Putting Things In Perspective

[dr_mabeuse]

Take a look at this hi-res composite photograph of the night sky. It's the entire visible universe as it appears from earth.

You've got to use the scrolling arrows on the bottom to get the full effect, and then it's just awesome.

 

[3113]

Happy sigh Awesome.

 

[jomar]

Cool!

 

[rgraham666]

Very cool.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Take a look at this hi-res composite photograph of the night sky. It's the entire visible universe as it appears from earth.

You've got to use the scrolling arrows on the bottom to get the full effect, and then it's just awesome.

You can use mouselook.

 

[Handley_Page]

It sure is impressive

 

[hottchic]

Thanks for posting this

 

[Loring2]

Something to both keep and keep in mind

 

[LisbethElliot]

Breathtaking!

 

[trysail]

I am reminded of a well-known early '70s era poster which featured an arrow pointing at an infinitessimally small pinprick within a one-inch Milky Way lying in the middle of a 2'×3' black background filled with galaxies and stars. At the end of the arrow was the caption, "You Are Here."


The poster was humbling and extremely effective at conveying the concept that we and our solar system are but a speck of cosmic dust— as the old National Lampoon Radio Dinner spoof of Shakespeare put it, "You are a fluke of the universe, you have no right to be here."

 

[SweetMaj]

WONDERFUL

In my spare time I paint.

And it is mostly images of the universe.

 

[lovecraft68]

Proves you're better off looking at what is beyond you than constantly at what is just in front of you.

 

[Stella_Omega]

It's gorgeous. And immesurable huge ,and that's only one arm of our galaxy.

But to say that it makes humans and our problems and needs seem insignificant-- that sounds pretty much like the religionist argument that the Next Life Will Be better.

We don't live in outer space, we live on this planet, blanketed under this atmosphere. We don't have stars and stellar dust for companionship, we have each other. We don't share the pain and anguish of colliding solar systems, we share empathy, delight and pain with other humans and animals on this earth.

The cosmos is unimaginably vast. That's what defines it. I am five foot nine, one hundred sixty pounds-- Life is defined on a human scale.

Most importantly, we can't do anything about the cosmos-- we can help and hinder life here, around ourselves.

Never stop looking at what is out there, beyond you. But never make the mistake of ignoring what is right in front of you.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Then consider that the what you are looking at is a lot of fusing hydrogen and empty space. It doesn't care about you or your neighbor because it can't. You can. Do.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

It's gorgeous. And immesurable huge ,and that's only one arm of our galaxy.

But to say that it makes humans and our problems and needs seem insignificant-- that sounds pretty much like the religionist argument that the Next Life Will Be better.

I hope no one thought I was implying that it makes our needs and problems seem insignificant. Rather the opposite. The proper feeling is awe, I think, not insignificance. Awe not only at the intimation of infinity, but at the realization that at this point, it looks like we might be the only entities in the universe who can appreciate such a view and understand what it means, however we interpret it.

As VM said, the stuff out there doesn't care about us, and doesn't care about itself. We're made out of exactly the same stuff, but arranged in such a way that we do care. That's a miracle in itself. Consciousness itself seems like it's a fifth dimension, giving meaning to the other four.

AJ Heschel said all science and religion springs from the sense of awe ("radical amazement," he called it) we feel when we consider ourselves alive in such a universe. Our radical amazement gives meaning to the cosmos, not the other way around.

Oscar Wilde said, "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

 

[lisa123414]

Dr M, Stella, V-M
this is what I love about this place, pretty good perspective


Lisa

 

[Lisa Denton]

http://img121.imagevenue.com/loc371/th_82953_Untitled_28_122_371lo.jpg

WTF ?

 

[jomar]

Nice to see you back, Missy Denton.