in a substantial gravity well – i.e. in the grip of a black hole. Astronomers predict that the cloud will pass by the black hole at a distance of about 40 billion kilometers – equivalent to about ten times the distance between the Sun and Neptune. The following video shows the time-lapse motion of the cloud as well as stars at the core.
Although the cloud is being ravaged by the black hole now, in 2013 it should be at its closest to the black hole and be ripped apart. This encounter should be indicated by a brightening of this region, especially in X-ray portion of the spectrum, as the dust and gas particles are heated to millions of degrees as they collide with each other while spiraling down to the event horizon of the black hole and beyond.
The following video shows a simulation of the cloud in red/yellow as it approaches the black hole. The time frame is from the year 2000 to 2043.
This will be a great opportunity to see a black hole feeding, as well as testing Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity as it applies to black holes. We can look forward to some celestial fireworks in 2013!
For more information, videos and images check out the ESO’s web site.
It’s been almost fifty years since you ushered us onto the bridge of the starship Enterprise and led us through our Milky Way galaxy. From Aldebaran to the galaxy’s edge, we explored the Alpha quadrant, then through a wormhole to the Gamma quadrant and finally the Delta quadrant, we were at home in the galaxy.
Oh, you made it look so easy. Warping from star system to star system. Transporting down to the planet instead of landing your starship. Artificial gravity. Inertial dampers. Sub-space communications. Phasers and tractor beams. Well, we have i-Pads, Android phones and a space station in low Earth orbit. Alas, we’ve got a long way to go.
Okay, I know, it’s a science fiction show. And, it’s only been 50 years, not 300 years – which in 2265 Kirk will take command of the Enterprise for its 5-year mission. But, at the rate we’re making progress in exploring the cosmos, will we be there in another 250 years?
The Starship Enterprise
It’s been over fifty years since Sputnik made its first orbit of Earth and we are still mucking about trying to put unmanned rovers on and orbiters around the planets in our Solar System. We’re still lighting-off our rockets like forth of July fireworks and trying to figure out better ways to land on bodies of interest in our Solar System, from parachutes to airbags, retro-rockets and sky-crane cable-harness systems. We may as well be using “stone knives and bear skins” to build our next generation of space hardware.
Active programs like Cassini, which are producing new data every day may be on the chopping block for a reduced NASA budget to divert funds to finish development of the James Webb Space telescope – Hubble’s replacement. It’s a “rob Peter to pay Paul” deal with the ongoing NASA projects being sacrificed to support new projects. Why cut programs that are working so well? We won’t be going back to Saturn any time soon. How can we reach for the stars when we can’t even find the funding to do the meager exploring we want to do in our backwater of the galaxy?
The James Webb Space Telescope - Image courtesy of NASA
If the JWST is over budget and behind schedule that points to a project management problem, which means that any system overhaul that needs to be done should be with NASA’s oversight on these projects. Closer attention to the planning, budgeting, development and progress of these projects, especially one with such a high profile as the JWST should have shown signs of trouble and been dealt with early on when these issues were easier to manage.
But, this is just the tip of the iceberg. We have bigger problems to address.
We have a long way to go before we will be able to venture out into our Solar System with any regularity – let alone our galaxy. Yet, we are cutting funding to the programs that we need to keep developing technology that will allow us to explore the cosmos, not to mention help cure some of the problems we have on our planet. These aren’t just the programs to develop space probes but funding for the education of our children, from elementary school through college. We can’t afford to cut such a vital lifeline to the well being and future of our country or even our planet. Funding education and making it possible for everyone to learn and advance themselves is an investment in our future, no doubt about it.
The problems we face today are complex and there are no simple solutions. Economies are crumbling, educational systems are falling behind, our environment is turning against us – what more do we need to see before we realize that the world we are going to leave to our children and our grandchildren is not going to be a very nice place to live? At the very least we should prepare them with the abilities to meet these challenges head-on, which means they need the best education possible. As it is said, “knowledge is power” and we need to empower our children if they are ever going to lead us to the stars.
The world/universe Gene Roddenberry showed us in Star Trek was one where we met the challenges of technology, but more importantly, we met the challenges of different cultures working together for the best for all and in doing so we had the technology, the finances and the will to explore this amazing Universe first hand. So maybe I shouldn’t say “curse you” but “thank you” Gene Roddenberry for showing us one possibility for our future and inspiring a generation of people to pursue engineering and the sciences for their life’s work.
Yes, I know, it’s still just science fiction, but how many of today’s realities have been born in the imagination of and science fiction from people of the past? I look forward to a future where we are only limited by our imagination and our will to explore.
At the time of this writing, the Holidays are almost here, what better time for us to indulge in fantasies about world peace, harmony and the advancement of our society. Who knows, maybe the new year will see us all a bit closer to each other and a bit closer to the stars.
November 9 was the anniversary of Carl Sagan’s birth. He would have been 77 years old.
Carl Sagan has gently ushered millions of people across this blue planet into the wonders of the cosmos. One of his most poignant observations on this Universe we live in is his comment on Earth – “The Pale Blue Dot.”
Take five minutes and watch this video. All that we hold dear, all that has any meaning to us, everything that has ever been to bring us to today has occurred on this planet. This tiny speck in the vast Universe. The military rulers, presidents, kings and queens, gang leaders, politicians, drug dealers, criminals that have left death, destruction and despair in their wake, as they struggle for dominance in their small corner of this dot don’t appreciate their insignificance in the grand scheme of things.
We need to understand that we are one people – one planet. It doesn’t matter what color we are, what language we speak, what nationality or religion we are, we are all humans and we exist only in one place in this vast cosmos. We need to work together to survive, which means compromise and sacrifice from everyone. If we fight for dominance, we surely are destined to all fail.
Think about IT and DO….
Thank you, Carl, for your perspective on this world we all live on. Let’s hope we can all learn to appreciate what we have before we lose it.
