Astronomy Update is a monthly column provided by the Chippewa Valley Astronomical Society, Hobbs Observatory and the L.E. Phillips Planetarium, compiled by Lauren Likkel of the UW-Eau Claire physics and astronomy department. The universe is something that people know is huge, but it's so huge that they can't visualize or wrap their heads around how big it really is, so they wouldn't give the topic any further thought.
You can look into the night sky and see stars lighting up the darkness, but we forget that what we see isn't even a fraction of what is out there. To help grasp how big the universe really is, consider this: We live on planet Earth. Earth is one of eight planets that orbit a star that we call the sun. This star of ours is in the Milky Way galaxy. In the Milky Way galaxy, there is an estimated collection of 100 billion to 300 billion stars with only about 9,000 that are visible from our planet.
Some of these stars are bigger than our sun and some smaller than our sun. But many of these stars also have planetary systems similar to ours, with planets orbiting a star. There can be billions of other planets in the Milky Way galaxy, and planets that share the same profile as our own may be able to support life. Now, all this is only inside our Milky Way galaxy.
Looking farther and deeper into space, what we can't see with the naked eye will make you feel smaller. An estimated number of galaxies in the universe is 125 billion. On any given time, a space telescope can observe a small section of the sky, and in just that small section, thousands among thousands of galaxies can be seen.
From these billions of galaxies, each galaxy may contain millions to billions of stars. With so many of these stars in each galaxy, there are many chances that planets are orbiting other stars. And with so many planets orbiting other stars there can be a chance that there may be a planet that has the right conditions to support life like ours. We are not even close to being a small grain of sand on a beach, comparing us to the universe. The universe is simply HUGE. Xiong is a sociology major at UW-Eau Claire.
If You Go
Interested in astronomy? Check out the following:
Hobbs Observatory
Tonight at 8 p.m., Phil Ihinger, a geology professor at UW-Eau Claire, will discuss meteorites and what they teach us about the formation of the solar system. This is the last presentation in the Hobbs Observatory Astronomy Series for the year, but the talks on the third Saturday of the month will resume in January. Telescopes are available for viewing after each talk at 9 p.m. if the skies are clear. Hobbs Observatory hosts are volunteers from the Chippewa Valley Astronomical Society. For more information on the society go to cvastro. Hobbs Observatory is four miles north of Fall Creek on Highway K, across the road from the Nature Center at Beaver Creek Reserve.
L.E. Phillips Planetarium
Planetarium shows are presented for the public at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays, and children's shows aimed at ages 4 to 12 are at 11 a.m. Saturdays. The Tuesday show this month is "Cultural Constellations," which teaches how to identify constellations and discusses the associated sky myths from various cultures. The December shows are about how the ancient Egyptians viewed the sky. The last show of the year is on Dec. 13. The children's planetarium show this month is "Larry, Cat in Space," which is aimed at ages 9 and younger and follows the adventures of Larry after his owner moves to the moon.
There will be no show Thanksgiving weekend. In December, the children's show will be "Lifestyles of the Stars," which is appropriate for all ages. The last children's show of the year is on Dec. 10. The planetarium is in Phillips Science Hall on the UW-Eau Claire campus. The shows have a feature presentation, discuss the current night sky and last about an hour. Entry to the planetarium is $2. Free parking is available on campus after 3 p.m. and on weekends. For more information go to uwec.edu/planetarium.