Across The Universe

For those who are not fond of stars.

Every night, look at the sky, what do we see?

We see the universe.

There are clusters of stars forming the Milky Way, planets and their satellites reflecting the light, comets and bolides scratching the darkness.

Big Bang was an explosion which created the universe. And that explosion has kept the universe expanding till now. Normally and logically, the explosion effect must wear out by time. It means after billions of years of expanding, at a particular moment, the universe must stand still. And if the gravity force does exist, it will pull everything back and therefore, create a Big Crunch.

However such scenario is not going to happen. In fact, the universe, for some reasons, will keep expanding forever. More crazily, the expanding rate has always been increasing. The universe is becoming bigger and bigger. The distance between galaxies is becoming larger and larger.  There will be no Big Crunch. The arrow of time will never stop. And, what does it mean to us?

We are able to see things because the light from that object reaches our eyes. We see a star because its light has traveled through a very long distance to the Earth. Sometimes the journey takes minutes, like our Sun. Sometimes it takes years or decades. And sometimes it will never complete its journey. The galaxies are moving away from each other, faster and faster. The light will have to travel a longer and longer distance. It will take more and more time for the light to reach us. And sooner or later, when the expanding rate peaks at the light speed, nothing will ever reach the Earth, even the fastest thing of the universe – the light.

It means one day in the very far future, when looking at the sky, humankind will see nothing. No stars. No Milky Way. No moons. Only darkness, infinite and silent darkness. That is our children’s vision of the universe. Nothing. And if they cannot observe anything, will they have enough imagination to believe in our knowledge, their ancestors, on the universe? Will they have enough inspiration to look beyond the empty space to know that long time ago, the sky is full of light from stars, lots of stars? Will they have enough motivation to explore the outer space which is mysterious and scary? Will they accept that sometimes our naked eyes fail to tell the truth? And will they believe that we are not alone in this universe?

Welcome to the most remarkable era in human’s history, when the stars are still reachable.

Tonight most people will stay at home, waiting for tomorrow to see their lover. The stars will wheel forth from the daytime hiding places. And one of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be your wing tip passing over.

1631.2km

Across the universe.

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