Supernovae- The Sperm of the Universe

Published December 29th 2011
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Now that I've got your attention...

The universe amazes me. When I take the time to really think about what we know and how much left there is for us to discover I get choked up. Life is a miracle.  The odds of everything being perfect for life on earth is astounding.

Let's think about this. If the earth was any closer to the sun not only would it be hotter but any water would evaporate. As you know, water is the key to life.  If the earth was any further from the sun then it'd be too cold for life as we know it.  Somehow the earth is the perfect distance from the sun to harbor liquid water which was/is important to evolution.

The other planets in our solar system act as body guards against asteroids.  An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs and about 90% of life on earth.  If these planets were not where they are today the end of the world would have happened already. We owe our gratitude to do the big gassy giants for devouring danger in a single bite. Especially Jupiter.  Without Jupiter's gravity asteroids would hit the earth 1000 times more frequently.

Then there is the whole idea of our solar system being in the perfect position. If our solar system was any closer or further away from the black hole in the center of our galaxy our orbit would not be the same, neither would the position of our planet... among other things.  (Wish I wasn't drawing a blank right now or I would go into more detail).

So now imagine how we came to be.  A supernova occurred and with it the formation of our galaxy.  It was a long, vicious period of time, but here we are.  A bunch of little moon like "planets" were created from a supernova, and those "planets" crashed into one another creating fewer, larger planets.  This happened several times until the planets we know today were formed. Everything else that didn't become a planet is now in our asteroid belt.

Every element on our earth is all from an exploding star...even down to the iron in our blood.  Supposedly elements such as iron, gold, platinum, etc. can only be formed by the high heats of supernovae. Everything is made up of star dust.  When we look up into the night sky we are literally looking at our parents.  We are all born from the stars.

Mind blown.

After thinking about what we do know I like to think about the things we have yet to discover more about.  Like dark energy.  We know dark energy exists, yet we can't see it, touch it, or detect it.  If dark energy can exist why is the thought of spirits so far-fetched? Or how about the thought of nothing turning into something. The nothingness that existed (existed? Does nothingness exist if it is nothing?) before the big bang came out of nowhere (came out of somewhere?).  Or how the universe is, as far as we know, infinite.

My favorite thing to think about, however, is how everything has an end.  We may have stability for the time being but our solar system isn't going to stay stable.  It is only a matter of time until our sun dies.  And when it does it will be taking the earth out with it.  Everything we know, every technological advancement we make, history we record, everything will perish.  It doesn't stop there, though.

With the "death" of something in the universe, it only brings about evolution and change.  Some stars die and become white dwarfs.  So the star itself isn't actually dead it has just taken another form.  Other stars larger than our sun turn into black holes.  We don't know much about black holes but there are theories that black holes themselves could be the beginning of another big bang for a new, alternate universe.  Either way, the black hole is another form of what was once a star.
Also remember, energy never ceases to exist... so our energy must go somewhere.
After considering all of this (and other facts I can't seem to recall as I am writing this, my apologies) I am always so humbled and moved.  We are all so small in the big scheme of things.  We are beyond microscopic in relation to the universe.

I am so thankful to be alive during the time where our solar system is stable and during a time where we are finding real answers to "Where do we come from?" and "How?". It is good to be alive.

If you would like to learn more from people better capable of understanding and explaining this information to you, I highly recommend watching The Discovery Channel's "How the Universe Works".  I have watched MANY shows on the universe but there is something special about this one.  Another favorite is "Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking".  Both these shows can be found on Netflix streaming.  But if you are tech savvy I am sure you can find other free "legal" ways of obtaining these shows. ;)