Having a stressful day? Do you feel like your life is overwhelming? Take a deep breath and look at this image:
For a closer look at the details, click here.
This is an artistic rendering of the entire universe by Pablo Carlos Budassi. To create this image, Budassi combined logarithmic maps from Princeton University with images taken by Nasa telescopes and rovers. If you’re wondering why our solar system is in the middle and looks larger than the rest of the galaxy, that’s because the logarithmic maps decrease in scale as they move away from the starting point. In this case, the starting point is our solar system.
What’s all the spider-web-looking stuff at the edge? IFLScience explains that it’s quark-gloun plasma, particle liquid that formed in the first few microseconds of the Big Bang. Basically, it’s the first stuff to ever exist. Kinda mind-blowing.
It’s both exciting and sad to know that there is so much out there and so many possibilities for life, technology, and civilization that we may never discover in our lifetime. Gazing upon this image reminds us that we’re all mere specks in the scope of things. No matter what happens today, it’s not really that big of a deal, and it’s certainly not the end of the universe.
And if you still need some cheering up, allow Monty Python to help:
Featured image credit: PCWallArt.com