--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My feeling is that an observer needs to…" description: "\"“My feeling is that an observer needs to see four hundred and fifty stars to get that feeling of infinitude, and be swept away…and I didn’t make that n..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/paul-bogard-41663_astronomy_my-feeling-is-that-an-observer-needs-to_521668.jpg" --- # My feeling is that an observer needs to see four hundred… ![“My feeling is that an observer needs to see four hundred and fifty stars to get that feeling of infinitude, and be swept away…and I didn’t make that number up arbitrarily, that’s the number of stars that are available once you get dimmer than third magnitude. So in the city, you see a dozen stars…” quote by Paul Bogard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/paul-bogard-41663_astronomy_my-feeling-is-that-an-observer-needs-to_521668.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/paul-bogard-41663_astronomy_my-feeling-is-that-an-observer-needs-to_521668.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/paul-bogard-41663_astronomy_my-feeling-is-that-an-observer-needs-to_521668.jpg) > ““My feeling is that an observer needs to see four hundred and fifty stars to get that feeling of infinitude, and be swept away…and I didn’t make that number up arbitrarily, that’s the number of stars that are available once you get dimmer than third magnitude. So in the city, you see a dozen stars, a handful, and it’s attractive to no one. And if there’s a hundred stars in the sky it still doesn’t do it. There’s a certain tipping point where people will look and there will be that planetarium view. And now you’re touching that ancient core, whether it’s collective memories or genetic memories, or something else form way back before we were even human…astronomer Bob Berman quoted in The End of Night”” [Paul Bogard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bogard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seeing many stars evokes a sense of vastness, connecting us to ancient, collective memory. **In simple terms:** Stars remind us of deep, shared origins. Key Takeaway Seek wonder in the night sky. Themes wonder connection memory scale Mood awe contemplative Type poetic inspirational When to use this quote - stargazing - meditation - creative inspiration - science education Key Concepts cosmology collective unconscious anthropology Questions to Reflect On - What does the night sky inspire in you? - How can we preserve dark skies? 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Exactly!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel/count-the-number-of-stars-in-the-sky-thats-how-much-i-love-you-but-it/) [Rachel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel/) > [“A handful of sand contains about 10,000 grains, more than the number of stars we can see with the naked eye on a clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/a-handful-of-sand-contains-about-10-000-grains-more-than-the-number/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“The number of external galaxies beyond the Milky Way is at least in the thousands of millions and perhaps in the hundreds of thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-number-of-external-galaxies-beyond-the-milky-way-is-at-least-in/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## More by Paul Bogard > [“I had travelled from Spain into Morocco and from there south to the Atlas Mountains, at the edge of the Sahara Desert…one night, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bogard/i-had-travelled-from-spain-into-morocco-and-from-there-south-to-the/) [Paul Bogard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bogard/) > [“Most days I live awed by the world we have still, rather than mourning the worlds we have lost. 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