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left-of-center2012

(34,195 posts)
Fri Nov 3, 2017, 05:06 PM Nov 2017

Feeling tiny, oh so tiny

"... the universe contains at least 2 trillion galaxies."

We are in the Milky Way galaxy, and our one galaxy contains between 200 and 400 billion stars, and at least 100 billion planets.

(How fortunate for us to have been born on the only planet with intelligent life)

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Feeling tiny, oh so tiny (Original Post) left-of-center2012 Nov 2017 OP
"(How fortunate for us to have been born on the only planet with intelligent life) Motley13 Nov 2017 #1
we're #1!!!! juxtaposed Nov 2017 #2
A Favorite Poem from My Childhood Glorfindel Nov 2017 #3
Pigs are very smart. angstlessk Nov 2017 #4
I've heard similar numbers before and it's really almost too much to even comprehend. Fla Dem Nov 2017 #5
The Galaxy Song csziggy Nov 2017 #6

Motley13

(3,867 posts)
1. "(How fortunate for us to have been born on the only planet with intelligent life)
Fri Nov 3, 2017, 05:08 PM
Nov 2017

"
Have you listened to the prez lately?

Glorfindel

(9,726 posts)
3. A Favorite Poem from My Childhood
Fri Nov 3, 2017, 05:20 PM
Nov 2017

Hark
While I croon a verse
In praise
Of the universe.
The universe is quite good-sized,
And is, I think, well organized,
Containing as it does, a slew
Of stars and planets. Comets too
Occasionally whiz about
And dodge and circle in and out
Among the clustered nebulae.
They scare the dickens out of me,
But I suppose they know their stuff
And are expert and quick enough
To keep from bumping or colliding
With other worlds. But I’m residing
At present on the planet, earth,
And it does not arouse my mirth
To see these reckless comets fly
Around as if they owned the sky.
It’s much too dangerous in a crowd,
And really shouldn’t be allowed.
Yet tho there’s nothing to prevent
Bad manners in the firmament,
The heavenly bodies, generally,
Are well behaved and courteously
Avoid all quarrels and disputes-
Tho when they have them, they are beauts.
As to the universe’s size,
It’s rather large than otherwise,
Containing stars and galaxies
And satellites of all degrees.
And some are dim and some are bright,
But all are lighted up at night,-
Mostly along the Milky Way-
A quite remarkable display.
Some scientific fellows hope
By peering thru a telescope
To chart the heavens and name each star
Of all the billions that there are.
More sensible I think it is
Just to sit back and let them whiz
Along on their accustomed track
Around and round the zodiac.
For since they are not bothering me
I think it’s best to let them be.
And that is all I have to say
About the universe today.

from "Freddy and the Spaceship" by Walter R. Brooks

(Freddy was a pig)

Fla Dem

(23,637 posts)
5. I've heard similar numbers before and it's really almost too much to even comprehend.
Sat Nov 4, 2017, 02:59 PM
Nov 2017

Very hard to get your head around. And of course we have no way of knowing whether there is other intelligent life in the universe.

The other thing that boggles my mind is that the universe is constantly expanding. At one time astronomers thought the universe was static. But they were wrong. I read that at some point in time if earth still exists and is still inhabited a person will look into the night sky and see nothing, no stars, because they all moved so very far away.

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