I Know It Impossible For Humans Seein As How Far Away It Is But Just Hypothetically What Would Happen If Humans Ina Space Ship Try To Leave Our Galaxy An Go Too A Different Galaxy? If We Could Get To The Edge An Leave What Would Happen? ~Toni~
As far as most science can discern we live in a group of galaxies called the "local group" a massive collection (although relatively small in space terms) of galaxies and planets that have enough mass to counteract the constant expansion of the universe. (Just our galaxy, the milky way, has over 3,200 discovered stars, many with multiple planets like our sun) (think of our reality or universe as a balloon getting bigger, and all the galaxies and other sources of mass also spreading farther apart.) "Local groups" are clusters of galaxies that have enough mass that they stay the same place relative to each other as gravity tries to pull them together and the universe tries to pull them apart. Every "local group" is basically that on a huge scale, a "neighborhood" that sticks together while other "neighborhoods" fly around it through space, typically in a manner that they keep getting farther and farther away as the universe (the balloon we live inside) grows larger. Its scary to think about, until you realize just how large our "neighborhood" is. The problem is current science suggests that we may never be able to leave our local group without figuring out a way to achieve faster than light travel, as the rest of the universe is running away from us too fast to catch or even reach "the edge" Also just to run from one end of our "local group" to the other, even at the speed of light, would take millions of years. However, some galaxies are moving together, current science estimates that in about 4 billion years the Andromeda galaxy will pass through the milky way causing all kinds of craziness when they collide. The wife and I are supporters and donors of this youtube channel " kurzgesagt" or "in a nutshell" it does a great job of breaking down esoteric science like this into 10 min videos way better than what I've posted here. Slow day at work, was fun to take a break at lunch and think about the sheer scale of the universe we live in.
Just saw this doc/ the other day, great too, it does wander tho, our neighbor is a few light years off, with many silly facts to keep you going at the next cocktail party ...lol Spoiler Before rushing of to screw other worlds, why not fix the one we call home first?
I Mean I Wonder What Would Happen If We Did Go Outta Our Local Group An See Other Strange Life We Cant Even Imagine Ina Very Different Planets Or Someting. Yea I Agree Bout Fixin Earth Is The Most Important But I Dream About Goin Places In Space That Nobody Ever Seen Before. ~Toni~
Man the universe it incomprehensibly huge. I hope somewhere there is an epic intergalactic drama happening that we will never know because it is too far away to ever noticeably impact us
In 4 billion years we will be long gone. Our sun will go nova. And I'm hoping by then we would have sent up a probe like they did in Star Trek TNG episode titled The Inner Light. Yeah, I know about the Voyager probe but that was scientific and unfeeling. Maybe one day we will have the technology to have some kind of video recording or hologram that tells the story of us. It's quite depressing knowing one day we will wink out of existence without any other intelligent life knowing about us.
Unless We Can Get Our Stuff Together By Then An Find Another Planet To Live On Or Maybe Humans Will Have To Live Ina Space Structure Some Where. Who Knows What Will Happen That Far Away. ~Toni~
We could be parked next to a galaxy teeming with life and neither us or them would ever learn of the others existence. Humans are so f#©£ing vain we believe we could communicate with them. Ask a scientist how to explain basic math to a dung beetle. We are only familiar with carbon based life. Hell, science can't even tell you definitively how lightning and turbulence work. Yet we believe we could coexist with a lifeform of unknown type or disposition. I, however, would love to watch that magic happen.
If we even make it that long... This paper may be of interest; "Even if we became carbon neutral by 2030, atmospheric carbon dioxide will still pass 500ppm and oceanic pH will drop below pH7.95 and most life in the world’s oceans will be dead by 2050." "...it is our view that humanity will not survive the extinction of most marine plants and animals (known as marine plankton). One simple fact seems to get ignored - marine plankton form the root of our food chain and are the basis of the life support mechanism for the planet, but they have, to all intents and purposes, been completely ignored in the conversations to address climate mitigation."
Oh Ok I Understand Gxxire. It Isa Serious Problem. Lets Plz Not Derail My Thread Tho My Friend. ~Toni~
I see I'm not the only astronomy nut on this board. If you really want to know how insignificant we are, go to youtube and look up, "Pale Blue Dot" by Carl Sagan. You will see our insignificance! Believe me! After seeing that, I felt microscopic sized!
We, as humans, can not remotely grasp the distance from one end of our own galaxy to the other. 13 billion sounds understandable because we can grasp the idea of that number. 13 billion light years is humanly unfathomable. If you think deeply enough about infinity there's a real possibility you'll go mad. That's what is so amazing about our universe.
That is very true, Sis! Our planet and it's environment shape and mold us to adapt to it. That's why we look the way we do. Just gravity made us this this height. If we had lower gravity we would be taller and not as strong as we are now. We would continue to grow.
We show that at Wells planetarium sometimes (wife and I have been donors for a few years) Welcome to the John C. Wells Planetarium What kind of stoner would I be if I had the means to support free public laser displays and didn't? While Sagan had one of my favorite quotes of all time "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" My true love of science was inspired at an early age by Bill S Preston esquire's reading of Socrates.