So, something amazing happened this week. Four humans were propelled from Earth on a huge firework; they saw the dark side of the moon for the first time, (cue Pink Floyd) and they travelled the furthest any human has ever travelled away from Earth. Then they were safely brought back to Earth, travelling at stupid miles per hour through the earth’s atmosphere and didn’t burn up into one celestial fireball, and landed plop into the ocean gently slowed down by the aid of three flimsy looking parachutes. When you stop and think about it, it is mind-boggling, really.
Now, unless you are a flat-Earth conspiracy theorist, and believe me, they are out there. How does this work? I mean. How? With just radio signals, they can talk to Earth and send live photos back. I still don’t really understand how a TV works.
I wonder what those astronauts thought about when they saw our beautiful Earth getting smaller and smaller. Do you think they thought about and despaired about all the wars, famines and misery that is happening on our tiny blue planet right now? Also did they wonder, as I often do, about how insignificant we all are?
Forgive me if I’m sounding a little gloomy, but there were moments this week when I wondered what catastrophe we would all wake up to in the Middle East. I increasingly get annoyed and frustrated with the different sets of governments involved; some of which, the general public voted into power.
Talking about conflicts. Ever since man existed there have been wars, but what has it ever achieved in this world of ours except misery, destruction and being a huge waste of money. I don’t know what the answer is. Some people will always be greedy and want power over others. I personally think the majority of people on earth are kind and want a safe family, good health, enough to eat and adequate shelter. They just want to get on living their lives. After all, the older you get the shorter our life span seems.
Other astronomy events that have happened:
Looking back to the last solar eclipse we had here in the UK was in 1999. That was 27 years ago! Seems to me just like the other year. That's over a quarter of a century. Let that sink in!
I bought Martin a star for our 25th wedding anniversary in 2009. You can’t see it with a naked eye or even with a home telescope but it's somewhere near Orion's Belt. I named it Marsala. (MARtin/SALly-a). It's part of the arrogance of the human race to assume we can just ‘own’ things by paying a dubious ‘star registration company’ a few pounds to get something named for ever, as if that justifies our existence. I don’t think Martin was very impressed with his present.
When we lived on the edge of Bodmin Moor the stars on a clear night were so bright and vivid. The milky way spread out ribbon-like above us. Our visitors from the city were awe-struck at the brilliant display of stars in the clear night sky. Martin had bought a mid-state-of-the-art telescope and would often stay outside in the cold and dark on a clear night for hours on end, just searching the night sky for various galaxies and obscure stars. I could never quite see what he was looking at when he excitedly called me out to come and look at his latest discovery. I was always dismayed as things would have moved on when I tried to look and I could never see them or share his enthusiasm. I have clear memories of him shouting at me when I forgot he was out there and switched a light on in the house. Just like Mr Hodges in Dad’s Army. “Put that ruddy light out!” Oops.
Since retiring we have moved to the coast, the night sky has not been the same for us, we don't have the same angle of vista and we are much nearer to the lights of the town, so light pollution plays a large part. Martin often gets frustrated by my fairy lights in the garden that I have now. But he has never forgotten what he has learnt or where everything is and can give you a good lecture on stars whilst walking home from the pub in the dark.
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