In a Galaxy far, far away.!

Thread Starter

R!f@@

Joined Apr 2, 2009
9,918
I was looking at the stars while having a fag.
I was wondering, am I seeing the stars in our galaxy or not.

Can the naked eye see stars from other galaxies or not ?

Are the telescopes around the world that powerful that they can see other galaxies beyond ours?
 

alfacliff

Joined Dec 13, 2013
2,458
they just found a galaxy around 16.5 light years away, using gravitational lensing. the closest galaxy to us is andromeda, it looks like a cloud to the naked eye. kind of like the milky way looks on a dark night.
 

t06afre

Joined May 11, 2009
5,934
I was looking at the stars while having a fag.
I was wondering, am I seeing the stars in our galaxy or not.

Can the naked eye see stars from other galaxies or not ?

Are the telescopes around the world that powerful that they can see other galaxies beyond ours?
What was it in that fag again. It is seldom you have such deep thoughts:p
 

CVMichael

Joined Aug 3, 2007
419
I am pretty sure with our naked eye we see only stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy (the Milky Way) is 100,000 light years across, and I don't think we can see the stars that are at the edge of our galaxy (well, it all depends how bright the star is of course).

Stars from a galaxy near by? no way.... the closest galaxy is 2.5 million light years from us, and that is Andromeda Galaxy. We can see the entire galaxy in certain times of the year, and it looks like a star in the sky, but it's actually an entire galaxy with billions of stars...

"Are the telescopes around the world that powerful that they can see other galaxies beyond ours?" - Yes
I don't remember where I heard this: if you hold a pin in your hand extended all the way, and you point the pin towards the sky... the top of the pin covers a few thousand galaxies, each one with billions of stars...

I think Carl Sagan said: "The total number of stars in the Universe is larger than all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the planet"
 

CVMichael

Joined Aug 3, 2007
419
they just found a galaxy around 16.5 light years away, using gravitational lensing. the closest galaxy to us is andromeda, it looks like a cloud to the naked eye. kind of like the milky way looks on a dark night.
Your saying that as if the Milky Way is some other galaxy other than ours :confused:

As far as I know... we are in the Milky Way galaxy

Also, our galaxy (the Milky Way) is 100,000 light years across, so how can there be another galaxy 16.5 light years from us ? I think you got your numbers wrong...
 

Thread Starter

R!f@@

Joined Apr 2, 2009
9,918
What was it in that fag again. It is seldom you have such deep thoughts:p
I just darn knew some how you would say something. :cool:
For your info it is something I always, always think about.
The thought of Majoris is just mind boggling.

Ever wonder why the stars are there?
 

inwo

Joined Nov 7, 2013
2,419
From a favorite MP movie.:D

http://www.metrolyrics.com/galaxy-song-lyrics-monty-python.html


Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars
It's a hundred thousand light years side to side
It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick
But out by us, it's just three thousand light years wide
We're thirty thousand light years from galactic central point
We go 'round every two hundred million years
And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe
The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding
In all of the directions it can whizz
As fast as it can go, the speed of light, you know
Twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is
So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure
How amazingly unlikely is your birth
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth
 

ErnieM

Joined Apr 24, 2011
8,377
I would not be surprised if a person with exceptional eyesight could not perceive a super nova in Andromeda (ore one of the Magellanic clouds).
 

PackratKing

Joined Jul 13, 2008
847
It's Just amazing to watch them.
The link in Mr. Chips # 12, is just absolutely spectacular... Even though I try real hard on some exceptionally clear nights, I can barely wrap my head around the immense distances... and wonder if any of those random galaxies are ± 100K light years across :eek:

Gives " infinity " a clearer meaning...
 
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