Carl Sagan died eleven years ago today. His enthusiasm for the universe and everything in it was contagious and he is responsible for the sense of awe I and many, many others feel when we look up at the stars at night.

Our brains are not capable of comprehending the true vastness of space but Carl managed to help us expand our comprehension to the point of vertigo and, with it, and closer understanding of our true standing within the universe.

My thoughts are with his family and I, like many others, wish he was still here.

The 4th to last star is the reddish one in Orion’s shoulder. If you were to fly in a fast 747 around the earth without stopping it would take something like 40 hours. If you were to do the same trip around the final star in this animation it would take about 1300 years.