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Earth. A quaint little planet that we humans (And Senri) are forced to call home. Not that being forced to live here is all bad, generally speaking. In all reality, it's unlikely we could live anywhere else but this planet.
This planet, third from its parent star, lies comfortably in the goldilocks zone. A little closer, and it would burn. A little further away, and it would freeze. Venus, often referred to as Earths sister planet due to its relative closeness to our own size and mass, resides on the very inner edge of this zone. So close that the planet, which may have at one time been somewhat like earth, is now uninhabitable to the point where even today we would struggle to land craft there to even begin exploring it's surface due to the overall conditions which include heat (average surface temperature of over 850 degrees Fahrenheit) and pressure (around 90 atmospheres). There is also the non stop acid rain to consider.
Now, there is also Mars. Depending on who you ask (theories vary widely) Mars either resides towards the outer edge of the zone, or just on the far side. While the temperatures aren't super extreme (readings over the years have varied widely, with a mean of -55 Fahrenheit), minimal atmosphere (.6 atmosphere actually, we couldn't even begin to breathe it) means that our lives there would be tragically short. There is also a magnetic field on mars that is very unlike out own, and prevents very little solar radiation from reaching the surface. So while there may have been life on this world at one point, and current research says it probably did have massive oceans and seas, it is now a barren and dead world incapable of supporting life.
But Earth, Earth managed to hit the sweet spot. Not to hot, not to cold. A magnetic field that could keep deadly solar radiation from cooking the surface. The very building blocks of life itself are abundant here. Carbon, Oxygen, and Hydrogen are all found on this world, and form the very building blocks of life as we know it. Without these, we simply would not exist. In the end, Earth really is the culmination of a series of fortunate events that allowed us to exist. Perfect time, place, and materials. As for now, we seem to be a truly unique world in the cosmos. For now, however, is a short period of time.
Our star is but one of several hundred billion that reside within the Milky Way galaxy. Where in it are we located? Well....
Our solar system resides on the inner portion of the Orion arm of the galaxy, approximately 26000 light years from the galactic center, give or take a few hundred. It is interesting to note that our placement in the galaxy itself has also been a lucky break for us, as if we had been placed in the center of an arm, or worse yet to close to the galactic center, our understanding of the universe itself would actually be hindered by the blocking of the view caused by stars, dust, and gas. As noted in this picture, there is a large portion of our own galaxy (and as such, the universe) that we actually cannot see because the view is for the most part blocked. However, we can still see enough to know where we are in the grand scheme of thing for more or less.
Anyways, as I was saying. Hundreds of Billions of stars in the Milky Way. Now, how many of those stars are accompanied by planets? Well, recent discoveries by telescopes like Keplar, Spitzer, and what I am sure will be countless more discovering by the newly launched TESS satellite have shown that instead of planets being a rare thing around stars but instead are quite common. While estimates very greatly, it's commonly assumed that approximately half the stars in the galaxy may have at least one single planet to its name. Quite a few have already been discovered to have several planets, with one system in particular having three planets about the size of Earth within it's own Goldilocks zone. (The system is called TRAPPIST-1 if you are interested). What this all means in the end, is that while Earth is currently unique in having life, we are far from the only solar system to have planets in our galaxy. And our galaxy is but one in the local cluster.
Welcome to the Virgo Cluster! A collection of 1300 galaxies that reside within close proximity to each other. No, that's not a typo. 1300 individual, unique galaxies make up this single cluster of galaxies. (An interesting thing to note, other galaxies weren't even known about until the early 20th century. Edwin Hubble was the first to see that Andromeda wasn't a nebulae, but it's own separate galaxy. We've come a long way since then, eh?) While their sizes, shapes, and densities all vary we can estimate how many stars reside here (A number which, hilariously, I had bookmarked and now lost. Whoops). Regardless, with 1300 galaxies in just this cluster alone, with each galaxy containing anywhere from 250 million to several hundred billion stars, that's a whole lot of planets. And any number of them could have life, sometimes less evolved than us, sometimes more. Feeling less then unique yet? Oh just wait, it gets worse.
Welcome to the current map of the Laniakea Supercluster! 540 million might years across, 100,000 galaxies strong, and more stars and planets than Humanity will ever count. Defined in 2014 due to gravitational forces involved, this massive section of the universe is home. Sadly, this supercluster over the course of time is going to eventually be torn about by dark matter long after our sad little star has burned out and died. But guess what, that's not the end of this lesson of universal proportions! Oh no...
We happen to live right next to another Supercluster, known as Perseus-Pisces. Equal in size, number of galaxies, and stretching the imagination of humans. But ya know what? We ain't done yet. Sorry....
Welcome to the best map ever created of the universe, including what we can and cannot observe. 100 million superclusters, each containing 100,000 galaxies, each containing billions of stars, each of which may have planets and moons with life, spanning a total of 91 billion light years. Our own supercluster is so small in this map, we coulnd't even accurately point it out. And it's still growing, becoming every larger while creating new galaxies, stars, and planets.
So to recap... We live on one planet in a system of 8 worlds. Around one star in a galaxy of 100 billion. In one galaxy in a supersluster of 100,000. A single supercluster, out of 100 million that we can observe in the universe. In the grand scale of things, we aren't unique. We aren't special. We ain't shit. But ya know what? None of that matters. Because you're a great bunch of guys (And... whatever the hell Senri is) that I love bantering with, so here's to you SBBC crew.
