Man, thems a lot of stars!

Hubble Deep Field Image

Ok, I’ll admit it. I’m a space nerd. There is something about the mystery of the universe that captivates me in a way that few other topics can. The beauty of studying the cosmos is that the more you learn, the less you understand. Each mystery answered, creates a thousand new questions. The quest to understand the universe is in many ways, like trying to find that illusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Inevitably, the questions the universe forces us to ask, even in our age of technology, are the same questions man has been asking since his arrival on this planet. Who are we? Why are here? Who, or, what is God? I think universe has a lot to teach humanity, and I think that if every person were to even have a glimpse of some of its great mysteries, the world would be a better place. The sheer size of the universe alone is probably the most humbling thing humanity could ever imagine.

Let me begin by trying to give you an idea of how big the universe actually is. As we know, the Earth orbits our local star, the Sun. Our sun is a rather ordinary star, about middle of the road as far as size and age are concerned. To give you an idea, the volume of the Sun is about 1 300 000 times greater than that of the Earth! Now, the Earth is about 8 light minutes from the Sun (a light year is the distance light can travel in one year, or 9,460,730,472,580.8 km). On a universal scale, this is extremely close proximity. Consider that the closest star system to ours, the Alpha Centauri system, is roughly 4.37 light years away, and a clearer picture of the vastness of the universe begins to appear. Our sun is one of as many as 250 billion other stars that make up the Milky Way galaxy. This number alone is enough to boggle the mind, but its barely the tip of the iceburg. Our galaxy is a member of a larger group of galaxies that make up what is known as a cluster. This in turn, is a member of what is known as a super cluster. To give you an idea of the kind of numbers we are looking at, imagine our sun times 70 000 000 000 000 000 000 000. That’s seventy sextillion stars, or 70 000 million million million! I don`t care who you are, that’s a lot of stars right there.

Probably the best illustration of this is the Hubble deep field, or “the most important picture ever taken” as it is often dubbed. In 1995, the Hubble space telescope focused on a seemingly empty region of space for 10 days. The area Hubble focused on was a section of the sky about the size of a tennis ball at about a hundred metres away. Yet, what Hubbled discovered was breathtaking. Over 2000 recognizable galaxies and probably more if Hubble had the ability to see any further. Imagine, the average size of each of these gaxaxies at even 100 billion stars, and numbers are stagaring.

The next logical thing that I consider after trying to comprehend these numbers is that it’s almost impossible for life not to exist elsewhere in the universe. Even if only one in every 100 million stars harboured a planet cable of forming life, the numbers are still overwhelmingly in favour of life. Probably intelligent life too. Consider that humans have only walked the Earth for about a million years now. A cosmological blip on the radar. The earth has existed for over 4 billion years, and humans have only been here for a fraction of that time. If the timescale of the Earth was a 24 hour clock, humans would have only appeared in the final 2 seconds. Now, compare that with at least 15 billion years of the known history of the universe, mulitply that by its unimaginable size, and the idea that life only formed on Earth starts to seem a little ridiculas.

Ok, so I could go on for ever. I realize many people have no interest in this kind of stuff, but I find it hard to belive that anyone could try and comprehend the kind of numbers that are required to understand the scale of the universe, and not a least have one moment of ‘awe’. If you didn`t your probably a robot or an alien.

A Trudeau pirouetting down St. Catherine street again (new separatist movement a laughing stock)

With all the talk surrounding separatist protest of the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade on St. Catherine street in Montreal it was the son of Canada’s premier federalist who stole the show.

It is safe to say that the new Separatist organization, the Réseau de Résistance du Québécois was a flop. The group claimed that the annual parade celebrating Irish Culture (which now claims to be the largest of its kind in North-America) was too English. They originally boasted that they would participate in the parade itself waving the Fleurs De-Lies alongside the Irish Tri-Colour while handing out Seperatist pamphlets denouncing the event. Perhaps it was not just the frigid climate that gave them cold feet as any such activity would have been met with staunch resistance once it reached the corner of Bishop’s and St. Catherine. Throughout the parade and for the rest of the evening the group became the punch line of every joke across town with most fun goers wondering where they were. Apparently a small cohort was spotted somewhere at the end of the Parade-Route on Rene Levesque, their separatist dogma drowned out by the crowd of Quebecers enjoying one of the most celebrated festivals the city has to offer.

Meanwhile the largest cheers of the day went not to an Irishman but Justin Trudeau, the overly charismatic son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. A large contingent of both Quebec and Canadian politicians, including the likes of top-hat waving Jack Layton, Jean Charest and Gilles Duceppe marched in the parade and Trudeau was among them. When the contingent reached the prominent corner of Bishop’s and St. Catherine Trudeau lagged behind, shaking hands with cheering parade-goers and posing for pictures left and right. As he ran to catch his entourage the raucous crowd erupted in cheers that are usually reserved for the likes of successful professional athletes. Trudeau met the applause with his father’s trademark pirouette and wave brandishing a picturesque smile from ear to ear. Whether a supporter of the man or not it was safe to say that no one could doubt his charisma on the emerald holiday. Not since his father has any Canadian Politician, a group largely reserved for robotic like former business executives, captivated a crowd with such a simple gesture. Whisper’s could be heard in all directions, “that’s Justine Trudeau” and those whispers were far louder then any of the efforts made by the already forgotten group of Separatist activists to undermind an event that was enjoyed by all.