ET phone home?

I've always been an admirer of the night sky.

Humans have been mesmerized by its wonder since the first recorded civilizations. The earliest records of cosmological posits date back to the ancient Mesopotamians (5300-ish BC), who believed earth was more or less a flat disk. They also believed the universe was contained in a dome above the earth's horizon, and beneath the earth's surface lay the netherworld. Each subsequent (and though there's no written record, probably antecedent) culture had its own idea of the universe which usually related somehow to their respective gods.

Then came the Renaissance (1500s) and astronomy finally began receiving accreditation as a legitimate scientific field. Copernicus debunking the universally-accepted belief that the earth was the center of the universe, Galileo using one of the first telescopes (20x more powerful than the human eye) to scan the night sky, Kepler's suggestion that the sun somehow affected the planets' orbital paths (this was before Newton got hit with that apple, folks).

Nowadays we know a bit more about the universe thanks to modern technology. We know that there are billions upon billions of other galaxies. But even with all this modern science, we aren't even close to being able to fathom how infinite it is, and how ever-expanding.

I sometimes get mad at myself for being a math ignoramus (basic algebra gives me fits) because if I weren't, I would have definitely been an astronomer. Staring at the night sky while camping or in various other remote places is among my absolute favorite activities (good thing I've always lived in a big city, huh?). While gazing into the black abyss that seems so carelessly splattered with stars, a few recurring thoughts always creep into my mind:

What's beyond the universe? Scientists say it's ever-expanding. Then what is it expanding into? One of my professors thinks we are "just a ball of lint in someone's pocket in an alternate universe." When I get to thinking about ideas like this Ball of Lint Theory, one of my first questions always relates to time. How can a ball of lint exist for the estimated 4.54 billion years earth is said to have been in existence? Perhaps time is relative. Perhaps because we are so miniscule in the grand scheme of things, time is slower for us. For example, the average lifespan of a gnat is 4 months. But maybe to them, since they are so small both in size and brain capacity, those 4 months seem like 80 years. Maybe we are the gnats of another universe.

Most of the stars we see when we stare into the night sky are hundreds of light years away. The closest star to earth (excluding the sun) is Proxima Centauri, which is 4.2 light years from us. That means when we look at that star, we are seeing it as it existed 4.2 years ago. That's crazy to me! It's possible that many of the stars we see in the sky don't even exist any more, but since it takes so long for their light to reach our eyes we are seeing them as they were years and years ago. Blows. My. Mind.

And lastly, perhaps the most popular question of those with an interest in the cosmos, how did it all come to be? There are plenty of theories out there to explain this one, but none have come close to being proven the unassailable truth, accepted by all. Some believe in the Big Bang Theory. Others buy into the Inflation Theory. Creationists think God created it all (and even that has its branches- Deists believing God created the universe, set it into motion, and left us to ourselves vs. most major religions believing God created it AND still runs the whole show).

While I am not arguing for any theory over another (my stance is one of constant wonder and questioning), I do find it interesting that many scientists say the more they study the cosmos, the more they believe some higher power created it. A few quotes:

Ed Harrison (cosmologist): "Here is the cosmological proof of the existence of God – the design argument of Paley – updated and refurbished. The fine tuning of the universe provides prima facie evidence of deistic design. Take your choice: blind chance that requires multitudes of universes or design that requires only one.... Many scientists, when they admit their views, incline toward the teleological or design argument." 


Frank Tipler (Professor of Mathematical Physics): "When I began my career as a cosmologist some twenty years ago, I was a convinced atheist. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that one day I would be writing a book purporting to show that the central claims of Judeo-Christian theology are in fact true, that these claims are straightforward deductions of the laws of physics as we now understand them. I have been forced into these conclusions by the inexorable logic of my own special branch of physics."


John O'Keefe (astronomer at NASA): "We are, by astronomical standards, a pampered, cosseted, cherished group of creatures.. .. If the Universe had not been made with the most exacting precision we could never have come into existence. It is my view that these circumstances indicate the universe was created for man to live in."


I perhaps am captivated by the night sky because, like so few things in this world, it rigorously challenges the boundaries of my imagination. And though on any given night you can be either strangely comforted by the universe or feel insignificant and alone in its ever-expansive bounds, its ability to inspire deep thought is always just a backward thrust of the head away.