Share Your Appreciation Of The Cosmos

When I look at the night sky, and see the majestic stars sparkling in all of their glory, I cannot help but be amazed. It is such a beautiful sight to behold, the feeling when you are staring into the night sky lit up by the stars is indescribable. It had me in a trance like state, I couldn’t look away, and it was so beautiful. I felt trapped in my little rock, unable to explore the true vastness of this universe, it was truly disappointing. I thought to myself, “I wish they could hear me” referring to the Intelligent Extraterrestrial beings that I know have to be out there. Sometimes I wish I could just be whisked away to another planet, or just travel the cosmos aimlessly.

I know how you feel.
I believe that this will happen when we die, we transform into energy and are free to roam everywhere and anywhere.

Rene´, Denmark.

I share your feelings of the Universe.
I believe that when we die, we transform into energy and are free to roam this Universe and any other there might be.

Peace.

When I look at how many replies this thread has gotten, it says 2 replies, both by anonymous posters. However I can't see the posts, why does it always do that???

I love gazing into the open night sky, seeing the vast number of stars one night from a very secluded area of Vermont when i was about 6 is what convinced me that there must be alien life out there, the size of the universe simply forbids emptiness.

Here in NJ however, where I live, the light pollution is horrible, and I can see maybe 50 stars on a GOOD night.

The night sky is a beautiful thing I had a chance to see the milky way galaxy once during a train travel and the beauty brought tears to my eyes the sight was magnificent and even today every night though I live in the city I go outside and see the stars in the sky, this gives me peace and happiness and that is why I have made up my mind to become an astronomer.

I know, it's absolutely awe-inspiring. I always take time to just gaze at the clouds and night sky.. I live in the countryside and since i was little I've always had this thing for gazing at the stars, wondering in fascination about who or what was up there.
It's amazing how vast and tremendous the Universe actually is.. kind of puts things into perspective of just how small we are..

I think it's beautiful, awe inspring and calming. I love the feeling of both being small and a part of it.

[edit on 1-9-2008 by redled]

I appreciate the cosmos and stars!


What better is to look at the night sky filled with stars and the moon?

Especially if you can see the galactic dust or spiral arms, but you have to be in an area of almost no city/town lights. I live in a fairly populated place and the light pollution is too much to see any galactic dust but I can still enjoy the stars!

It's special to look up in the night sky, your looking at objects hundreds or close to a thousand years old. When you look at the sun (which I don't recommend you do), it's only 8 minutes old.

Looking at the stars is awesome. One morning I was walking out to my car to go to work, and a very bright star caught my attention. I watched it for a few seconds and saw it get even brighter. It was stationary the whole time that it was getting brighter. Then it literally shot off into deep space and faded out. It was amazing. All my life I have been "looking up" and trying to encourage others to do the same.

Imagine what we would see if a whole bunch of us were looking up at the same sky at the same time on the same night??? hint: my signature

Originally posted by peacejet
The night sky is a beautiful thing I had a chance to see the milky way galaxy once during a train travel and the beauty brought tears to my eyes the sight was magnificent and even today every night though I live in the city I go outside and see the stars in the sky, this gives me peace and happiness and that is why I have made up my mind to become an astronomer.

Wait... How? We are the milky way. If you saw a galaxy, it was most likely Andromeda.

When I look up at the stars, I too am in a trance. Sometimes here in rural Pennsylvania during the cold winter, I go for a walk at like 10 at night alone and rarely look in front of myself, my eyes are pointed towards the sky the entire time. Its truly majestic.

Side note: Anyone know the most popular place on earth to view the stars? I would imagine its in a desolate, high altitude place, but i dunno where. Anyone know?

Originally posted by Schmidt1989


Wait... How? We are the milky way. If you saw a galaxy, it was most likely Andromeda.

Well actually all we see is the Mikey Way, I'm fairly sure Andromeda is not visible without the aid of a telescope, so all we are seeing in the night sky are stars within a couple thousand (or maybe just 1 thousand) lights years way, within our galaxy.

