The Solar System’s Corner Fireplace
By Charlie. Filed in Home, Science |
For good reason, ever since we’re children, we’re told not to stare at the sun. The sun, after all, is pretty bright, considering it’s about 93 million miles away from us, capable of providing the planet with all its heat and light and life. It’s size is incredible, with a diameter of about 865 hundred thousand miles and is the 109 times the size of the planet Earth. It’s no wonder that so many early religions, stories, and, in modern times, research has been devoted to this immense corner fireplace of the solar system.
Every once in a while, it’s nice to check in and see where we are in the universe, and right now, as you read these words, we’re on the Earth, in the Sol System (the center of which is that aforementioned 93 mile-distant fiery ball of hydrogen and helium, with a surface temperature of 5,510 degrees Centigrade, generating its heat by nuclear fusion, turning the hydrogen nuclei into helium. It appears today that this star, once thought fairly small and insignificant in the solar system, may be brighter than 85 per cent of the other stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. Many of the other stars appear to be dimmer red dwarfs), and right now, we’re traveling through an area known by astronomers as the Local Interstellar Cloud in the Local Bubble zone inside the rim of the Orion Arm of the Milky Way. If you are outdoors, the light that allows you to read this blog took eight minutes and nineteen seconds or so to get here and illuminate your laptop, desktop, or page (if you’ve printed this out).
In a meditative mood, as a child, I might scribble out my address as Los Angeles, California, United States, Planet Earth, the Sol Solar System, the Milky Way Galaxy, and the Universe. That address has grown a bit: LA, CA, US, Earth, Sol System, Local Interstellar Cloud, Local Bubble, Milky Way Galaxy, and the Universe. Once parallel universes are proved, we’ll probably have to add those, too. It’s a lot to contemplate, so instead, during these winter months, I’m going to get some hot chocolate, build a fire and watch the flames roar in the hearth, perhaps one of the most comforting small things I can think to do in such a large place!
Related posts:
Tags: corner fireplace, Local Bubble zone, sun