Get your drink on, get your smoke on, and keep the besmirchment to the maximum allowed by the rules.
Now, there is also Mars. Depending on who you ask (theories vary widely) Mars either resides towards the outer edge of the zone, or just on the far side. While the temperatures aren't super extreme (readings over the years have varied widely, with a mean of -55 Fahrenheit), minimal atmosphere (.6 atmosphere actually, we couldn't even begin to breathe it) means that our lives there would be tragically short. There is also a magnetic field on mars that is very unlike out own, and prevents very little solar radiation from reaching the surface. So while there may have been life on this world at one point, and current research says it probably did have massive oceans and seas, it is now a barren and dead world incapable of supporting life.
But Earth, Earth managed to hit the sweet spot. Not to hot, not to cold. A magnetic field that could keep deadly solar radiation from cooking the surface. The very building blocks of life itself are abundant here. Carbon, Oxygen, and Hydrogen are all found on this world, and form the very building blocks of life as we know it. Without these, we simply would not exist. In the end, Earth really is the culmination of a series of fortunate events that allowed us to exist. Perfect time, place, and materials. As for now, we seem to be a truly unique world in the cosmos. For now, however, is a short period of time.
Our star is but one of several hundred billion that reside within the Milky Way galaxy. Where in it are we located? Well....
Our solar system resides on the inner portion of the Orion arm of the galaxy, approximately 26000 light years from the galactic center, give or take a few hundred. It is interesting to note that our placement in the galaxy itself has also been a lucky break for us, as if we had been placed in the center of an arm, or worse yet to close to the galactic center, our understanding of the universe itself would actually be hindered by the blocking of the view caused by stars, dust, and gas. As noted in this picture, there is a large portion of our own galaxy (and as such, the universe) that we actually cannot see because the view is for the most part blocked. However, we can still see enough to know where we are in the grand scheme of thing for more or less.
Anyways, as I was saying. Hundreds of Billions of stars in the Milky Way. Now, how many of those stars are accompanied by planets? Well, recent discoveries by telescopes like Keplar, Spitzer, and what I am sure will be countless more discovering by the newly launched TESS satellite have shown that instead of planets being a rare thing around stars but instead are quite common. While estimates very greatly, it's commonly assumed that approximately half the stars in the galaxy may have at least one single planet to its name. Quite a few have already been discovered to have several planets, with one system in particular having three planets about the size of Earth within it's own Goldilocks zone. (The system is called TRAPPIST-1 if you are interested). What this all means in the end, is that while Earth is currently unique in having life, we are far from the only solar system to have planets in our galaxy. And our galaxy is but one in the local cluster.
Welcome to the Virgo Cluster! A collection of 1300 galaxies that reside within close proximity to each other. No, that's not a typo. 1300 individual, unique galaxies make up this single cluster of galaxies. (An interesting thing to note, other galaxies weren't even known about until the early 20th century. Edwin Hubble was the first to see that Andromeda wasn't a nebulae, but it's own separate galaxy. We've come a long way since then, eh?) While their sizes, shapes, and densities all vary we can estimate how many stars reside here (A number which, hilariously, I had bookmarked and now lost. Whoops). Regardless, with 1300 galaxies in just this cluster alone, with each galaxy containing anywhere from 250 million to several hundred billion stars, that's a whole lot of planets. And any number of them could have life, sometimes less evolved than us, sometimes more. Feeling less then unique yet? Oh just wait, it gets worse.
Welcome to the current map of the Laniakea Supercluster! 540 million might years across, 100,000 galaxies strong, and more stars and planets than Humanity will ever count. Defined in 2014 due to gravitational forces involved, this massive section of the universe is home. Sadly, this supercluster over the course of time is going to eventually be torn about by dark matter long after our sad little star has burned out and died. But guess what, that's not the end of this lesson of universal proportions! Oh no...
We happen to live right next to another Supercluster, known as Perseus-Pisces. Equal in size, number of galaxies, and stretching the imagination of humans. But ya know what? We ain't done yet. Sorry....
Welcome to the best map ever created of the universe, including what we can and cannot observe. 100 million superclusters, each containing 100,000 galaxies, each containing billions of stars, each of which may have planets and moons with life, spanning a total of 91 billion light years. Our own supercluster is so small in this map, we coulnd't even accurately point it out. And it's still growing, becoming every larger while creating new galaxies, stars, and planets.
So to recap... We live on one planet in a system of 8 worlds. Around one star in a galaxy of 100 billion. In one galaxy in a supersluster of 100,000. A single supercluster, out of 100 million that we can observe in the universe. In the grand scale of things, we aren't unique. We aren't special. We ain't shit. But ya know what? None of that matters. Because you're a great bunch of guys (And... whatever the hell Senri is) that I love bantering with, so here's to you SBBC crew.
Get your drink on, get your smoke on, and keep the besmirchment to the maximum allowed by the rules.
Feel free to insult me for this, I was bored at work. Or ask for more information, I left a lot of shit out that I wanted to add to keep it small. Astronomy is a hobby of mine, and I love discussing it.
