Insignificantly small

I just received my Starry Night Pro Plus 6 software (SNPP6) in the mail today. I've got a very old version of the product and managed to get a hefty discount via the upgrade route. At any rate, this astronomy application runs both on Windows and Mac, which is a good thing for me since I am a daily user of both systems. It's come a long way since the 3 or so years since I last bought a copy (SNP4.5) - I love the new observation planning tools as well as starhopping charts. This software will come in very handy when I go observing next.

But wait, there's more!

It also has the integrated AllSky CCD mosaic which is a panoramic, photographic view of the night sky. Coupled with some new eye candy like customizable backdrops that include animated grass, it was so beautiful it almost made me cry. I have spent many nights in California observing the stars but my favourite time has to be twilight. The sky is split in two - a rapidly fading bright half chased by a dark bejeweled curtain of night. The sounds change too as things become quieter and animals go to sleep while others are waking up. The sky itself goes from light blue to a darker blue, then a beautiful indigo before succumbing to black. The planets are the first to become visible - Venus is typically unmistakable if it's up. The brighter stars then start shyly appearing followed by their dimmer cousins. Before you know it, it's dark and you're there, looking up at the sheer splendor of creation. I'm really not doing it justice here - do go out if you have a chance.

The experience affects people differently. For me, it makes me feel extremely small and insignificant. Size is typically the first thing that strikes people (go out and see the Milky Way at a dark site if you don't believe me!), it's the sheer timelessness that awes me to silence. There are so many things up there whose light started on its way towards us before there was even a Solar System here. Compared to the age of the cosmos, nothing matters.

Some people have serious issues with feeling tiny and insignificant. For me, it has always given me a sense of peace, of reassurance that the cosmos is so timeless that it's pretty much childproofed when it comes to whatever stupid things our species may do to it. I haven't been out in ages but playing around with SNPP6 brought back fond memories. I really must go out soon.