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. 

PLASMA

Ordinary matter can exist in four states, three are most commonly observable to us. The three states that we commonly observe are solid, liquid and gas.

However there exists a fourth state of matter and it happens to be the most common state of ordinary matter in the entire universe, but it is not commonly observed by us on earth. That state of matter is called plasma. 99% of the ordinary matter in the universe is in plasma state. So on earth's surface we are essentially living in an island that is free from matter that is in plasma state. 

In the plasma state of matter is a combination of highly ionised atoms and free electrons. The sun and other stars comprises of hydrogen atoms in plasma state of matter i.e. there is no electrons moving around the nucleus of those atoms they are all positively charged.

High temperatures in the core of the sun, more than 1 million degree Kelvin, results in combining of two Hydrogen nuclei into a Helium nucleus. The mass of the Helium nucleus is slightly less than that of the combined mass of the two Hydrogen atoms, the mass that is disappeared is converted into energy. The magnitude of this energy is equal to 

      Energy = (change in mass)X(velocity of light in vacuum)X(velocity of light in vacuum)

This reaction is called nuclear fusion reaction and the entire energy of the sun and other stars are produced in this way. So although matter in plasma state is not available on the surface of the earth it is important to us. Actually high temperatures at the core of the sun is the reason because of which matter goes into plasma state. Even the thunderbolt of lightening is plasma. 

On earth a small amount of plasma matter can be created by subjecting gases to high magnetic or electric field. Scientists are highly interested in plasma state of matter and lot of research is being done in this direction. 

What we see is not exactly what we get, if you are watching stuff on earth you will be deluded to thinking that matter has only 3 states solid , liquid and gas. But once we searched the universe we found , no that's not correct most of the matter is in plasma state. We don't know how many more secrets that the universe has that we are yet to discover. This search will be an exciting journey for humankind.

Universe and Life

A great scientist of our times Sir Stephan Hawkings and Russian millionaire Yuri Milner has launched a $100 million project for search of alien species. Now consider this fact that universe in unbelievably vast and there are millions of earth like planets with conditions favourable for existence and evolution of life. 

Now the question is why should living beings be like us, they can be different from us. Intelligent life might have evolved in a different way somewhere else in the universe. Maybe they are gigantic or maybe they are microscopic. Their might be existence of alien life that may not require oxygen at all for their existence. 

Here on earth we can't live at temperatures that are beyond  60 degree Celsius. However there might be existence of living beings somewhere in the universe that maybe tolerant to very high temperatures.

Earth beings can't survive in vacuum because of the internal pressure of the fluids exerted on the cell walls. The cells would burst as soon as they are in vacuum. There maybe existence of intelligent beings that may not be planet based but are free floating space entities. 

In every galaxy there is a massive black hole at the centre around which other bodies or systems rotate, like the sun is rotating around the black hole that is at the centre of the Milky Way. There are galaxies that have a more massive black hole, the velocities of the other planets and stars have to be high enough to prevent them from falling into the black hole. 

Life that might have come into existence on the planets in this galaxies maybe different from us. Living beings evolve generation after generation depending on conditions of the place where they exist. 

"Facts can be stranger than fiction", there might be a massive lot about life in the universe that's waiting to be explored. Just because a planet does not have earth like conditions is no reason why it should not have life,after all what are living beings? A set of entities that survives, reproduces, adapts, evolves becoming higher organisms. 

It is of course a mystery, why life should exist on earth or anywhere else in the universe at all? 

There is so much that remains to be explored about the universe, it would take many Milena to explore it. Its bound to be an exciting journey of discoveries. In every step we will find something new. Maybe someday in this process of discovery we will find God. 

