Most of the world sees nothing above but the sun
Tuesday, 11th of October, 2005 @ 6:12am
"Most of the world sees nothing above but the sun, [...] They know not the horsehead nebula, the collars of Saturn like metal coils around the neck of a Benin princess, the vast black sinks of imploded matter like drain holes in outer space, the throbbing light of pulsars, atomizing suns, dwarf stars heavy beyond belief, red giants, the uncoiling galaxies. I am not talking about the jingoistic bus ride to the moon or the doggies woofing in weightless capsules among the planetary detritus, the petty and costly face slaps of the pudding powers. [...] No, the study of space unwraps the strangest and most exotic realities the human mind can ever encounter. [...] Nothing seems impossible in space. Nothing is impossible. All is strange and wondrous in that nonhuman void. This is why astronomers do not seek the company of any but their fellows, for no one else has seen the mysteries as they have. Theirs is a ghastly joy felt in exploding stars, in galactic death. They know the dim light of a star filtering through our filthy, polluted sky has been on its way to that moment for a thousand years. [...] Look into the sky and you are looking into time and nothing that you see is now – it is all so remote and ancient that the human mind quails and shrinks as it approaches. Listen, extinction is the fate of all species, including ours. But before we go maybe we’ll get a quick look at a blinding light.”
from ‘Poscards’ by E. Annie Proulx
