The Hubble Ultra-Deep Field.

The Hubble Ultra-Deep Field.

This image holds an incredible amount of meaning for me.

This may seem silly or cliché, maybe even a little trite, but it's true. The Hubble Ultra-Deep Field has changed my life. How you ask? Well that all starts with how it was taken.

This image was created using the most powerful telescope ever manufactured, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Many consider this piece of technology to be one of the most important technological achievements in human history. This image may allow you to fully understand their reasoning. On September 24th 2003 the Hubble Space Telescope began a survey of a seemingly blank spot in the sky, where there appeared to be nothing at all. This survey lasted until January 16th of the following year. After over 4 months of accumulated data this is the image that resulted. The image above is a composite image of the amount of galaxies that appear in nothing. Every single dot, smudge and smear is an individual galaxy. Each one of these dots has millions and millions of stars. Each star has the possibility of planets orbiting it. Each one with the possibility of a civilization.

This is what we see when we stare at a blank spot in the sky where nothing appears to be. This is the number of galaxies in nothing. This is a picture of 47 billion light years. It's a picture of how small we are. It is the single most important image ever taken by humanity.

However it doesn't stop there.

This image inspired me. The first time I really used it was in 2010. I was still in High School and still a little afraid of what people might say if I they knew my true passions, my true intentions. I had experienced what happens when you try to express interest in something that was not the mainstream or the conventional. I knew that no one would see me and think I was just over enthusiastic. They would all assume I was a know-it-all,  that I wasn't interesting or worthwhile to talk to because my interests were of the academic nature.

 Smart shaming. 

To be smart, especially for a small attractive female, unfortunately comes with its own stigma in our "modern day society".

Beyond this. When I stumbled across this image, I was again, inspired. So I took a leap of faith. I did what every 17 year old girl with nothing to lose would do. I posted it on my Facebook.

The response was lack luster at best. But that wasn't the point. I didn't care that I didn't get 30 likes and 10 shares on this post (instead I got 1 like and 0 shares...). That wasn't the point. The point was that posting this image and sharing my interests publicly, and not just to close friends, felt liberating. I finally gave zero shits. This allowed me to build more confidence then I had ever seen in myself before. It allowed me to excel in the area that I am best at. Educating others. This image inspired me to inspire.

Again, it doesn't stop there.

More recently in the summer of 2014, I was given an incredible opportunity. At this point I had graduated High School, was working on my AS-Transfer Degree at a local community college, and working Part-time at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle as a Performance Educator. I was leading live immersive planetarium shows to the general public daily. I was loving my job, but feeling as if my wheels were spinning and I wasn't gaining any traction. It was then that I got unbelievable news. My supervisor was resigning.

Now no, I know what you’re thinking. I wasn't going to apply for her job. I would have never gotten it! I was still working on a degree and at this point had absolutely no formal education in either astronomy or teaching. So that wasn't what the opportunity was. Her leaving is what allowed the actual opportunity to present itself. Someone needed to develop the next NASA funded show we presented in the Planetarium, and they wanted me to be a co-developer. 20 years old, working towards a career in informal education, no college degree, and already developing content for one of the better respected planetariums in the country?! I think yes. So I did it. Alongside my co-author and developer, we created a show that we are both really proud of, a show that will continue to be presented for at least once a day for the general public through the next fiscal year.

So where does the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field fit into all of this.

Well as I said. This image inspired me to inspire others. So I put it in the show. Our show, "The Outer Limits: Pluto and beyond" is a forty minute, interactive exploration of our solar systems and the boundaries of space that lay beyond it.

It was, in my opinion, the perfect tribute to an epic image. 
An image that I hope continues to inspire others to inspire.

Specifically every day, at the Willard Smith Planetarium around 2:30 pm.

:)