Over the last few days I've seen some incredible night skies. Those who have never travelled outside of the industrialized world can't really have a sense of what the skies look like so far removed from city lights. Even in the great parks of the American West and on the islands of the Caribbean where the night sky is free from light pollution, the number of visible celestial objects pales in comparison to more far flung locales. I'm fortunate to have been in a few such places and I'm always struck by the enormity of what we can see from them. I include the Southern Alps in that rarefied category. Recently we experienced a lunar eclipse in spectacular fashion and it really drove home the point. There's nothing like a blood-red moon to stir ones imagination.
Tonight, with no moonlight and not a cloud, the stars reminded me of a story I read last year about Elsa Einstein. While Edwin Hubble was showing Albert Einstein around the observatory where Hubble did much of his research, Elsa Einstein inquired after the telescope's giant reflector. When told that it was used to determine the size and shape of the universe, Elsa reportedly said to Hubble "My husband does that on the back of an old envelope." Walking home from Wanaka a short while ago, I could imagine Einstein contemplating the universe with the naked eye while the rest of us simply look up in amazement.
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