<object width="853" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oAVjF_7ensg&hl=en_US&fs=1&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oAVjF_7ensg&hl=en_US&fs=1&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="853" height="505"></embed></object> Pretty fascinating video.
Because of universal expansion, at some point in the future, if humans are still around, they'll look into the sky and won't be able to see any stars because they'll all be too far away to see with the naked eye.
A thread about a technological marvel expanding the realm of science that's working only because we have a manned space flight program? Go figure. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Absolutely insane! Thats an innumerable amount of stars and plantes out there we will never know about
I'm not sure that is the case as the Universe isn't expanding evenly, where everything is flying away uniformly. Our galaxy will continue to be held together by gravity and won't just fly apart and since practically everything we can see with the naked eye is in our galaxy we should still be seeing stars indefinately.
I've always been amazed by the ultra deep field, precisely because, as the video notes, it provides, in as clear and straightforward a manner as possible, context. How big the universe is, how many galaxies and stars and planets there must be, and how inconceivable it sounds, in light of that, to suggest there isn't life out there, much less intelligent life. Think about it, there could be life out there many ratios more intelligent than we are as humans, and even if that life was obsessed with exploring the universe, it should still be highly unlikely they would have "found us" already, or in the near future, simply because of the sheer numbers. Consider, the observable universe contains about 3 to 7 × 10^22 stars (30 to 70 sextillion stars) organized in more than 80 billion galaxies. To put it into a little context of my own. Assuming those numbers are close to accurate (we don't really know for sure), and assume there are +/- 7 billion people on earth. If we had some kind of advanced technology whereby every person could check 1 star a day and report on it, gather data, whatever, it would take 4 billion years to check all the stars out there.
What a waste of space if we're the only ones.... (but I DO think we have company...they just don't know what time we have dinner around here )
i'm not saying there's not some other article out there that contradicts what Cannonball said (or that in 20 years science won't have a completely different idea), but i've definitely read the same thing in a few articles. all of space is expanding and at some point that will cause us to be all alone with no stars to look at. and even at some point, space will stretch enough to rip atoms apart. somewhere in between, karl malone will be ripped apart, and we will all celebrate.
Another great link about how large this universe is http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=47378
People who believe we're alone in the universe are total idiots. I'll stand by that statement until the day I die.
Typical wasteful NASA - they spend billions to put that thing up there then point it at nothing... brilliant.
Low Earth Orbit, Hubble is an example of unmanned space research. You are not making a point about going to the Moon or Mars or the future of space research.
I remember there was a picture posted on Clutchfans showing how truly insignificant our sun is in comparison to other stars in the universe. Anybody else remember it? I can't find it anywhere. I remember it was a lot of big pictures.
