Perspective.

[Brandy]

That pale blue dot is Earth. Talen by Voyager as it left our solar system and entered interstellar space. Not out in the wide universe, just outside our little neighborhood and into the rest of our Galaxy. Ever wonder why we haven't met any other beings? Maybe this will put that into perspective. Our whole existence is but a dust mote in a weak beam of sunlight. Any farther away and we are basically invisible. Kinda makes all our earthly problems seem insignificant. It also brings into focus the idea that anyone so advanced as to be able to travel between galaxy's would be uninterested in such a tiny insignificant world way out on the far reaches of one of this galaxy's spiral arms.

 

[Hey-O]

I come across arrogant and overbearing, now you know why. Life's too short, not to be open and honest. We make it far to complicated for just being, how's the song go, dust in the wind. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Photon440]

That famous photo is now over 33 years old. And just 34 minutes after that shot was taken, Voyagers' cameras were shut off forever. Voyager was still inside Plutos' orbit and didn't actually leave the solar system until 2012, 22 years after this photo was taken. The satellite is still active, sending back sensor readings and is expected to finally become dormant around 2025.

 

[Ron H]

I’ve thought about Earth being a tiny rock in the grand scheme, like one grain of sand on a huge beach. MO, it’s hard to comprehend the universe having no beginning or end – boggles my mind. Have to think there’s life out there – could be billions of earth-like rocks just being grains of sand or ‘life’ in some other realm more or less advanced. And how we’ve advanced with technology in such a short time. Amazing at my age remembering life without the bling we have today.

 

[SteveSS]

Time and space are both fascinating to me. I became a geologist for mainly that reason. If you look at a mountain or even pick up a rock the amount of time and forces of nature you are looking at is almost incomprehensible to the human mind. Now expand that into how many stars are in the Milky Way Galaxy. One hundred billion. How many galaxies are there? It's estimated to be one hundred and two hundred billion. The age of the universe was thought to be 14.3 billion years old. That may be revised to double that since the James Webb Space Telescope is finding galaxies older than 14.3 billion years.

Don't feel too bad. Carl Sagan quotes:

"For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love."
and
"Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious . . . In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another."