Nearly all of space is darkness. That’s why it seems so incomprehensible that a sky teeming with the familiar stars of the Milky Way, along with the trillions upon trillions of other stars within the billions of other galaxies, could total just 5% of all that is the universe. But that is the reality. The other 95% is a combination of dark energy and dark matter that, respectively, promote expansion of the universe while also holding it together.
Meanwhile, stars continue to explode and implode with regularity and even violently shred if they get too close to a black hole. It all may look loud in a photograph, but it occurs in silence because space is basically a vacuum. There is no mechanism for sound to travel from source to receiver. So, it’s not only dark, it’s also very quiet out there.
Yet, here on Earth, there are times when you just have to shut your eyes to see clearly and you must work hard to drown out the noise if you want to save your hearing – and your sanity. I’m guessing that, if you’re like me, you have no problem occasionally sitting in a quiet room with eyes closed recalling treasured scenes and sounds from years past that have been – possibly forever – altered by ongoing changes both welcomed and unwanted.
Maybe that’s part of the attraction of space. It’s unspoiled. It seems to be a sanctuary that we can’t match. To say that, however, is to be mistaken at best and disingenuous at worst. Our planet is, after all, part of space. Thanks to the reflected light of the sun, we are a very small chunk of the 5% that isn’t dark. That, alone, makes us special. Then, we add the endless number of species that inhabit our world and we just might be living in the most wondrous place of all.
Think about this. Throughout April, and well before typical bedtimes, the beautiful and awe-inspiring constellations Orion, Gemini, Ursa Major, Taurus and Leo can all be seen from our Southern Arizona backyards sitting below the majestic sky islands. It’s a magnificent time of year and the perfect place to gaze upon the stars, to release oneself into their perfection. And yet, astronauts often reveal that they are most awestruck not by the enhanced views of these wonders, but rather their view of Earth as it is seen from afar. It must be that once they see us as truly part of the whole, something changes.
I wish that view and that feeling could be seen and felt by all, but it’s reserved for those fortunate few. Many of them have remarked that their lives were indelibly changed when they first looked upon our home planet. The first man in space took it a step further. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin said, “The earth is so beautiful. Man, in his greed, will not be able to destroy it.”
Let’s hope he was right, but the verdict is still out. Greed is still very much in vogue.
It appears that there are economic limits to fighting climate change, to forcing a reduction in the greenhouse gases that are known to be so toxic to all of us. We are being told that improving the health of the planet is just too costly, that regulation is too burdensome. So, what does that mean for us, and for generations to come? The answer: We’ve been told that we simply shouldn’t worry about it because climate change is a hoax and that the world’s scientists have it all wrong.
Incredibly, and thankfully, even when ignorance and greed seem to jump into the lead, we have collectively begun to change the way energy is produced. And, yes, we have also identified the planetary tipping points that we know we cannot cross. We’ve taken many steps forward, but temperatures have continued to rise and the Earth’s tipping points are still being challenged.
For all of our self-driven hobbies and passions, like taking comfort-inducing glances into the darkness of space, and whatever else we must necessarily do in response to the actions of others, the health of our planet, at the very least, must be right there among the most critical human endeavors. As those who have traveled among the stars know best, we are the most beautiful and important speck of light within the darkness.