The tiny thing called the sun

       When it was not known that the sun was not the only star in the universe it was regarded as god as the sole sustainer of life on earth. However as astronomy advanced with the development of better telescopes it was discovered that the sun was just another star that is nearest to the earth. There are quadrillions of other stars in the universe many of whom are much larger than our sun

       This stars are basically composed of Hydrogen atoms in plasma state of matter . At the core of the sun  the temperature exceeds 1 million degree centigrade , this temperature is ideal for initiation of a thermonuclear fusion reaction in which two hydrogen nuclei fuse to form a helium nucleus . The mass of this helium nucleus is slightly less than than the combined mass of the two hydrogen nuclei . The disappeared mass is actually converted into energy, the amount of energy is given by the equation (E=mXcXc) . Thus the equation indicates that a massive amount of energy is released this energy is transferred across the solar system in the form of electromagnetic radiation. The same phenomenon goes on in all other stars.

       In terms of volume the sun is more than a million times larger than the earth and in terms of weight the sun is more than 1,00,000 times heavier than the earth. But in the universe there are stars that have a radius that is more than 1500 times that of the sun. Which makes them 3.3 million times larger and more massive than the sun. Every galaxy in the universe has a super massive blackhole at the centre. There are super massive black holes that are 17 billion times more massive than the sun. The stars and other planetary bodies encircle this black hole and revolve around it.

      Just a few days ago NASA shared photograph of a Pulsar that is radiating electromagnetic energy at the rate of 10 million suns a second. While a supernovae which is an exploding star can radiate an amount of energy that is equivalent to what the Sun or any other ordinary star radiates in its entire lifetime before is fades away in a few weeks or few months . 

      So in terms of size and the amount of energy radiated  there are stellar bodies in the universe in front of which our sun appears to be a microsome. 

    

Universe and Us

I find it difficult to accept that humans and apes have evolved from a common primate ancestor . There is so much difference between a human and a chip, gorilla or a orangutan.

    First look at the physical features. The apes have fur or body hair while humans don't have any or very little. Herein comes the question why humans did not have fur even during the ice age. It is true that the fossils of human beings found during the ice age show no fur at all. Now if humans had indeed evolved from primates we should have had fur like gorillas and chimps . The fur would have helped humans immensely during the ice age . Again even today major part of human civilization lives in cold countries. Where having fur would have been advantageous. So why human beings don't have fur.

     There is one possibility that we maybe a cross between some alien civilization and a primate. Look at our mental functions they are far far more advanced than the monkeys. We think, we plan , we make tools , we do research and we have a vast amount of knowledge. We can communicate with each other by voice. This characteristics are not shared with any other animal on the planet.

        The fact that humans have such highly developed brains gives credence to the possibility that we are but cross between aliens and some primate here on earth or we may be product of some alien experimentation done on earth .

      Even when skulls of other primates and humans are observed it is found that the human skull is vastly different from apes , gorillas and chimpanzees. In South America there are huge figures etched on grounds thousands of years ago that resemble birds and different geometric structure. They are so huge that they can only be seen from a great height . Now the precision with which the drawings are made indicates that when these drawings were made there was someone guiding the people on the ground from a great height. Also why would the Ancient Man would need such drawings what purpose would it serve? It is very much possible that the drawings were made as guides to the ancient aircrafts to land here on earth. 

        All around the earth there have been reports of alien aircrafts  better known as Unidentified Flying Objects(UFOs) being seen by people . If you search in youtube you will find hundreds of videos claiming to be genuine videos of UFOs while many of them maybe fake but one thing is for sure there is no smoke without fire. Even in ancient times there are records of sightings of strange things in the sky ---of chariots( maybe mistaken for spacecrafts) descending to earth. Not only that ancient texts of many countries actually claim that these aliens have interacted and guided people. Especially in South America. 


         While there is very little doubt that intelligent life exists outside earth , the universe being so vast that if life can come into existence on earth , then it can exist at some other planet or place in the Universe. The life forms in that planet maybe adapted to live in conditions of that particular planet. Some of them maybe highly advanced in knowledge, so much that we maybe primitive in front of them. 

        The Universe is vast, the universe is full of mysteries and search of our origin and search of extra terrestial life will continue till we know the truth.