Looking upwards

Well I'll begin with probably the most poetic thing I know of in science and that is that we are all made of stars. The atoms in your right hand most likely came from a different star than the atoms in your left, a truly amazing thought. Our home star, the sun, thought to be one of the brightest in our galaxy blazes with an intensity unimaginable to us (can you really imagine anything over 200 degrees, never mind 5000?). it seems to me paradoxical that it is this ball of fire with it's potential for unrivaled destruction that is the giver of all life and all things beautiful on our little rock in space. The energy that formed every chemical bond in every molecule in your body came from this great benefactor.

It is easy to see why our sun has been the subject of worship for so many, if not most, past religions. It's surely something that deserves a little of our praise. It is believed among astronomers that the planets in our solar system were formed after a huge supernova around five billion years ago crashed into a nearby cloud of gas, space dust. Gravitational forces went to work bringing together our star into existence. Residual dust around the sun then began to clump together from grains, to lumps, boulders and eventually to planets. From this incredibly simplified history I would think it is not too much of a leap to say that the sun and our planet (and by extension you and I) share a common ancestor and we are as much a part of the the sun as it is a part of us. Perhaps from this logic intelligent life elsewhere in the universe would classify us not by race but by star.

Astronomy to me is the most humbling of all my academic pursuits by far and a topic I'll probably talk more of in this blog as it highlights the undeniable fact that we are very, very small. This is something I think of occasionally when confronted with worries around my daily life. It gives me comfort to know that this isn't all there is, an absurd thought when pointed out but none the less is a feeling I sometimes get during troubled times. Looking upwards gives me hope. There's a whole universe out there.

Perhaps an introduction?

I've been experimenting with different ways of storing and collecting my thoughts for some time and thought I'd give a cheeky blog a try. I'm very new to all of this so excuse me if I make any blogging errors. I feel like a short introduction may be necessary to understand the purpose of this blog and what I intend to convey.

All of what I shall be posting will be related to by far the most interesting and consuming part of my life; the study of natural science. I'm lucky enough to have got into a really good university and since my arrival here I've been overwhelmed with the wealth of human knowledge gained through scientific investigation that is now at my fingertips. Amazing lecturers and truly inspiring reading causes my mind to be blown pretty much everyday.

The purpose of all this blogging business however will be to extend and highlight the greatest and most intriguing parts of my study through little anecdote-like theories which pop into my head and unfortunately pop out of my head very quickly hence the need for a blog! My friends (yes, I have some) seem to enjoy my elaborations, most of which are all kinda quirky ways of looking at science and natural phenomena. I hope you too, whoever you are, enjoy them as well and tell me what you think, interested to hear if I'm being a dumb ass of not.

Think that'll do for an introduction, over and out.