During the victory celebration, or perhaps it should be called the tie celebration, Blasto explained that the halo of old stars, predominantly small red dwarfs and huge Red Giants, surrounds the Galactic disk on all sides. “The stars and gas clouds in the halo are mostly made of hydrogen and helium atoms that have never been forged into heavier elements. The stars zip around helter skelter - no flying in formation for halo objects. Likewise, the Galaxy’s globular clusters of stars randomly buzz around in the halo. Earthlings think the halo is shaped like a really huge basketball (150,000 to 300,000 light years across), but it could be more like a really FAT pancake (referred to as a thick disk), or even football shaped (a shape called prolate).”
“It is known that 90% to 99% of the Galaxy is made up of mystery objects called the “dark matter”. Most of this stuff is thought to reside in the halo. No one knows what these mystery objects are because they are too dark to be seen, and can only be detected by their gravitational effects. Scientists have recently discovered that they appear to weigh in at 0.1 to 1.0 times the mass of the Sun. Before long, scientists will probably learn what all this stuff is. If the mystery objects give off very little light, maybe they are black holes, miniature versions of the black hole at the center of our Galaxy.”
“Gosh, Blasto!”, said Galaxy Man, “the disk and bulge look so beautiful from way out here. And you know Blasto, its now quite clear how the inner parts of the Galaxy look like the Poopa!” “You sure have a strong grasp on that idea, my noble master,” said Blasto.
“Now set the telescope monitor for deep space and have a look.” After several minutes of pushing the wrong buttons and twisting the wrong dials, with wisps of smoke beginning to come out of the G-Man’s ears, Blasto helped Galaxy Man to adjust their telescope. “Wow!,” exclaimed Galaxy Man. “Look at all those fuzzy things outside of the Galaxy. There must be billions of them, and many of them look sort of like spaceships! “GOOD GRIEF BLASTO, ANOTHER INVASION!???”
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“Believe it or not, Sir,” said Blasto in a calming voice, “they are other galaxies - spiral types like our own, as well as galaxies that are roundish, called ‘elliptical galaxies’. Still others look rather messy and are called ‘irregular galaxies.’ I guess you could call them spaceships. After all, we are flying through space in one called the Milky Way Galaxy.” |
The Right-Stuff Robot’s jaw fell open and he stared in awe at the immensity of it all. “And...and beyond that Blasto!? Where does it end!?” “No one really knows for sure, Captain. There are many things that we don’t know about the universe. For example those dark mystery objects we talked about. They make up nearly ALL of our cosmos, and yet we still don’t know what they are! So far we have only learned about the proverbial ‘tip of the iceberg.’ We don’t know if the universe goes on forever, or is just frightfully BIG. But because we have recently developed the science and technology needed to solve some of these riddles, answers may not be far off. These are very exciting times for astronomers!”
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“As long as we are getting philosophical, like thinking BIG thoughts, Sir, there’s an idea that I have been working on lately. It’s the idea that anyone can own a galaxy. Not in the way that you might own a laser gun, but in a more brain-oriented way. If a person’s brain “sees” what a galaxy looks like, and how big it is, and what it is made of, and how its parts move, then in a sense the galaxy is in their heads. They have it. They mentally own it! They can look at it any time they want - study it - observe it from all sides - paint it blue - use it as a skateboard - and just plain appreciate the beauty of its colorful stars, the majesty of its globular clusters, the awesome sight of the horse-head nebula and the vast glittering spiral arms.” |
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“Hmm, I never thought of it that way Blasto, but I like the idea!
Some of my interstellar friends don’t have alot of neat stuff, and
some are pretty bummed out |
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And here we must bid farewell to the dynamic duo as they plot their next adventure. No doubt Blasto will help Galaxy Man to achieve many more “ties” and maintain their “perfect record.” There they go. See ya, Hasta Luego, Adieu, Aloha, Gut Fahrt, Shalom, Sayonara, ... phone home soon! Thanks for the ride! |
because what they
really want is love, but love sometimes seems even more scarce than cool
toys! If they owned a galaxy, that would surely help! And they could share
their galaxy with others. I could give galaxies as BIRTHDAY PRESENTS!”
“That’s the idea,” said Blasto with a tender smile. “Nature
is full of beauty and wonder - full of moons and cells and atoms and galaxies.
They are all begging to be owned. Sure beats watching reruns of TV shows
that were lame even the first time around! Another success of our mission
is that now we own the Galaxy - at least much of it.”
At this thought, Galaxy Man looked even more proud and happy. “I’m
sure glad we’re partners, Blasto,” he said in a way that brought
another smile to the canny canine’s muzzle. “Me too,” said
Blasto, “let’s find something else to 
own. Maybe that
lovely blue and white planet we saw awhile back. Especially if they have
decent pizza!” “The universe, the universe!,” cried
Galaxy Man as he jumped up and down. “LET'S GO FOR THE WHOLE THING
- THE ENTIRE ENCHILLADA!”