Friday, November 9, 2012

Happy Carl Sagan Day!

It's not a holiday most people recognize...but it has its own little cubby hole in some people's lives. For those that don't know who Carl Sagan is, he's a famous Astrophysicist from the land of wonder and intrigue, of infinity and beyond, of alpha and omega. It's the kind of thing that, whenever I think about it, always makes me day dream, and completely pulls me out of the present. I guess I'll just stop blabbering and post one of his most famous quotes:



This quote comes from the book that Carl Sagan wrote called "The Pale Blue Dot". The book was inspired by this picture, which was taken by Voyager 1 at 3.7 billion miles away at the request of Carl. The man requested NASA take a picture for him,  and he got it. The thing that makes this quote so special is that it was completely off the cuff. This guy ate, slept, and lived in the astrophysical. It amazes me that his brain didn't implode from the sheer size of imagination needed to understand all of this. 

Did you know that most of the light we see in space at night is in the past? Our universe is so unfathomably ginormous that light cannot travel fast enough to reach us in time. We have discovered galaxies from the beginning of existence, the Big Bang, that are 13.1 BILLION light years away, meaning light takes 13.1 billion years to travel from it, to us. Those galaxies are likely not even there anymore, but since space is a vacuum and light can travel forever, we get to get a glimpse of time travel (which better be commercially available in a few decades or so). 

He was definitely a genius in his own way, and I personally wish he was still around. Watching some of his videos puts me in awe. Here's to you Carl!

Also, before I go, I'd like to thank Be Creative Mommy for nominating me for The Liebster award already! I'll have to do the full acceptance process later though. Who knew that so soon in my blogging career I'd be getting awards? I guess it helps to have a certain popular Crazy Mama advertising for you :)

2 comments:

  1. This is one of the things that just baffles my mind and I can't think about it. We are just so small and space goes on forever and ever!

    Hahah, I am not really that popular.

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  2. :-) not yet. My nominated was a good start, for something new.
    Be Creative Mommy

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