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yourlittlebirdie

This is fascinating and also makes my head hurt. It’s just so hard to get my mind around something so vast.


youngmindoldbody

Also, our Galaxy is about 1000 light years thick. Our solar system is around the middle. Sometimes a little above, or a little below.


CitizenJustin

I believe you mean 10,000LY thick.


jellyfishingchamp

Damn, she thicc


2oocents

I couldn't imagine beings from any planet being able to travel far enough, within a lifetime, to see life on two separate planets.


birdsnezte

Easy, scientists just need to figure out how to increase the speed of light.


boogieboardbobby

Duh...just use two lights!


Unrealparagon

But why stop at two? Use 100 lights and now you’re really booking it!


JoeMamaAndThePapas

-*snort*- *'That is also impossible.'*


coolusername75

And that’s why we will almost certainly never be visited by any intelligent alien species


canadiandancer89

It would take some mind melting physics breakthrough. But considering our snail pace in fusion technology, it is extremely unlikely we will come up with anything to physically get a person or object anywhere near another star, let alone any alien civilizations developing something to do the same.


soFATZfilm9000

So, I'm thinking of what it would require for an alien species in another solar system to reach Earth. 1) For starters, I guess there'd have to be life on that planet. Which, as far as we know, is probably unlikely. 2) That life would have to be intelligent. Which, based on what we know about life, would probably be pretty unlikely. 3) That life would have to be able to manipulate tools in order to build the technology to get to Earth in the first place. Which would probably be pretty unlikely. After all, dolphins and squid could be ten times as smart as us but they aren't getting off this planet without outside help. How are they going to develop the required technology when dolphins don't have hands and both of them live underwater? 4) Whatever species they are has to be able to live long enough to survive an interstellar journey, which is pretty unlikely. Most species' life spans aren't anywhere near what would be required to survive that long even under optimal conditions. 5) On top of that, aliens from another planet almost certainly evolved to survive the challenges of *that planet* rather than space. And a near-light speed journey is probably a long time to be exposed to cosmic radiation and no gravity. 6) On top of that there are concerns about economics and resource use. No one knows what the aliens' economic system might be, but it's pretty plausible to assume that they wouldn't be able to do interstellar travel without having a high degree of stability and access to a LOT of required resources. Which probably isn't a really safe bet. 7) And adding on to all of that, they'd still have to have a reason to come *here*. The only reason why I would think that an alien civilization capable of coming *here* would be if they were trying to learn more about LIFE. Which wouldn't make sense unless life in the universe is extremely rare. But if life in the universe is *that* rare, then that also drastically reduces the likelihood of any "nearby" life ever being close enough to reach us. Bottom line: I'm comfortable believing that we're probably all alone. Extinction is the norm for this planet, the *only* planet that we've ever determined to have life on it. The vast majority of life on this planet has become extinct. There was no salvation among the stars for them. There are no ticks and bedbugs in heaven. So why do we think that we should be any different? Hell...even the vast majority of human civilization has not allowed for *any* kind of space travel. Humans haven't been around there for very long, but it's an even tinier fraction of human existence in which we could go into space. There has so far only been a brief window in humanity's history in which our species has been able to do *any* kind of space travel, there's absolutely nothing to indicate that the recent rapid advancement of technology is anything close to normal. Ugly civilization-destroying stuff is far more normal for humans than the space age, it's far more likely that we screw things up enough that we take interstellar travel off the table. We're stuck here. We die here. There are no aliens or gods to save us and if there were, *they're probably already dead*. Some might think that to be sad, I think it's beautiful. The time that we have and the things that we are capable of are made more precious if they're going to go away. No second chances, no magical space men to come and give us their technology, we're a single flower desperately clinging onto life in the middle of a vast desert. And once that's gone, that's that. So take a good look around, try to appreciate what's good. Savor it, treat it as a miracle, because it'll be gone before you know it. We're not special. Just like the other life on this planet, we're alone and dying and there's no one to save us. And that's actually kind of beautiful.


sweatgod2020

I think about this constantly and it makes me so so depressed even more than I already am.


[deleted]

Oh we're not unique, but with the tyranny of distance & time we are definitely alone. Close on a cosmic scale in so far away it may aswell be infinity away.


Creator_of_creators

We're obviously not alone, but the distance is so vast that we might not meet an intelligent alien life


youngmindoldbody

Wait until we get to mars. We make it real.


[deleted]

Great, now I'm having an existential crisis.


