Wonders of Nature

The Orion Nebula T he vastness of space belies human experience. In comparsion, we are tiny, ephmeral creatures living on a speck of dust. It is not truly possible, I believe, to grasp the grandeur of the cosmos, to hold the whole of it in our imagination, but we can see enough to wonder, to feel our place in it. Most of us, as we peruse through social media, will scroll by images like The Pillars of Creation and marvel at their beauty, even if for a moment. Perhaps some may consider all the scientific and technological achievement required to take such an image. Most common elements in Nebulas N ebulas are where stars and solar systems are born out of the interstellar medium, a dance of radiation, magnetism and matter that exists among the stars. The Orion Nebula , owing to its largeness in the sky, may be the most famous. We see it because the gases within have ignited in color. Hydrogen is the main ingredient.  As it transitions form one state of energy to...