• Faraway Quasar Group Is The Largest Structure In The Universe
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[quote]Behold, the largest structure in the universe. An international team of astronomers has discovered a large quasar group (also known as an LQG) that is some 4 billion light years across. For comparison, that’s something like 1600 times farther than the distance between the Milky Way and the “nearby” Andromeda Galaxy.That’s huge. It’s also really far away. Quasars are the cores of galaxies during the early days of the universe. Periodically, these cosmological artifacts emit huge amounts of extremely bright light, which makes them visible across vast distances of space. This LQG is so far away that it looks as it did when the universe was just 770 million years old. It is hands down the brightest object we’ve ever observed out there, so bright and huge that it actually challenges one of the underpinnings of modern cosmology: the Cosmological Principle. The Cosmological Principle is the assumption that the universe, if viewed from a large enough scale, looks the same no matter where you are viewing it from. It’s one of those things that fits in with the work theorists like Einstein and others who have vastly influenced 20th- and 21-st century cosmological thinking, but that we obviously can’t observe. Cosmologists (generally speaking) just believe it, or at least recognize it. But the Cosmological Principle, when factored into the prevailing theories of cosmology, suggests that astrophysicists shouldn’t be able to find anything bigger than 370 megaparsecs (again, for scale, the distance from here to Andromeda is roughly 0.75 megaparsecs, or 2.5 million light-years). This new LQC appears to average more like 500 megaparsecs across, with its longest dimension reaching up to 1,200 megaparsecs. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Cosmological Principle is toast, but we may have to take what we think we understand about it back to the drawing board.[/quote] Source: [url]http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-01/faraway-quasar-group-new-largest-structure-universe[/url]
Still smaller than my d- fuck it that's too shameless of a joke. Really though, space is absurdly large. I'm out in the country, so when I go out at night for a smoke and it's clear out, it really gets me thinking. We're so minuscule.
[QUOTE=Exploits;39199135]Still smaller than my d- fuck it that's too shameless of a joke. Really though, space is absurdly large. I'm out in the country, so when I go out at night for a smoke and it's clear out, it really gets me thinking. We're so minuscule.[/QUOTE] Does our size make us insignificant, or does the fact that we, beings made out of stardust, can think and reason make us the most important and significant things in the universe? What are we but the universe trying to figure itself out? [editline]12th January 2013[/editline] I should probably stop PUI.
[QUOTE=SGTNAPALM;39199248]Does our size make us insignificant, or does the fact that we, beings made out of stardust, can think and reason make us the most important and significant things in the universe? What are we but the universe trying to figure itself out? [editline]12th January 2013[/editline] I should probably stop PUI.[/QUOTE] No, do it more. Pretty deep man.
I'm literally ripping off Carl Sagan so [editline]12th January 2013[/editline] Well not literally, that would be pretty creepy.
[QUOTE=SGTNAPALM;39199248]Does our size make us insignificant, or does the fact that we, beings made out of stardust, can think and reason make us the most important and significant things in the universe? What are we but the universe trying to figure itself out? [editline]12th January 2013[/editline] I should probably stop PUI.[/QUOTE] The universe = Human body Milky Way = Human mind Humans = Brain cells
[QUOTE=Forumaster;39199287]The universe = Human body Milky Way = Human mind Humans = Brain cells[/QUOTE] That would imply that the Milky Way has supreme control over the rest of the universe.
I think it's neat we've discovered so much as a species, yes, but I was mostly just referring to size in a physical manner. Even then, the things we've created and achieved as a race is either monumental or insignificant even from a historical or philosophical view-point. We don't know because, really, we have nothing else to compare to. We're the only intelligent species we know. We're an amazing circumstance.
[QUOTE=Exploits;39199302]I think it's neat we've discovered so much as a species, yes, but I was mostly just referring to size in a physical manner. Even then, the things we've created and achieved as a race is either monumental or insignificant even from a historical or philosophical view-point. We don't know because, really, we have nothing else to compare to. We're the only intelligent species we know. We're an amazing circumstance.[/QUOTE] The only reason "history" or "philosophy" has any value or significance is because sentient beings deem it so. The universe at large as we know it has no concept of value. Thus making us the most significant beings in the universe, only because we deem it so.
~just figured out what PUI means~
I'm going to close my browser now and not come back until the morning.
Yeah, and I figure it that way since we can only compare our species to dolphins and gorillas. We might one day discover an intelligent species that has far out-stripped our technology a thousand times faster, or reached totally primitive levels of society after a billion years. Who knows. We have no measure of progress except our own, and it's always in retrospect.
