Studying the Universe.

Before we knew that the sun was a gigantic mass of hydrogen atoms in plasma state in which thermonuclear fusion is going on, that is generating lot of energy. The sun was thought to be a God, there were people across the world who thought that they were the descendants of sun. 

In India millions of people practice a set of postures saluting the sun, the practice is known as suryanamaskar. You will find people offering water to sun every morning in India. Many festivals are timed depending on the position of the sun in the sky. Again when solar eclipse used to happen, people were frightened, many thought that some demon was trying to eat the sun. 

The sun, the wind, water , earth were all considered to be gods. So many myths and stories used to exist about the sun god. In Hindu mythology he is considered to be an important god, the ancient sages used to practice yagyas to appease the sun. A yagya is a ritual in which a bunch on sages would sit around a fire, then chant some mantras in Sanskrit while keeping the fire lit up by pouring ghee in it at the end or even in the middle they would sacrifice an animal and thought that it pleased the God. Similar practices existed to appease the rain god(Indra) and other gods. 

So look what ignorance can do, people end up doing all kinds of stupid things. 

Ultimately it was discovered that the sun was but a gigantic mass of hydrogen atoms in plasma state of matter , that is continuously undergoing nuclear fusion reaction, which is generating tremendous amount of energy. A microcosmic fraction of the energy reaches the earth in form of electromagnetic radiation. However this energy is enough for the all the living being on earth. The radiation from the sun has played a vital role in generation, sustenance and continuation of life on earth. 

The sun has no consciousness of its own, so its no god. The sun is just one of the quadrillions of stars that exists in the universe. The study of astronomy has been exciting and it has revealed this truths about the universe. There may huge amount of things about which we are yet not aware of. 

The study of universe is absolutely essential, for the study of  the cosmos is closely linked to our consciousness.  What are we? Aren't we made of the same stuff that blurted out during the big bang. Our bodies comprise of the same matter that constitutes the rest of the universe. We are not different from the universe but we are a part of it and in studying the universe, we are actually on a path of self discovery, about ourselves and our creation.