The most massive stars implode after only a few million years, and the ensuing runaway fusion reaction destroys the star and blows the outer layers, full of heavy elements, into interstellar space. These ultimate death throes of the Universe's most massive stars take us all the way up the periodic table. SimonnetĦ.) Be thankful for cosmic cataclysms: supernovae and neutron star mergers. NSF / LIGO / Sonoma State University / A. Merging neutron stars create the majority of ultra-heavy elements in the Universe. gravitational waves emitted from the collision, while the narrow beams are the jets of gamma rays that shoot out just seconds after the gravitational waves (detected as a gamma-ray burst by astronomers). Here are ten phenomena that made it all possible, and ten reasons to give thanks.Īrtist’s illustration of two merging neutron stars. At a huge number of different points in our Universe’s history, the laws of nature came together in such a way to enable our existence, and to allow us to look back today, 13.8 billion years later, with thankfulness in our hearts. This wasn’t guaranteed from first principles, but simply happens to be. Here and now, it’s possible for us to exist, and to exist as long as our natural lifespans will allow us.
The biggest unifier that all human beings have in common, that we all exist on the same world and in the same Universe, is never on display better than today: American Thanksgiving.
BlakesleeĮvery day, we have a choice whether we take our lives, our existence, our freedoms, and our moments for granted, or whether we express appreciation and gratitude for the good things that exist. NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team (STScI / AURA) J. The Universe is an amazing place, and the way it came to be today is something very much worth being.