[QUOTE=Forumaster;39199287]The universe = Human body Milky Way = Human mind Humans = Brain cells[/QUOTE] Your scale is a bit off, just for reference: [url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Earth%27s_Location_in_the_Universe_%28JPEG%29.jpg][img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Earth%27s_Location_in_the_Universe_%28JPEG%29.jpg/1280px-Earth%27s_Location_in_the_Universe_%28JPEG%29.jpg[/img][/url]
[QUOTE=Exploits;39199135]Still smaller than my d- fuck it that's too shameless of a joke. Really though, space is absurdly large. I'm out in the country, so when I go out at night for a smoke and it's clear out, it really gets me thinking. We're so minuscule.[/QUOTE] we aren't just minuscule. We're a crushed grain of sand being compared to 500000 alpha centauri we are [I]fucking absolutely nothing[/I] and yet we are magnificent and totally unique. There is no other planet exactly like ours, with our society and with humans, we are alone when it comes to our species on this planet. Regardless of this, there is a possibility that we are only one in trillion's of life forms. For all we know we could have hyper intelligent intergalactic beings with liquid nitrogen based blood and silicone flesh, with telepathic abilities and worm hole creation capabilities out there. As batshit insane as it sounds, who the hell knows.
Fuck that's big I both love and fear space
Nothing beats standing in a field somewhere, away from all light pollution during a clear night. Cant wait for summer to come around again so i wont freeze my ass off in the field though
3 702 813 097 760 628 000 000 000 000 000 000 kilometers in other words. That's 1200 megaparsecs if I calculated that correctly. Jesus fuck that's a lot of zeroes.
[QUOTE=SGTNAPALM;39199248]Does our size make us insignificant, or does the fact that we, beings made out of stardust, can think and reason make us the most important and significant things in the universe? What are we but the universe trying to figure itself out? [editline]12th January 2013[/editline] I should probably stop PUI.[/QUOTE] It's really all about perspective, if you just look at the large scale then in the grand scheme of things we won't even leave a trace of our existence in a few billion years, our world will be scorched to ash and swallowed by the sun and then Earth, the cradle of our existence is gone and even that will be a flash in the intergalactic pan. Everything we do means nothing because it will all be wiped out in the blink of an eye someday without any emotion attached to that destruction. On the other hand we are human, we love, laugh, smile, cry, we hate and we hurt, while we may not become some sci-fiesque species that spreads across the stars and masters the universe to the point where we can rip energy from its very fabric, right now we can be someones whole universe, we can make sad people happy and spread happiness across the world. Like I said, life's all about perspective.
Does anybody else get extremely depressed when they think about space? It's so big, and we'll never be able to know what all is out there. At least in our lifetimes. I want to know if there will be other intelligent life.
[QUOTE=TheCloak;39203577]Does anybody else get extremely depressed when they think about space? It's so big, and we'll never be able to know what all is out there. At least in our lifetimes. I want to know if there will be other intelligent life.[/QUOTE] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV0SOtfER_k[/media] I don't find it depressing. I find it infinitely comforting. Should all the world burn and the clouds boil away, should all life on this planet be snuffed out in an instant because of cosmic chance or human pride, and never more on the Earth be born a hero or a coward, it still won't be the end. It'll only be one story in the endless parade of the civilizations that have come before our planet was even formed, and the countless stories that will play out after we're gone, and perhaps none will ever know we existed. It matters not. We aren't alone. This I know with certainty. It means that we don't have to shoulder our burden alone. We don't have a responsibility to the universe at large - only to ourselves as a species, and that which we choose to live for.
Isn't this the galaxy that collided with another, causing it to spread out explaining the massive size? Can't remember right now.
[QUOTE='[Green];39203461']That's 1200 megaparsecs if I calculated that correctly. Jesus fuck that's a lot of zeroes.[/QUOTE] How many times can you make the kessel run in that time?
That article is wrong OP, the largest structure in the world actually is [sp]YOUR MOM[/sp]
[QUOTE=SGTNAPALM;39199299]That would imply that the Milky Way has supreme control over the rest of the universe.[/QUOTE] What if it does?
[QUOTE=draugur;39204707]How many times can you make the kessel run in that time?[/QUOTE] Nobody measures how long it takes to do the kessel run, you measure how little distance it takes. And parsec is not a measurement of time, it's a measurement of distance.
[QUOTE='[Green];39203461']3 702 813 097 760 628 000 000 000 000 000 000 kilometers in other words. That's 1200 megaparsecs if I calculated that correctly. Jesus fuck that's a lot of zeroes.[/QUOTE] 3.7*10^33 l2scientific notation, anyone who doesn't use it on big numbers is trying to deceive you.
[QUOTE=BrainDeath;39205424]3.7*10^33 l2scientific notation, anyone who doesn't use it on big numbers is trying to deceive you.[/QUOTE] Not really, it is still correct nevertheless and helps emphasise just how large these numbers are when measuring things relative to distances, units of time that we understand.
Can't that structure be actually larger than we see because of how it goes out of the observable universe i.e. light from so far away hasn't even managed to travel here yet since the creation of the universe?
[QUOTE=Mastahamma;39205902]Can't that structure be actually larger than we see because of how it goes out of the observable universe i.e. light from so far away hasn't even managed to travel here yet since the creation of the universe?[/QUOTE] It doesn't say how far away it is. if its ~ 13.75 billion light years away, then sure.
[QUOTE=archangel125;39203865][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV0SOtfER_k[/media][/QUOTE] I counter this with the opening scenes of Melancholia, by Lars von Trier, about 2 planets colliding. Makes you wonder. The music is one of Richard Wagner's preludes. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntpDQPkGWJw[/media]
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