Awestruck by the Tarantula Nebula
A comforting reminder that I am only a speck in the universe
Where do we find comfort, when life feels overwhelming?
Each morning, foggy-headed, pouring porridge oats in a bowl, I glance up to see a breathtaking photograph of the universe. The calendar hanging on the kitchen wall shows me images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. They remind me of just how small I am in the unfathomable vastness of the universe. And also just how extraordinary it is that I am, indeed, a part of it - made up of atoms that were once stars.
This is a way to wake up.
The photograph above is of the Tarantula Nebula. It lives in a galaxy not far from the Milky Way, and is a nursery to new stars being born from cosmic dust. Its name is due to the region resembling a burrowing tarantula’s home, lined with its silk.
The image, taken by NASA’s James Webb telescope, is 340 light years across. One light year is 6 trillion miles across. It’s part of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy, a dwarf galaxy not far from the Milky Way, that is made up of 30 billions stars. There could be as many as 400 billions stars in the Milky Way. And there could be as many as 2 trillion galaxies in the universe.
I know - these numbers are too big to comprehend. Too big for the mind of a mammal living on a tiny planet orbiting just one of the universe’s zillions of stars. But I find such comfort in reading about space: the size of everything and the awesome-sounding names of celestial objects.
Starburst galaxies, supernovas, dark nebulae, black holes…
Did you know….?
That there is likely a supermassive black hole at the centre of every galaxy, including the Milky Way?
You can listen to the howl of a black hole in the Perseus galaxy cluster. I mean, you can just click on your computer and listen to the sound of a black hole.
Exoplanet HD 189773b | Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser There is a beautiful blue exoplanet called HD 189773b where wind blows faster than the speed of sound and it rains glass.
The Oort Cloud is an icy shell made up of billions - or even trillions - of frozen bodies of water, ammonia and methane surrounding our Solar System.
70% of the universe is made up of dark energy that is making the universe expand faster and faster. This was only discovered in 1998, and, despite two decades of research since then, the true nature of dark energy is still a mystery.
The probability of humans evolving - of you and I existing - is infinitesimally small. The tiniest chance of us being here. And yet we are.
The universe is too vast and too extraordinary for our brains to comprehend. And yet we, animals who not long ago were a little rat-like creatures scuttling under dinosaur’s feet, have managed to build machines that have witnessed the dawn of the universe.
So what does this all have to do with sobriety? Everything. Everything.
Because it is an answer to the question: what do we do when we’re in emotional pain? When life feels overwhelming: responsibilities, pressures, stresses; fresh news of human suffering we feel powerless to prevent; the climate crisis; how to be a ‘good’ person in this world… Whatever it is - what we do when it feels too much?
I used to drink. Perhaps you did too. Perhaps you still do. Perhaps you spiral into despair. Me too. Perhaps you reach for your phone and open up the apps and pray that something will pop up that makes you forget the tension in your body and whirling in your head, just for a moment. Same, same, same.
And, sometimes, I open up The Universe by Brian Cox and take in the pictures of faraway galaxies and exploding stars. I gaze at the glittering clouds of the Tarantula Nebula on my wall. Awe is here, trembling my heart. Humility brings tears to my eyes. Tears of gratitude, and relief. I am but a speck in this great cosmic mystery.
I connect, rather than escape.
How do these images make you feel? I’d love to hear in the comments.
Some previous essays from me you might have missed….
The day everything changed - I discovered This Naked Mind, and my life transformed
On loneliness - feeling it, and being with it when it arrives
Finding safety in the moment - with thanks to Tara Brach
So true. It’s humbling to just look up on a clear night and take it all in.
A problem that’s magnified in our microcosm gets some real perspective.
For me,these images just confirm how much God must absolutely adore us -the human race-! To send his Son Jesus to die for us! Little tiny us! ❤️