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The awe and wonder of our place in the universe

suemunro

Whilst the long nights of winter in the northern hemisphere can be a challenge, one of the things I love about this time of year is the opportunity to look skyward and look in awe at the night’s sky.


A close-up of a newly risen waxing gibbous moon at night.

I remember so vividly the first time I saw a really clear, starry night sky. I was about 5 years old. I had just come out of the front door of our house to go out with the family for the evening in early winter and as soon as I stepped outside, I was amazed to see thousands of stars up in the sky. I literally stopped dead in my tracks, my jaw dropped, and I stood in awe and wonder looking at the magnificence of the sky. I remember asking my Mum if there were books about the stars (not knowing if this was a thing), and when she said yes, I immediately asked if I could possibly get one for Christmas. My first astronomy book arrived that Christmas and was a Ladybird Book: ‘The stars and their legends’. I was captivated!


This first experience was in an urban area. Urban areas aren’t the best place to go star gazing with the light pollution, but on clear nights you can still experience the awe of seeing the moon, the brighter planets and stars and occasionally a meteor.


There is something incredibly awe inspiring about staring up at the night's sky and knowing you are peering into the depths of the universe, at objects an inconceivable distance away. Research into the impact awe has on us is beginning to suggest it is good for our wellbeing too. For example, it can improve our mood, gives us greater life satisfaction and can even make us feel more connected to humanity.


The waxing and waning of our nearest neighbour, our moon is a comforting sight. I will never tire of the beauty of gazing at her illuminated face. Keeping a check on the phases of the moon which influence the tides of our oceans is a lovely way of keeping in touch with one of the rhythms of nature.


However, when the moon is absence from a clear night’s sky (because it is either a new moon, or has not yet risen), this gives us a gift of darker skies in which even more stars will be visible.


The next time it is clear, why not give it a go. Whilst staring up at the night’s sky consider this:


The average distance from the earth to the moon is about 238, 855 miles and Venus, one of our neighbouring planets (and one of the brightest), is on average about 105.6 million miles away. This is staggering. However, when we start to think that our Solar System is just one of about 3,200 stars with planets orbiting around them in our galaxy alone, this to me is mind blowing. What is utterly incomprehensible though, is that our galaxy is one of an estimated 100 billion to 200 billion in the universe! That is truly awesome, and we can get a little piece of that awe by just staring up at the beauty and magnificence of a night sky – even in a city.

 

‘The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.’ – Albert Einstein




‘The diversity of the phenomena of nature is so great, and the treasures hidden in the heavens so rich, precisely in order that the human mind shall never be lacking in fresh nourishment.’ - Johannes Kepler


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