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This image released by NASA and made by the Spitzer Space Telescope shows a glowing stellar nursery. The infrared image was obtained by Spitzer's infrared array camera. The Spitzer Space Telescope was named after the late Dr. Lyman Spitzer, Jr., one of the 20th century's most influential scientists, who in the mid-1940s first proposed placing telescopes in space. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL/CALTECH)
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INDEPTH: SPACE
Space
CBC News Online
"The surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. On this shore we've learned most of what we know. Recently, we've waded a little way out, maybe ankle-deep, and the water seems inviting. Some part of our being knows this is where we came from."
– Carl Sagan
For thousands of years, humans have wondered about the void beyond the blue sky, about the glowing orbs of light that inhabit it and about the darkness that blankets it all on a regular basis. Where did it come from? How was it created? What, exactly is it? In attempts to explain it all, different cultures at different times have used folklore, legend and religion.
During the last few centuries, scientific explanations have gained steam. Some of the world's greatest minds have created and applied the laws of physics and geometry to interpret the size, shape and age of the universe. And although they have, over time, gotten a better sense of the dimensions and characteristics of planet Earth and some of its neighbouring planets, moons and stars, the universe beyond remains mostly a mystery.
Only recently has technology progressed to the point where humans have been able to venture beyond our planet's atmosphere - first only visually with telescopes, then with the help of rockets. And although the advances in technology have come fast and furious over the last few centuries, the universe remains largely unknown.
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