We love the work of Ramon Horca of Galactic Wicklow. In this article from our Summer 2019 issue, he discusses the wodner of the stars. The great news is, he is hosting an event on this very topic tomorrow, Friday July 26th! Click here to learn more.
Wonderstruck
Be amazed by the stars
by Ramon Horca
When was the last time you looked up at the stars? When was the last time ancient light travelling vast distances across the galaxy hit your eyes and awakened a completely new perspective in your life? As a student of the universe who’s always had a love of space and its vast energy, I got so much more than I bargained for when I began to really look. I found that I was looking into myself.
Now I cannot unsee what I’ve seen, or unlearn what it’s taught me about my life, my connection to my fellow brothers and sisters, and my relationship with this beautiful planet we live on. The equipment we use makes it possible to gaze into the vast galactic star fields of millions of suns just like ours. The question ‘are we alone?’ becomes almost laughable when you gain this new perspective.
You start to understand there’s so much more going on out there than we realise, and that most of the stars you see have other worlds orbiting them. Look at another galaxy like Andromeda, 2.5 million light years away: when the light left from its stars on its way to us, we came into being. Great civilisations were built and lost. And we built the telescope, that caught the light, that hit our eyes on its vast journey from 2.5 million years in the past. These are mind-melting numbers, but ultimately, experiencing a moment like this grounds you to your home galaxy and your place in it.
It can be very lonely on this planet. I get that. But I’ve found great solace in the thought that out there somewhere in the blackness, someone or something is feeling what you’re feeling, looking straight back at you as the light from our star reaches them and gifts them a glimmer of what’s possible. You can share a moment across the void without even speaking. I love that. The ancient light you see has traversed unimaginable oceans of time to reach you. What has it gathered on its way? When it hits you, a download can occur. This shows up differently for everybody. For me, it was transformative. A galactic perspective was born.
Witnessing people’s reactions is one of the most satisfying things about this for me. I love to see the shock, awe and sheer joy it brings. When somebody messages me after a night stargazing with us, saying that they felt something that night, or that they see things with a new perspective, I think ‘job done’. This is what it’s really about. We want to break the frame and get people thinking bigger and better about the planet and each other, and to realise that worrying about the small stuff has no place in the galactic scheme of things.
There’s still time left on the clock to affect positive change on this planet. The universe doesn’t know good or bad, it just knows what is. We get back what we put out: a small reminder of a vastly bigger picture. Carl Sagan said ‘We’re all made of star stuff’. So as above, so below. And the more we look, maybe the more we’ll know.
To learn more about Ramon’s stargazing tours with Galactic Wicklow, just click here.
