Perhaps this little sphere has fallen out of some distant orbit and plopped into the ocean
where it washed ashore with the tide, picking up a few hitchhikers along the way.
Insignificant from a block away, it becomes a fascinating object to scavengers on the beach.
If the sun had eyes would it ever be able to see the little planet that we live on from so far away?
Earth would be such a tiny thing that it wouldn't even look like a speck of dust among the billions of stars in our galaxy.
Yet the sun provides us with life as we know it - everything depends on its energy and heat.
Is it any wonder that the early humans worshipped our very own star?
Did the sun notice or feel the gratitude?
Our astronauts came back from space with the unique vision and understanding that the earth is like a large spacecraft,
orbiting the sun, and that care needed to be taken to sustain the supply of air and water necessary for survival.
The atmosphere is, after all, our spacesuit!
Points of reference:
The little planet in the first photo was about the size of a golf ball.
The average distance between the sun and the earth is 92,935,700 miles, also known as one astronomical unit.
Light travels that distance in 8 1/2 minutes.