4.5 Billion Years of Wonderment
For the wise man looks into space and he knows there is no limited dimensions. ~Zhuangzi
When I was a kid, my neighborhood friends and I would lie in the grass on summer nights, studying the heavens above. The wide expanse of an inky black sky was littered with seemingly hundreds of twinkling stars and a bright moon that seemed to be gazing back. We pretended the man in the moon was real and searched for facial features that would make it so. We wondered if he was as fascinated by us as we were of him.
Our knowledge of space has grown greatly since the 1960s, but even then, we knew the universe was immense beyond our wildest imaginations. Scientists now consider it unlikely that the universe even has an end (a region where the galaxies stop or where there would be a barrier marking the end of space.)1
My childhood fascination with the cosmos diminished as I grew older. I never lost my appreciation for a beautiful night sky, but it was on a strictly aesthetic level. The intellectual curiosity about how the universe (and everything in it) came to be disappeared over time like a shooting star.
The recent solar eclipse renewed that interest far beyond what I expected. I was excited to witness it and even rescheduled my quarterly appointment with the cancer doctor. My brother, who lives in the center of the Path of Totality, invited us to spend the day and view the event from his backyard.
Armed with eclipse glasses, food, and the ingredients for ‘Eclipse Mimosas, ’ we made the one-hour and fifteen-minute trek to his home. We set up chairs, readied the grill, and enjoyed some social time while waiting for the process to begin.
My brother’s spacious backyard with a small lake and surrounding woods was a perfect setting. Once the eclipse began, we observed the environmental changes experts discussed. As more of the sun became covered, we noticed a drop in temperature, and the birdsongs became quieter. The air around us grew still…and darker.
The photo below is (obviously) not mine; however, if you’ve never seen one, this is what it looks like once the eclipse begins.
It felt strange. At just after 3:00 in the afternoon, it was growing increasingly darker, which was expected. I suppose our circadian rhythms got a momentary jolt since sunset was hours away.
The lake, which had been still all day due to a lack of wind, suddenly had ripples over the surface, signaling activity from the fish and turtles beneath the surface.
While it never became as dark as night, it did look like dusk, and we were truly awestruck at the sight in the sky. In the moments before Totality (when the moon completely blocks the sun), the Diamond Ring appeared:
Eclipse viewers within the path of totality witnessed the moon completely cover the sun, a phenomenon that lasts between 3.5 to 4 minutes. Totality is the only phase of the event in which it is safe to remove your eclipse glasses completely. However, we were careful to put our glasses back on as soon as the moon moved away from the sun.
Many times during my adult life, I’ve wished I could go back and choose a new career path. When I spend time at the beach, admiring marine animals and their beautiful environment, I dream of being a marine biologist and enjoying the coastal life.
This latest experience with the miracles of outer space brought back wonderful memories of summer nights with childhood buddies. It makes me wonder how different things might have been if I had chosen astronomy as a career.
One of the reasons I decided to write a newsletter was to explore why my life took the twists and turns that it did and how codependency shaped that journey.
But it also provides an opportunity to learn about other things: science, culture, politics, health, travel, etc.
Despite not having a lifelong vocation in one dedicated industry, I’m grateful to have a laptop and a reliable connection to the ‘information highway.’ I can cruise that highway and continue learning to my heart’s content.
The eclipse rekindled an interest in space, but something else was striking about the experience.
As humans, our days are filled with constant activities: education, work, relationships, finances, spirituality, personal development, creativity, and social pursuits.
And yet, despite our world's ongoing drama and unpredictability, I felt a familiar comfort in remembering that something much larger than us exists and has a specific, reliable order. What makes up this solar system that we call home?
The solar system has one star, eight planets, five dwarf planets, at least 290 moons, more than 1.3 million asteroids, and about 3,900 comets. It is located in an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy called the Orion Arm, or Orion Spur. Our solar system orbits the center of the galaxy at about 515,000 mph (828,000 kph). It takes about 230 million years to complete one orbit around the galactic center.
We call it the solar system because it is made up of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity – the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; dwarf planets Pluto, Ceres, Makemake, Haumea, and Eris – along with hundreds of moons; and millions of asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. 2
This region of space is mostly organized and follows predictable patterns, and it has been doing so for 4.5 billion years.
Knowing that makes me feel good, although I’m not sure why. My guess is that the solar system offers systematic components, expected routines, and longevity in a world that often seems transitional, uncertain, and impermanent.
Of course, the only thing we can ever really count on is change; these immemorial cosmic happenings are no exception.
But until change happens, I plan to enjoy the view!
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I’ve had a lifelong fascination with the universe myself, I even considered pursuing until I realized how much math and physics was involved. Thank you for sharing some of those space facts and continuing to enlighten us to the mysteries of the universe!
Seeing natural.wonders and rare occurrences really make you wonder, doesn't it? They're awe-inspiring if you stop and take a closer look.
My last year in high school I moved to Florida. I took a class in marine biology, it wasn't offered in my old school in Michigan.
That darn class inspired me. I was a collector of shells and lived to visit aquariums, but the class, oh it excited me. Like you, had my stuff not gotten in the way, I wonder where life might have taken me.
I get a daily science publication sent to me and astronomy is one of the topics I get updated with regularly. Most of the time I don't understand much of what is written, but it helps keep me in check and more attuned to signs and wonders of our galaxy and beyond... it really helps calm the mind after being exposed to what's going on here on Earth at the moment. Loved this read.