The concept of space is a curious
one. Seemingly limitless and untapped, the universe is hard to wrap your head
around. The video titled “Powers of Ten” was incredible to me, and put into
perspective how small we are in comparison to the rest of time and space.
Initially when the video started and the camera was zooming out, the stars were
not moving, showing how small and far away we are from the stars we see at
night. Then we look at how big the sun is, and in actuality it is the same size
as all of the little tiny stars we see out in the distance.
Space has been the subject of art and has captivated artists
for years. One of the most famous paintings of space is titled “Starry Night,”
by Vincent Van Gogh. My mom is a big fan of old artwork, so we own a print of
this painting and has been my favorite since I was little. It depicts the stars
and the moon, and how they flow in the night sky.
For years the sky and space have
been studied, and initially there were quite a few different points of view
regarding what it consisted of. Initially the idea was that earth was the
center of the solar system, reflecting the egos of our ancestors. But the first
to contest this theory was Copernicus, who suggested that the sun was the
center of the solar system. Initially this idea was rejected because of the
influence of the church, but in the end started a revolution.
The invention of the telescope by
Galileo Galilei in 1611 was the start of much discovery, as scientists were
able to study the heavens in much more detail. Today the study of space has
become an integral part of our society as we are trying to find out as much as
we can about the infinite space.
The exploration of space became
extremely relevant during the cold war when the United States and Russia were going
blow for blow with each other on exciting achievements in space technology. The
US prides itself on the fact that we were the first to successfully send a man
to the moon, and that man was Neil Armstrong. That was just the start of human
space exploration, and I am sure it will captivate us for years to come.
"8 Space Pt1 1280x720." YouTube. YouTube,
29 July 2013. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZIqTR332l8>.
"Nicolaus Copernicus." Wikipedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, 29 Nov. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus>.
"Powers of Tenâ„¢ (1977)." YouTube.
YouTube, 26 Aug. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0>.
"The Starry Night." Wikipedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, 27 Nov. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Starry_Night>.
"Telescope." Wikipedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, 30 Nov. 2013. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telescope>.
The video of ten amazed me as well, it is weird to think how small Earth actually is compared to the rest of the solar system. I liked how you incorporated tons of pieces of art into your post. Your piece about the telescope perfectly shows how a piece of art changed the understanding of space forever. Great blog to end on.
ReplyDeleteWith the fact that video of ten makes us think about how small we are to everything in space, does this make you think about the possibility of other beings in outer space since there is so much more out there? Also great way to incorporate "Starry, Starry Night" into your blog post. I never looked at that painting and thought about space however, with this new look at space and art it does bring up some thought about space. Very good blog.
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