stardustcboy's Diaryland Diary

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...The Cartwheel Galaxy...

THERE IS BEAUTY IN DESTRUCTION: CASE IN POINT...

another stop on our intergalactic journey my friends...

once again, you here the robotic voice inside your NID...

we have stopped momentarily at the outer edge of the Cartwheel Galaxy. the odd shape of the Cartwheel Galaxy, located inside the Sculptor constellation, is the result of a massive galactic collision some million years ago.

the Cartwheel Galaxy was first photographed in 1995 and is 500 million light years from earth.

When the two galaxies slammed into each other, the so-called "intruder" galaxy threw off a ring of energy that collected the gas and dust that form the brilliant ring. The bright blue areas in the ring are clusters of newly created stars and of exploded stars, called supernovae.

notice also, the small bright point of light in the upper right corner. this is a quasar which was formed by the collision. Quasars shine a hundred times brighter than a galaxy, yet occupy the same volume of space as our solar system. This is like comparing the size of the North American continent to a coffee cup.

Astronomers have been confounded as to how an area this small could produce that much energy. They believe quasars are usually formed by two merging galaxies with similar masses, like the one in the Cartwheel Galaxy.

Most astronomers think that a black hole already exists, or must be created, in the center of merging galaxies to form such a bright quasar. The energy of the black hole ignites the quasar, allowing it to shine brightly.

because of the galactic turbulence in this area, we will remain in position outside of the Cartwheel Galaxy for only one day. please enjoy your stay.

can you imagine? the awesome power of such a collision? i doubt you can my dears. to think, two entire GALAXIES, filled with stars and planets and moons like our own - maybe even populated by a few civilizations - were suddenly vaporized by an astronomically destructive event. can you imagine the years, months, days leading to this final result? suns winking out of existence...planet sized meteors slamming into each other...what a marvelous spectacle!!

and here we are, observers of the aftermath. it looks so beautiful from here doesn't it? the blue ring of light, matter and energy...the soft yellow luminescence of the center...the bright and dazzling points of light at the perimeter. it's stunning.

now, in the ebb of chaos and destruction, we see the formation of new stars...new worlds...in a few trillion years this galaxy will have a wholly new shape maybe like our own...the irony? that a few trillion years from now, little people in the reformed Cartwheel Galaxy will look out across the distant voids to our galaxy...

...and it will have collided with andromeda...

...they will name it the "Cartwheel Galaxy" and they will marvel about the energy output of such a massive, cosmic event.

...it always looks beautiful from the outside my loves!

and to quote the red hot chili peppers...

"destruction leads to hard roads but it also breeds creation."

remember that...it is part of the natural order. nothing lasts forever. i don't know how many times i have to say it. even galaxies die.

but then they are reborn.

such is the dance.

no use being a wall flower! get out there and shake your shit with the rest of the universe! God is waiting for you on the dancefloor!

booYaH! *puts in the big-band jazz music*

the point, my sweets, is that life is not a measure of how happy you are on average before you die. it is a measure of how happy you made others in your passing.

did you punch a big hole through them like the galaxy above? forever scarring them? or did you glide gently over them and around them? did you mingle with them, fuse with them?

how will you be remembered?

when someone looks at an image from you life...will they marvel at the beauty? the wonder?

you decide in the end what that final image is...not me...not anyone else.

YOU.

eh, i'm rambling. what do i know anyway? hmmm? i'm just a lil boy...far off on a big blue planet...on the outer edge of a distant galaxy...

"...no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should..."

love always.

~B-)

4:42 p.m. - 2004-06-14

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