1/. “How is it that all scientists are not mystics?
Cosmologists not poets?
Biologists not shamans?
How is it that those to whom the Universe reveals such wonders, are not enraptured each day?
And each night, how do they close their eyes on this?”
Cosmologists not poets?
Biologists not shamans?
How is it that those to whom the Universe reveals such wonders, are not enraptured each day?
And each night, how do they close their eyes on this?”
2/. This👆clip shows the journey of the Hubble telescope ending at the Pillars of Creation - part of the in the Eagle Nebula - 6,500 light years away from earth
It’s so named because the pillars of hydrogen & dust are in the process of creating new stars
(Photo @NASAHubble 1995)
It’s so named because the pillars of hydrogen & dust are in the process of creating new stars
(Photo @NASAHubble 1995)
3/. The Sun is the star at the centre of our solar system
The solar system orbits the Milky Way, the spiral galaxy we call home
The Sun is just one of around 200 billion stars in the Milky Way
And the Milky Way is one of trillions of galaxies in the Universe
Let that sink in.
The solar system orbits the Milky Way, the spiral galaxy we call home
The Sun is just one of around 200 billion stars in the Milky Way
And the Milky Way is one of trillions of galaxies in the Universe
Let that sink in.
4/. Looking heavenward on a clear night from a desert , ocean or mountaintop, you’ll see a swathe of stars, shrouded in clouds of dust & gas, arcing across the sky
The Milky Way
100,000 light-years in diameter with a black hole at its core that sucks in everything...even light.
The Milky Way
100,000 light-years in diameter with a black hole at its core that sucks in everything...even light.
5/. Vast in size & beautiful to behold,
nebulae are interstellar clouds of gas & dust formed from matter thrown out by the explosion of dying stars
They often then became nests where new stars are born
A cycle, as in all things in nature
There are thousands in the Milky Way.
nebulae are interstellar clouds of gas & dust formed from matter thrown out by the explosion of dying stars
They often then became nests where new stars are born
A cycle, as in all things in nature
There are thousands in the Milky Way.
6/. Beyond the Milky Way, there are hundreds of billions of other galaxies
Each is a vast system of dust, gas, dark matter & between a million & a trillion stars, all held together by gravity
My favourite are a group of 5 distant galaxies that share my name: Stephan’s Quintet.
Each is a vast system of dust, gas, dark matter & between a million & a trillion stars, all held together by gravity
My favourite are a group of 5 distant galaxies that share my name: Stephan’s Quintet.
7/. It’s common for galaxies to collide
These collisions create of new galaxies & trigger starbirth
In about 3.75 billion years, the Milky Way looks set to collide with Andromeda to form a new elliptical galaxy
Triangulum might also join in the merger
These collisions create of new galaxies & trigger starbirth
In about 3.75 billion years, the Milky Way looks set to collide with Andromeda to form a new elliptical galaxy
Triangulum might also join in the merger
Each of us is a planet in our own solar system in our own galaxy - most of which we will never know or even be aware of until...until
Until our galaxy collides with another
If we are lucky - or it is meant to be - they will merge
If not, you’ll be alone but amid the stardust
Until our galaxy collides with another
If we are lucky - or it is meant to be - they will merge
If not, you’ll be alone but amid the stardust
https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1116408228441722880
9/. Finding this thread hard to take onboard?
“Remember when you're feeling small & insecure
How amazingly unlikely is your birth
And pray that there's intelligent somewhere up in space
Cos there's bugger all here down on earth."
@EricIdle & Terry Jones
“Remember when you're feeling small & insecure
How amazingly unlikely is your birth
And pray that there's intelligent somewhere up in space
Cos there's bugger all here down on earth."
@EricIdle & Terry Jones
10/. The obvious next question:
What lies beyond the Universe?
Millions more universes or a "super universe” extending to infinity?
There is no ‘edge’ or ‘outside’
“Lost somewhere between immensity & eternity is our tiny planetary home.” (Carl Sagan)
What lies beyond the Universe?
Millions more universes or a "super universe” extending to infinity?
There is no ‘edge’ or ‘outside’
“Lost somewhere between immensity & eternity is our tiny planetary home.” (Carl Sagan)
11/. But you don’t have to go to the edges of the Universe to see the infinite
Last weekend, I was in Wytham Woods home to:
900+ species of beetle
800+ species of butterfly & moth
700+ species of bees, wasps & ant
580 species of fly
200+ species of spider
Last weekend, I was in Wytham Woods home to:
900+ species of beetle
800+ species of butterfly & moth
700+ species of bees, wasps & ant
580 species of fly
200+ species of spider
12/. Like a Russian Doll, a grain of sand is made of atoms which are made of protons & neutrons which are made of quarks
Physicists describe the smallest particles as tiny "strings", that have a finite length, but an infinitely small width (String Theory)
Physicists describe the smallest particles as tiny "strings", that have a finite length, but an infinitely small width (String Theory)
13/. If you’re a man, you will have about 200 million sperm in your testes right now
Each sperm capable of producing a human life
Each life containing a soul
Each soul containing a universe
Tonight, while you sleep, you will produce another 200 million
Each sperm capable of producing a human life
Each life containing a soul
Each soul containing a universe
Tonight, while you sleep, you will produce another 200 million
14/. “I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine & I’ve tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway over the flux” (Russell)
“For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love” (Sagan)
“For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love” (Sagan)
15/. “Remember to look up at the stars & not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see & wonder about what makes the universe exist”
Stephen Hawking also said if we were to find out why the universe exists "then we would know the mind of God."
Stephen Hawking also said if we were to find out why the universe exists "then we would know the mind of God."
16/. “I didn’t go to the moon, I went much further — for time is the longest distance between two places” (Tennessee Williams)
The universe bound together by an elusive invisible glue: “dark matter”
It cannot be seen, but it can be felt
It is everywhere
The universe bound together by an elusive invisible glue: “dark matter”
It cannot be seen, but it can be felt
It is everywhere
17/. “Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once & it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst. Then I relax & it flows thru me like rain & I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life”
18/. The surface of Mars captured by @NASA’s Curiosity Rover
Deep a Martian crater, @MarsCuriosity found evidence of an oasis dating back 3.5 billion years
Scientists believe that the oasis was once filled with water, like a heart once brimful of love.
Deep a Martian crater, @MarsCuriosity found evidence of an oasis dating back 3.5 billion years
Scientists believe that the oasis was once filled with water, like a heart once brimful of love.
19/. “In the universe there is nothing single, nothing born unique & growing alone. You must therefore admit that the sky, earth, sun, moon, sea, & all else that exists are not unique, but in numbers beyond numbers”
(Lucretius, on the plurality of worlds)
(Lucretius, on the plurality of worlds)
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