The Stars Above

During the night, when you look up to the sky, when it is clear and all the stars are visible, do you ever wonder what is beyond those stars? What are the things that your human eyes cannot see?

Image from Most Spectacular Places to Go Camping Under the Stars, TheActiveTimes.com

Most child, if not all, once in their life dreamed of being an astronaut, to be able to ride a rocket ship and go to outer space, go to the moon, and see the stars up close. And as they grow older, they realize that it is not as simple as cartoons show it to be. I know because I was once that child.

In grade school, we learned the name of the planets. Our science teachers taught us that we live in a planet called Earth, and there are a couple more planets out there and all of them are part of what we call as the Solar System. This is also the time where they introduced us to other heavenly bodies, that a lot of things actually exist beyond where we live. There are the stars, the asteroids, the meteoroids, the comets, and this is also where they told us that it only special people with special equipment can go and study the heavenly bodies, those special people are called Astronauts. And that is where the childhood dream began.

In high school, they taught us more complicated things about the Universe. They taught us names, names that were repeatedly mentioned yet I still forget when the exams come. They also introduced the theories formed by those names that somehow answer questions such as, how the Universe started. And now, there are theories on how it will end.

In the present, countless of articles, studies, and information are available for those with the curious mind, for those who wants to know what is currently known about the ever mysterious universe. But the universe is so vast (it is also continuously expanding) that we can never really be sure on what it is out there. We are just a tiny bit part of a galaxy called Milky Way, and there are still countless of other galaxies that occupy the universe. So, beyond those stars, what other things exist within? No one knows for sure, at least in this lifetime. Surely, we have achieved and are still achieving different human technological advancements, but not enough to let humans fully explore the vastness of our own galaxy, let alone the universe.

The most normal people can do is to admire what our eyes can see for the universe's mystery will always be there. The more time people spend in looking for answers, the more questions will come.

No one can say for sure how long this universe have left before it is gone, taking with it everything that ever existed. Everything that the stars above witnessed, all the history, all the stories from different people each night, will all be gone.