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The Vastness of Space

by George Russell

As the techniques to develop the detection of distant galaxies and the like progress, it appears to me that the realization and the appreciation of just how far away these most distant objects, whatever they might be, is just a bit too much for me to comprehend comfortably.

The concept of the light year, for instance, as a means to help simplify measurements of long distances helps very much. In fact, I am quite comfortable with the light year. Have you noticed recently the steady increase in the number of light years that astronomers indicate to us on newly discovered celestial objects, as they try to tell us how far these objects might be?

I suppose someone will indeed consider a simple way to express these very large distances. A stepping stone, so to speak, to help persons like myself to comprehend the vastness of space. Does space go on forever?

Advanced communication techniques have always been a particular interesting aspect of my professional and now retirement life. As we learn more about how we can use some of the newer ideas on how to manipulate the new electronics, along with the advanced computer technology that is developing so quickly these days, I'm sure that astronomers will be providing us with many new surprises, that is, "new finds," that perhaps have never been heard or thought of before!

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