Anna Roberts

PHYS 1040-F16-Ausdal
November 14, 2016
The Importance of Astronomy
Discussing astronomy is an important part of life, one that many
do not take part of often enough. Having the opportunity to talk about
space, the vast scale of our universe and other universes out there,
and the rise of technology aiding astronomy was a great experience.
Together with my brother, his wife, my boyfriend, and my cousin, I was
able to express my thoughts and awe of space.
Last night, November 13, 2016, the night of the super moon, was
the perfect time to have this discussion. Since we were already
planning on having a get-together, I figured this was the opportune
time. The occurrence of the super moon inspired the questions I
prepared for our conversation. I wrote down different facts about the
moon; its scale in comparison to Earth, the origin of our moon, the
effects that the moon has on our Earth to create tides, etc.
I also wrote down different conversation topics concerning the
vastness of space, black holes, and the importance of the study of
astronomy. I wanted to be prepared to wow them with the interesting
and enthralling facts about our planet, galaxy, solar system, and
universe that I had been learning from my astronomy class.

The conversation proved to be interesting as we discussed the

topics that I had been hoping we would, but we dove into deeper
thoughts than I had initially expected. Everyone was on board with
talking about astronomy and space and they were more intrigued than
I thought they would be. We began talking about the moon. No one
else knew how the moon came to be, and the initial spark of interest
that came from me teaching about that helped ignite the rest of the
evening.
For the next hour and a half, we talked about various amounts of
topics. My favorite was the discussion on the vastness of space. My
brother had recently watched an animated short video that put the
scale of the universe in laymens terms. Since the video he had
become intrigued and for the past week he spent hours reading article
and watching videos about space. That excited me and I was happy to
have someone else a part of the discussion who was just as passionate
as I am about the topic.
My sister-in-law did not know much about the scale of the
universe; watching her learn and be awed made the conversation as a
whole more fun and exciting. I brought up the fact that 1.3 million
Earths can fit into the sun. Once that blew her mind, I told her that the
biggest star in diameter that has been found, UY Scuti, could fit about
2.5 billion Earths. (Brown) That star is just in our own galaxy. There

could be bigger stars in other galaxies, in other universes. That put the
scale of space into perspective.
It was fun to teach them all more about the origin of our solar
system. I told them about the Jovian planets and the Terrestrial planets.
That topic got us discussing life on other planets. It was fun to take
what we know and apply it to what we do not know. We can only
speculate about life on other planets. We each had a different
perspective on that subject. The differences of opinion only added to
the beauty of the human mind and human existence.
After addressing the fact that we each had different opinions, we
began talking about various astronomers and philosophers and the
history of astronomy. I told them about the various advancements in
astronomy and how so much of what we know is recent knowledge
compared to the existence of human kind. We talked about the
advancement of technology and telescopes and the ability to look up
information online. Our society today is so connected and growing in
our facts and knowledge of life and space.
Another topic of discussion was global warming on Earth. I
explained from an astronomical point of view what that meant and we
talked about greenhouse gases and the affect they have on life on
Earth, and vice versa. While my cousin viewed global warming a bit
differently than I did, it was nice to have a bit of a healthy debate. I
was able to teach him some things about global warming that he did

not previously know. I then stressed knowing your facts before making
a resolute opinion.
This conversation was insightful on not only the importance of
astronomy, but also the importance of learning astronomy. Henri
Poincar, a French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher said this:
Astronomy is useful because it raises us above ourselves; it is useful
because it is grand. It shows us how small is mans body, how great his
mind, since his intelligence can embrace the whole of this dazzling
immensity, where his body is only an obscure point, and enjoy its silent
harmony. (Ventrudo)
Taking the time to learn about space, the very place where we
come from, is something that needs to be stressed more often.
Astronomy and space and the universe are crucial to the existence of
mankind and our journey of evolution. It is sad that so many are
uninterested in the subject or finds it unimportant to their daily lives.
Understanding our daily lives is to understand space.
I started the conversation on a topic as simple as the moon; it
was incredible to see where the conversation drifted to and what
subjects we found important enough to discuss. All subjects about
space are connected; everything in life is connected. I am extremely
pleased with how the conversation played out and the feeling of
fulfillment that was in the air. The conversation turned from being a

class assignment to being an insightful exchange between family and

friends.

Works Cited

Brown, Daniel. "What Is the Biggest Star in the Universe?" What Is the
Biggest Star in the Universe? N.p., 18 Dec. 2015. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.

Ventrudo, Brian. "11 Great Astronomy Quotes." One Minute

Astronomer. N.p., 29 Dec. 2013. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.