Amazing May 19: Our Place in the Universe

My world can get very small. Sometimes as small as this desk where I sit. Many days, my world is my house and the short walk to my son’s school. Sometimes we humans get consumed with issues that confront our cities, countries, and planet. Though I hope we do stay attentive to those things, every once it a while, it is good to get some perspective…

Our planet’s diameter is about 7,900 miles. Sometimes I picture my 5’3” self standing on a sphere shaped planet so large I can’t see the curve.

That lovely moon we often see is about 240,000 miles away—a distance more that 30 times the diameter of Earth.

 

 Image created by Reto Stöckli, Nazmi El Saleous, and Marit Jentoft-Nilsen, NASA GSFC. "This true-color image shows North and South America as they would appear from space 35,000 km (22,000 miles) above the Earth. The image is a combination of data from two satellites."


Image created by Reto Stöckli, Nazmi El Saleous, and Marit Jentoft-Nilsen, NASA GSFC. “This true-color image shows North and South America as they would appear from space 35,000 km (22,000 miles) above the Earth. The image is a combination of data from two satellites…” http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=885

The distances go from there. Think of the models you’ve seen with the huge Sun making Earth look tiny. Remember that our Sun is just one of the many stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. And our galaxy is just one of many galaxies—distances measured in the speed of light. The size of those huge stars is nothing next to the space between them. So much space. So much possibility.

Thank you, planets and stars. Thank you, space. Thank you, Universe.

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