A cousin forwarded me what I thought was one of those ridiculous internet chain letters. Instead of blogospheric claptrap, the letter contained a brilliant, graphic description of how almost insignificantly small the earth is compared to other stars and planets in the universe. The earth’s sun – that thing we see every day that we might not realize is one million times the size of earth – is not even a pencil dot next to the massive supergiant, Antares.
“Humbling, isn’t it,” the letter smugly asks. Ah, no. Not humbling at all. Quite the opposite: It is exhilarating! Despite our dinky size, we are alive compared to what we know – so far – of the rest of the universe, which appears to be generally a large empty, chilly, gaseous mass.