IN THE MEANINGFUL UNIVERSE
The universe has been estimated to span one hundred thousand light years, encompassing our nearby galaxies. Within this galaxy, there are three hundred billion stars. Our solar system is located twenty-seven thousand light years from its centre. Most of these stars likely have a series of planets. However, most of these planets are unsuitable for life due to their proximity or distance from their parent star. Nevertheless, given the immense number of stars, based on sheer mathematical probability, there is a possibility that many stars are similar to our Sun and planets are similar to our Earth.
However, among the countless planets, Earth is the only planet with a life support system. A life support system refers to the natural structure and system that provides essential elements for sustaining life: oxygen, carbon dioxide, food, water, waste disposal, and temperature and pressure regulation.
Due to this inherent system, the Earth is habitable for living beings like humans. No planetary system of this kind has been discovered in the entire universe thus far. Recently, a separate field of science has come into being called SETI, which stands for ‘Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence.’
Perhaps inspired by the Darwinian evolutionary theory, some scientists speculate that there should also be intelligent creatures like humans in some other locations of the universe. The hypothetical evolutionary process desires a generality, there being no room for any exceptions in it, and so perhaps these people think that if that life ‘evolved’ on its own on Earth, this could not have been an exception and that life might also have ‘evolved’ on its own in other locations in the universe as well. An American writer, Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), even declared that there were 400 million stars in our galaxy on which plants and animals could be found. But all of this was mere speculation.
The Sun is an average-sized star with a diameter of 865,000 miles, approximately 109 times larger than Earth’s. The Sun’s surface temperature is estimated to be around 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The distance between the Earth and the Sun is approximately 93 million miles, a crucial factor for life on our planet. If this distance were to decrease or increase significantly, it would render the habitation of humans on Earth impossible.
For instance, if the Sun were to come halfway closer to us, the heat generated on Earth would be so intense that paper would start to burn. Conversely, if the current distance between the Earth and the Sun were doubled, the cold would be so extreme that life as we know it would cease to exist on Earth. This situation would arise if, instead of the current Sun, an extraordinary star were to take its place. For example, there is a star whose heat is eighty thousand times greater than our Sun. If it were in place of the Sun, it would turn the entire Earth into a blazing furnace.
