Grayfox
US Veteran
I'd really hate to think that we are the most intelligent life in the universe.
I think aliens view Earth as sort of the Detroit of the galaxy. Eveybody knows where we are, but none of them want to come here.
I decided to come back to this thread and offer up what I truly believe as this is my ultimate favorite topic. I apologize for the length of this post so please humor me!
As stated above in my first post, my family and I enjoy using our 12" reflector (a beast to lug around) and our 4" refractor telescopes to view the heavens above. For those that have never taken a peek through a good telescope at a deep space target, I will tell you right up front that what you see might be disappointing after looking at photos taken with long exposure times. In most instances, what you see will be relatively small and colorless because our eyes and brain aren't quick enough to see the color. The picture below is of the Andromeda Galaxy which, at 1.2 million light years, is the closest to our Milky Way Galaxy. This galaxy can actually be seen with the naked eye or binoculars on a good night with a stable atmosphere. The "light" or what you are actually seeing actually left the galaxy traveling at the speed of light (186 thousand miles per second) and it has taken 1.2 million years to reach us here on earth. Taking into account the laws of physics, the viewer is actually seeing the past or looking back at what the galaxy looked like 1.2 million years ago. The "actual view" may be quite different now if you were actually in close proximity to the galaxy, (let's say 1 light year away). If a being is living at the opposite side of the Andromeda galaxy and is staring back at us through whatever it is they use to do so, our galaxy will look entirely different to them than what it looks like to those of us that call it home. To me, that's almost more than my miniscule human brain can fathom.
Now, only a tiny number of galaxies are visible to us here on earth but a supercomputer simulation recently said that there could be as many as 500 billion galaxies in our universe with each having hundreds of billions of stars. So, if you want to do the math, you will plainly see that there are actually countless possibilities that some type of life exists out there somewhere. Actually, the mathematical and scientific odds are much greater that there is than isn't.
Do I believe that beings from another world have visited this speck in time that we call home? Truthfully, without physical proof, I don't have a clue. I do however believe its a completely possible concept because good people do see things now and then beyond the realm of human thinking. I believe that there is a strong possibility that others may have been here in the past and that at times, continue to "pass by". Its not a stretch of the imagination when one considers the vastness of the universe to believe that there are beings out there much older than the human race that have learned to cross vast distances using black holes, transformation theories, time travel or any other sci-fi method of traveling - things we humans are only now starting to understand.
No, I don't claim to be an expert at anything but I do "look up", read and imagine alot while I try to make a little sense to myself as to what could, can, or does go on "out there". One being that always pops into my thoughts of the universe and REALLY makes me wonder is God. Try to figure that one out - what kind of being must God really be if He can create the vastness and objects we can only glimpse in the night sky? We, the human race that seemingly can't do anything right, have no clue what's really out there. We have no idea what God's total package entails and we never will as long as we're constrained by our miniscule human minds.
I'll close by saying that anyone that seeks answers need only look up and let your imagination take it from there!
By the way, some of the closed minded statements made above simply amaze me. If we are indeed the highest form of life in the vast universe, the Creator made a REALLY BIG MISTAKE! I'll stop there!
Yeah, if you believed that could happen, you'd believe that sixteenth and seventeenth century Englishmen would keep abducting Indians from the east coast of North America...Well I sure don't believe that any species capable of making a vessel sophisticated enough to make it to our planet would keep abducting Bubba from the trailer park to do some probing.
Yeah, if you believed that could happen, you'd believe that sixteenth and seventeenth century Englishmen would keep abducting Indians from the east coast of North America...
I thought the Adnormeda galaxy was on a collision course with ours, rather than moving away from ours. Anybody got any firm information?
Delos ~ Sorry but you sort of lost me my friend. What do you mean when you say Andromeda "is no longer there"? Do you mean its no longer in the position in our sky that it appears to be? Truly it is moving away from the center of the universe or the point from where the "big bang" originated but, wouldn't you agree we are also moving away from that same point? If you believe in the big bang theory, we all started out from the same point of energy located within an infinite darkness. Taking that bang one step further and after the Good Lord said "let there be light" (the big bang), if Andromeda (and all the other galaxies) are "no longer there" or where we actually see them, then we are no longer here or where they currently see us from their prospective - correct? We are of course still here but I agree that we aren't in the same position they see us "now" as compared to where we all started from.
I agree that to reach the Andromeda galaxy (or any galaxy) you would have to move in the direction of where it would be if and when you arrived otherwise it wouldn't be there when you got there. That's why I believe if there is intelligent life out there that can travel these mind boggling distances, they do it in some way that allows them to transcend time and not take "direct flight routes". To be able to even think about flying there, a vehicle would have to travel much faster than the speed of light to make any progress. Otherwise, they would literally be suspended in current time - once the speed of light were reached, I believe you would stay at that point in time until you began to travel faster than light. It would only be at that point when you would actually begin to move backwards in time or forward towards the target.
Believe me, I'm not arguing with you but it is a thought provoking topic to ponder and discuss. I firmly believe that the human mind will never develope to the point of being able to understand how to travel such distances whether it be in direct flight or popping into a black hole and coming out the other end in a different dimension and time. Hopefully, we'll get to see what really goes on when we close our eyes for the last time and the Good Lord reveals it to us. In the meantime, its great to imagine, eh?!