In 1933, due to better telescope technology, Edwin Hubble made a huge leap and dramatically expanded the heavens by concluding that what had previously been called nebulas within our galaxy were actually separate galaxies millions of light years away. Using the Hubble telescope, we can now see so far, that for all we know, we may be looking at a reflection of ourselves on a cosmic wall on the the border of our universe in a multiverse system.
Hubble's deep and ultra deep field view video. Imagine if you will that God, its creator likes the smell of goat meat (according to the bible). The notion that all of this was made for us alone is stupid, absurd, and preposterous, but please feel free to believe in what you wish. Every speck on this picture is a galaxy containing 50-500 billion stars. Do you still think this was made just for our viewing pleasure?
Messier 101 is also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy and 100-500 billion stars. Imagine if you will that God, its creator likes the smell of goat meat (according to the bible). Around a typical star like our sun, there is a so-called Goldilocks zone - not to hot, not too cold, but just right for planets with liquid water. A thin band of orbits lies between those that are too far from the star, where water freezes, and too close where it boils. Presumable, a life friendly orbit has to be nearly circular. A fiercely elliptical orbit would only allow the planet ot whiz thru the Goldilocks zone every few (Earth) decades or centuries. The size of our moon and its rotation around the Earth helps to stabilize the Earth's rotation around its own axis. The moon's distance from the Earth is another factor that provides for smaller tidal forces. The massive gravitational vacuum cleaner of Jupiter is well placed to intercept asteroids that would otherwise threaten us with a lethal collision. It has been estimated that there are between 1 billion and 30 billion planets in our galaxy and 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe. Knocking off a few noughts for reasons of ordinary prudence, a bilion billion is a conservative estimate of available planets in our universe. Now, suppose the origin of life, the spontaneous arising of something equivalent to DNA, really was a quite staggering event. Suppose it was so improbable as to occur on only one in a billion planets. And yet ... even with such absurdly long odds, life will still have arisen on a billion planets -- of which Earth of course is one.
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