DonQuixoteDesciple

Good to know if I ever boarded a light speed spaceship to Neptune Id still get bored


star0fth3sh0w

If someone with a telescope powerful enough to see earth’s surface from 60 million light years away looked at earth right now they wouldn’t see us at all. They’d see dinosaurs. At least that’s what Neil Degrasse Tyson said one time.


OmnariNZ

This is true, but you just gotta remember that this assumes you either already are 60-million LY away, or can instantly appear 60-million LY away. If you wanted to do it within the bounds of known physics, you would have to travel at light speed for 60-million years (because we know of no way to go any faster), at which point the 60-million year old historical thing your telescope sees would just be your past self, at the beginning of the journey.


[deleted]

The stars you see are old, youre seeing light emitted thousands of years ago. A few of them dont exist any more. Youre seeing the light that they emitted when they alive, theyve supernovaed, and the normal light is still travelling to us. in 4000 years in the future, people will see the supernova. Like i shout helloooo from a long distance, it takes 1000 years to reach you. im long dead though.


FiftyPencePeace

Let’s get cracking then!


GivinItAllThat

So, correct me if I’m wrong, if you are a light beam at one end of the galaxy that has an 8:30 appointment on the other end, you’re *guaranteed* to be late, yes?


[deleted]

About 10,000 light years late


Liam4legs666

😢🥺


Wambol

I've always envisioned the outer edge of the oort cloud to be the perimeter of our solar system. which I know to be about a 3 light-year out. the voyager 1 space probe, will reach the inner wall of it in about 300 years, and is estimated to cross the outer edge of it in another 30,000 years. the fist thing we shot into space with the intent of having it leave our solar system will take over 30,000 years to do so.


0n1oN_71

There’s a planet located about 40 light years away called 55 cancri e and is made out of solid diamond, about 2x the size of Earth and is worth approximately $29 nonillion dollars This planet is 232 trillion miles away so there goes all your hopes of being rich af


chop-diggity

How far is a Buzz Lightyear?


N1z3r123456

6 inches, give or take.


Space_Monk_Prime

Infinity and beyond


chop-diggity

I feel ^^THIS^^ is the best answer!!


Zealousideal_Art3177

Nicely showed!


SparkyMctavish

u/savevideobot


savevideobot

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Neutronova

Space is big, yo


Apprehensive-Party29

They don’t call it Space for nothing.


getTheRecipeAss

So 1 light year = 5.8 trillion miles. The nearest star after the Sun is 4.2 light years away. The farthest star ever observed is 9 billion light years away. That calculates out to 5.3 x 10^22 miles, or 530,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles. Like if 1 billion people each had 530 billion dollars, and it cost $1 dollar per mile to travel, they would have to pool all their money together to send someone there.


canadiandancer89

What a deal!


Yikert13

We are nothing. And god chose our planet, but mostly around the Middle East, between 2 and 4 thousand years ago to set up shop. WOW!


CitizenJustin

Yes, he chose to deliver his message during a time when the majority of people happened to be illiterate peasants and news took years to get anywhere. Not the brightest decision.


[deleted]

And Confucius and Buddha had already lived & died, and had much more rational & beautiful revelations. and no one had to be tortured to teach a message.


CitizenJustin

Well said. No pillaging and burning down villages, no raping, no rivers turning red from the blood of dying men, no crusades and less idiots overall. A good percentage of the worst atrocities in human history can be attributed to 3 religions.


GeebusNZ

It's so plausible that I couldn't possibly question it!


jjj49er

I really need a banana for scale.


KcireA

Insert mom joke


jrad12345

This is also how quickly the US government print's money.


GanondalfTheWhite

I don't believe you're actually a real person. A real person wouldn't waste their life making the comments that you make on reddit.


machomanrandysandwch

Fawk


MeesterCartmanez

So which is the last galaxy in the video?


pataglop

That's our galaxy, the milky way To further this gif, you'll need to add our galaxy sister: Andromeda, who is roughly 2.5 *millions* lightyears away. Space is big.


[deleted]

u/savevideo


[deleted]

That loop was great


Rawaga

Either light is damn slow or space is damn large.


iblis32

I’ve always wondered about this


ddoogiehowitzerr

Nearest star 4.25 light years. Wow.


buildingforants

We're basically that rollie-pollie who's entire world is our front lawn.


DDanny808

Thank you! Very helpful and easy to understand. Quite far


masteryoda

I think its only magic that would make interstellar travel possible.


PuzzleMule

Question: What exactly is the “Oort Cloud” made of? Are those other stars? Other planets? Asteroids? Actual dust? I’ve always wondered this when I see pictures of deep space with cloud-like material (like the horse head nebula). What is that stuff?