Side note: Anyone know the most popular place on earth to view the stars? I would imagine its in a desolate, high altitude place, but i dunno where. Anyone know?

You got it, anywhere with very low levels of light pollutions, meaning big cities. I don't know the exact most popular location on earth for stargazing, but you could just go any small town or unpopulated place. If you want the lowest light pollutions levels, I recommend going to the middle of the Pacific Ocean and looking up at the night sky.

[edit on 2-9-2008 by Monsterenergy791]

Originally posted by Schmidt1989

Originally posted by peacejet
The night sky is a beautiful thing I had a chance to see the milky way galaxy once during a train travel and the beauty brought tears to my eyes the sight was magnificent and even today every night though I live in the city I go outside and see the stars in the sky, this gives me peace and happiness and that is why I have made up my mind to become an astronomer.

Wait... How? We are the milky way. If you saw a galaxy, it was most likely Andromeda.

Side note: Anyone know the most popular place on earth to view the stars? I would imagine its in a desolate, high altitude place, but i dunno where. Anyone know?

We can see the center of the milky way from the vantage point of earth.


Here's a link to APOD.

antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov...

Regarding the best place to view the stars according to my opinion is the mauna kea observatory in hawaii, their telescopes are huge and so high that the city lights below cant affect the view.

reply to post by peacejet


We can't see the center of the Milky Way unless we use a telescope.
You can check space.com for yourself: www.space.com...


I agree that Hawaii could be the best spot on earth to go stargazing: absence of light, very high up, and an extremely powerful telescope. I wish I could look into it!

I used to work on a form of meditation involving the moon. It's difficult to explain but the way it works is that first you focus on a nearby object such as a rock, a tree, whatever. Something close to you. You conceptualize it as "being in the same space as you." That is, there being no fundamental wall between you and it...it is just a little farther away from you. Then you try the same, focusing on something a little farther away, like a building. Then even farther, like the horizon line or far-off mountains, etc.

Ultimately, you expand this mental conception until it encompasses the moon. That is, you see the moon as being fundamentally in the same space as you are, the same way a nearby tree or rock would be. This is very difficult because there is a psychological tendency to think of objects in the sky almost as if they were "painted on a dome"...a kind of planetarium effect. You see the moon almost as a symbol or image of the moon rather than the thing itself. But by gradually extending the scope of what you perceive as being "near you," you can come to intuit (usually only for a short time) that you are in the same space as the moon itself, and there is a feeling of enormous spaciousness and openness. Again, its very difficult to describe and subtle.

I suppose a really advanced practicioner could work with the stars, although they are so far away and appear as points of light rather than a spherical object, so this would seem enormously difficult.

i love star gazing it's one of my favorite things to do.
i hear Arizona is a great place to see stars, check these picture taken there, pictures not taken by me.
.

flag staff Arizona.




[edit on 2-9-2008 by miguelbmx]

It's so easy to get into a meditative state when staring into the night sky. It is endless and beautiful. Great idea for a thread!

Originally posted by AlexG141989
When I look at how many replies this thread has gotten, it says 2 replies, both by anonymous posters. However I can't see the posts, why does it always do that???

i think mods have to aprove the comments before they are posted.

reply to post by miguelbmx


Ooo! Pretty pictures!

Those pictures must have some time exposures, makes the night look we have 5 full moons full of light. I like the second one especially, for various reasons and also the lenticular cloud on top of the mountain.

Thanks for the pictures, I could never see the night sky that way since I live in densely populated New England (and no, I don't live in Maine).

reply to post by Monsterenergy791


your welcome i also live in a light polluted city....NYC.
the only way i was able to see the milkyway was going to pennsylvania, hopefully I'll be to get some shots of my own

the pictures are taken with a certain exposure time because it allows for more star light to enter the camera; any big outside lights could ruin the picture by over exposing them but if the area is pitch black you get those results.