A Brief Introduction to the Universe and How We Fit In

1. A Brief Introduction to the Universeand How We Fit In by Mark F. Zimbelman

2. A Four Step Approach to Comprehending the Universe • 1) Understand that we live in an average-sized galaxy • The Milky Way is about 100,000 light years across • There are about 250 billion stars in the Milky Way 2) Understand that the visible Universe has about 250 billion galaxies similar to our Milky Way

3. A Four Step Approach to Comprehending the Universe • Imagine infinitely more galaxies, stars, etc. Scientists now believe that our Universe is just one of an infinite number of universes in what is known as the Multiverse… • Recognize that modern science still has a lot to learn. For example, current theory suggests that 85% of the universe is made of “dark matter” which is yet to be confirmed. Said one scientist: “Given that dark matter is the most common stuff in the universe, the fact that we know almost nothing about it at the moment is really rather embarrassing!”

4. The size of the Milky Way • The Milky Way is 100,000 light years across—how large is that? • The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second • Our Sun is 90 million miles from earth or eight light minutes • Roughly equivalent to traveling around Earth about 4,000 times. • Seven trips to the Sun is roughly 600 million miles which is equivalent to one light hour. • In seven thousand trips to the Sun, light would travel about one light year (i.e., six trillion miles). • In seven billion trips to the Sun we would travel the distance from one side of our galaxy to the other (i.e., 600 million billion miles).

5. Andromeda is the nearest major galaxy to our Milky Way. Our Galaxy is thought to look much like Andromeda.

6. Andromeda is the nearest major galaxy to our Milky Way. Our Galaxy is thought to look much like Andromeda.

7. Andromeda is the nearest major galaxy to our Milky Way. Our Galaxy is thought to look much like Andromeda.

8. Our Milky Way has roughly 250 billion stars—how many is that? If you lived 100 years and could travel to each star in one second and stay on the star for one second, you would visit 1.5 billion stars (less than one percent of all the stars in our Milky Way) Multiply this by the 250 billion galaxies in the visible Universe and current estimates suggest that the number of stars in the Universe is at least 10 times the number of grains of sand on all the beachs and in all the deserts on Earth! The latest count of the number of stars in the visible universe is 70,000 million million million (7 followed by 22 zeroes) How many stars are in the Universe?

11. Until 1923, scientists did not know other galaxies existed. Today, about 250 billion galaxies are estimated to exist in the Universe! The Psalmist asked: When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? Psalms 8:3-4

12. Until 1923, scientists did not know other galaxies existed. Today, about 250 billion galaxies are estimated to exist in the Universe! The Psalmist asked: When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? Psalms 8:3-4

13. Until 1923, scientists did not know other galaxies existed. Today, about 250 billion galaxies are estimated to exist in the Universe! The Psalmist asked: When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? Psalms 8:3-4

14. Until 1923, scientists did not know other galaxies existed. Today, about 250 billion galaxies are estimated to exist in the Universe! The Psalmist asked: When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? Psalms 8:3-4

15. This is what they see when they focus the Hubble for several days on a spot in space the size of a dime at 75 feet away that appears empty. Each of these dots of light is a galaxy several billions of light years away! The latest count is that 10,000 galaxies can be detected in that one spot!

16. Worlds without number have I created…The heavens cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for…there is no end to my works…For behold, this is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Moses 1:33-39

17. The God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and He wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How is it that the heavens weep…were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of Thy creations; and… yet Thou art there. Moses 7:28-30

18. Elder Neal A. Maxwell said: What John and Paul wrote about God’s creations and the plurality of worlds, the restored gospel grandly affirms, declaring that “worlds without number” have been created (Moses 1:33). These gospel truths are very significant assurances for us, situated as we are on this tiny “speck of sand” at the outer edge of a minor galaxy, the Milky Way. Without the gospel’s fulness, we would appear to be living during one tick of the geological clock and in the midst of unexplained vastness.

19. President Spencer W. Kimball said: I recently learned an interesting fact: If a man owns a million dollars worth of gold at today’s prices, he possesses approximately one 27-billionth of all the gold…in the earth’s thin crust... This is an amount so small in proportion as to be inconceivable to the mind of man…The Lord…created… “worlds without number;” and when (a) man receive(s) the oath and covenant of the priesthood, he receive(s) a promise from the Lord of “all that my Father hath.” To set aside all these great promises in favor of a chest of gold and a sense of carnal security is a mistake in perspective of colossal proportions. To think that (we might) settle for so little is a saddening and pitiful prospect indeed; the souls of men are far more precious than this.

20. All they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord; for he that receiveth my servants receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth my Father; and he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore All that my Father hath shall be given unto him. (Doctrine and Covenants 84:35-38)

21. What Is Man? It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you say it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. But it is with immortals that we joke, work, and marry. C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

22. What Is Man? I testify to you that God has known you individually … for a long, long time. He has loved you for a long, long time. He not only knows the names of all the stars, He knows your names and all your heartaches and your joys! By the way, you have never seen an immortal star; they finally expire. But seated by you tonight are immortal individuals—imperfect but who are, nevertheless, “trying to be like Jesus”! Elder Neal A. Maxwell

23. What Is Man? As man is now, God once was. As God is now, man may become. President Lorenzo Snow

24. The Psalmist asked: What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? The Savior answered: This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man…All that my Father hath shall be given unto him.