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| There are more stars in the sky than grains of sand in all the beaches and deserts of Earth. This documentary uses computer graphics and deep-space photographs to explore the 'macro' universe beyond planet Earth. Leaving Earth orbit, we pass by the outer planets Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto/Charon. We then pass through the Oort Cloud, reservoir of comets, which extends up to 2 light-years from the Sun. Our Sun's nearest stellar neighbors Proxima and Alpha Centauri are next, but there is probably no life there. After a discussion of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), we head for the star Geminga. Now a rapidly-spinning pulsar, about 342,000 years B.C. it was a supernova 50 light years from Earth, visible in our day sky. In the constellation Orion, Betelgeuse may become a supernova soon. We see new stars being born in the Orion "star nursery" nebula. Moving on to the center of our galaxy, we enter a worm hole to the Andromeda Galaxy. Andromeda, along with our Milky Way, is a part of the Local Group of galaxies. There is evidence of a Great Attractor whose gravity is pulling on every galaxy within 200 million light-years. Among the galactic groups are enormous empty voids. Our voyage of the imagination ends at the Great Wall of Galaxies at 325 million light-years, the biggest thing in all the universe (so far). |
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