Hidden Universe Page #5

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Take the Crab Nebula.

We know that it was once a star that

blew up in a supernova explosion.

We know this because when

we look with X-ray vision,

we can see the compact remains

of that exploded star.

A pulsar.

But there is still

more to the story.

Because infrared observations

penetrate deep

into the dusty

clouds of this nebula,

revealing elements like hydrogen,

carbon, silicon and iron.

All of these observations

reveal an incredible truth.

That stars are the factories

of the universe,

continually creating

the basic elements

necessary for

everything to exist.

And as stars die,

they disperse these elements

back into the universe.

We are made from the stars.

The collective knowledge

of years of observations

has revealed our true

connection to this cosmos

and has allowed me to create

one of the most detailed simulations

of the universe ever constructed.

Each one of these points

of light is a galaxy,

just like our own Milky Way.

Our universe contains billions

and billions of galaxies,

and each galaxy has

billions of stars.

The universe is

unbelievably vast.

And even though we may be

small in comparison,

we are not insignificant.

Everything we are,

every single piece of us,

everything that we see,

feel, or taste,

was made possible

by the stars.

It's no wonder we constantly

set our sights higher

and aspire to know ever more

about the universe.

NASA is building

the successor to Hubble,

the James Webb

Space Telescope.

It will help us see from our

small perch in the Milky Way

to the very edges

of the universe

and the beginning

of time itself.

We live in the universe,

and the universe lives in us.

So when we look up

into the night sky,

the story we see

is our own.

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