Category Archives: astronomy

astronomy, planets, star death, starbirth, stars

Standing on the Ashes of a Star

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Here’s Your July Assignment

A color image of Earth as seen from Apollo 17.

Take a hike. No, really. Go out for a hike somewhere and closely examine the rocks and soil you encounter. If you live near mountains, look at them and imagine them as they were when they were young. Then, think about where all this stuff came from. If you go back to almost first principles, you find out that what you’re seeing and hiking on is the leftovers of star formation. That’s because sometimes planets are what’s left after a star forms. And, in the case of our four inner planets, the leftovers became worlds we know and love.

The elements in those rocks, the ones that make up the plants and animals you see on yourhike, and you yourself, are all part of stuff that was a star–ashes that were recycled into the Sun and somehow made it into the soup of stuff that created Earth. Quite a cool thing to think about when you’re out hiking.

astronomy

Standing Under a Sea Of Stars

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Recently, I looked up at the sky from my aunt’s house (she lives in a rural area) and gasped at the beauty of the sky. You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but there’s something about a sky full of stars that still grabs my attention. And that’s good. I’d hate to get jaded!

I remember one time I was observing on Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawai’i, and decided to take a break. I stepped out onto the outside catwalk of the telescope we were using and looked up. It was a sea of stars. The sky itself was so black it really did look like velvet. And, for the only time in my life, I actually felt as if I was going to fall up into the sky. It was uncanny and sent shivers down my spine. I’ve never forgotten that experience. I wish everybody could have it.