Want to feel insignificant

[WendyZXZ]

Looks wonderful to me. My husband is a long time amateur astronomer and stargazer and got me into just the fun of it. It is amazing what you can see and photograph with just simple binoculars and then to move up to nice telescopes. We have and still do make some of the star parties that the Central Texas Astronomical Society hosts at various parts locally!

 

[Larryburford]

Cool picture.

 

[JiminMaine]

I understand what you are saying. Mistakes out there can easily become terminal. Still, proper preparation eliminates some of the danger. Not, like walking through the Cherry Hill neighborhood of Baltimore at night. Heavily armed my not even get you out of there.
Saw another image that showed a galaxy that was a billion light years from Earth. Light travels at 670,616,629.3844 mph. If anyone wants to do the math it is that number x 24 x 365 for ONE light year. Multiply by 1 billion and it will tell you how far away that one galaxy is located.

Te light from that galaxy left there a billion years ago. It may not even exist anymore.

 

[Fox Mike]

Te light from that galaxy left there a billion years ago. I may not even exist anymore.

Light years are not time but rather distance. A billion light years means what ever it was, was a very, very, very,. long way out there. True, it may not even be there now. The light we see left there a billion LIGHT YEARS ago.

 

[GunnyGene]

Light years are not time but rather distance. A billion light years means what ever it was, was a very, very, very,. long way out there. True, it may not even be there now. The light we see left there a billion LIGHT YEARS ago.

It also makes navigating your starship somewhat complicated. Especially when you figure in things like gravity wells between here and there, and assorted other stuff that you have to dodge at warp speed.

 

[freakindawgen]

I've never was over amazed at the size and content of space. The more I read about it, the more interesting it got. This is supposed to be how we travel thru space. Space, the mindset I got that it's infinite. No! It's still expanding! This blows me away. Ok space what everything is in. What is it expanding into??? I can't make sense of it! Hypothetically, say the Star Trek Enterprise is zipping along at Warp.9 and suddenly >BONK< oops! Turn around that's the end of space!

 

[Fox Mike]

I've never was over amazed at the size and content of space. The more I read about it, the more interesting it got. This is supposed to be how we travel thru space. Space, the mindset I got that it's infinite. No! It's still expanding! This blows me away. Ok space what everything is in. What is it expanding into??? I can't make sense of it! Hypothetically, say the Star Trek Enterprise is zipping along at Warp.9 and suddenly >BONK< oops! Turn around that's the end of space

The Milky Way galaxy is 100,000 light years across so, even at Warp 9, it would take the Star Trek crew 11111.11 years to travel the galaxy.

 

[GunnyGene]

I've never was over amazed at the size and content of space. The more I read about it, the more interesting it got. This is supposed to be how we travel thru space. Space, the mindset I got that it's infinite. No! It's still expanding! This blows me away. Ok space what everything is in. What is it expanding into??? I can't make sense of it! Hypothetically, say the Star Trek Enterprise is zipping along at Warp.9 and suddenly >BONK< oops! Turn around that's the end of space!
View attachment 53462

Try to wrap your head around this:
The Universe we perceive ( SpaceTime) is what we call Reality. That meaning we can measure it, smell it, see it, feel it, etc. with our senses, and our technology.

Here's the kicker: "In the absence of Reality, Probability rules." Probabilities do not exist. They say more about the state of our knowledge than the state of nature, on a infinite scale of 0 to 1. A Probability = 0 signifies an impossibility. When a Probability = 1, it is no longer a Probability but is a Reality.

When we flip a coin, we say that there is a 50/50 chance of it coming up heads or tails ( actually slightly less than that since it is possible to land on edge). So which ever side comes up is instantly Reality, and all other Probabilities associated with that flip instantly become zero. We can make many iterations of that coin flip, but each flip is unique in terms of probability.

So in your example space/time is not expanding into anything. It is merely transitioning from a Probability to a Reality that we are able to perceive.

 

[GunnyGene]

The Milky Way galaxy is 100,000 light years across so, even at Warp 9, it would take the Star Trek crew 11111.11 years to travel the galaxy.

Ship years or Earth years? There is a difference.

 

[freakindawgen]

The Milky Way galaxy is 100,000 light years across so, even at Warp 9, it would take the Star Trek crew 11111.11 years to travel the galaxy.

How fast is Warp 9?

 

[Fox Mike]

Ship years or Earth years? There is a difference.

Last time I checked the Enterprise was operating on a 365 day year; so ship and Earth are the same. Ask Data, he would know.

 

[Fox Mike]

How fast is Warp 9?

the speed of light is 671 million miles per hour. WARP 9 is 9x the speed of light. You do the math.

 

[GunnyGene]

Last time I checked the Enterprise was operating on a 365 day year; so ship and Earth are the same. Ask Data, he would know.

Time dilation:

5.4: Time Dilation

Time dilation is the lengthening of the time interval between two events when seen in a moving inertial frame rather than the rest frame of the events (in which the events occur at the same location).…

phys.libretexts.org