No amount of “hovering” as they say in England will clean up all the dust in the cosmos.  Just take a look at the astronomy picture of the day on the right.  The image shows the star forming regions in the Orion arm of the Milky Way, the same arm where we are located.  But just why is it so dirty in space?  Well, all those stars and planets started out just this way.   Little tiny specks of hydrogen dust that over millions and billions of years swirl around and eventually get attracted to each other.  Once these little specks of hydrogen dust start forming larger specks of dust, the eventually turn into small clumps of hydrogen dirt.  This goes on, and on until something forms a really large lump with enough mass to start a nuclear reaction.  Then, for a brief time, a massive explosion happens and a star is born!  The other lumps of dust, gas and other particles are left with what remains.  Depending upon the area of space, some of these stars will only last a few million years burning hot and fast before they die in another explosion or just collapse down.  Some of the really large stars can form black holes bringing a “hole” new dynamic to the region.  I have a brother that was once considered a black hole, but I digress.  Eventually the universe itself will run out of dust to make into new stars and planets.  Alas, we don’t know what will happen then, but I’m not overly concerned as my atoms will have been scattered to the galaxy hopefully to start some new star.  I always dreamed of becoming a star, and it just might come true.

Ex astris, scientia