Our Milky Way galaxy and what beyond it?
The universe is vast and comprises trillions of stars and around 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe. The staggering statistics that are highlighted above may astonish you, but would you ever wonder about our home galaxy called the Milky Way galaxy, made of a large number of stars, gas, dust, planets, and trillions of celestial objects? In the vast cosmic arena we live in, the region that is smaller than you ever imagined. You may compare our solar system, where planets and Staller objects orbit around our Sun located in the Miley Way galaxy, with respect to one dust practical in all of the lands that encompass the entire surface of the Earth.
Our critical thinking and ability to unfold the mystery of the universe have shed light on many unknowns that made us a unique species that helped the civilization to acquire remarkable achievements that transformed the Earth by harnessing the power of technologies and tools that also made life easier here on Earth. Before we delve into the question related to whether it is ever possible for humans to travel beyond our Galaxy, we have to question and answer various facets of the universe and how science and technology actually work that may provide you with a wider point of view concerning this query.
In the universe, the gravitational force that is produced by massive objects holds smaller objects that orbit around larger bodies. That is why the Moon revolves around Earth and Earth’s orbit around the Sun. The Milky Way galaxy comprises asteroids, and a trillion other stellar objects orbit massive stars. Similarly, stars surround supermassive black holes, forming galaxies. Miley Way, through its immense gravitational force, attracts smaller galaxies, and our solar system’s cosmic neighbourhood widths around 100,000 light-years and comprises around 400 billion stars.
From the above-portrayed information, you may get a proper understanding of the possibility of intergalactic travel that is still far beyond our current technology and innovation competency. Before answering to the aspect concerning to competency of humans to travel beyond our Galaxy, we need to understand what resides outside of our Milky Way Galaxy.
Beyond Our Galaxy
In contemporary years, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory unfolds a new avenue to search for exoplanets at vast distances outside the Milky Way Galaxy. According to NASA, astronomers found evidence for a probable candidate that belongs to the M51 Whirlpool galaxy, which signifies what would be the first planet seen to transit a star beyond our Milky Way galaxy.
The researchers at NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory detect the reduction of X-rays from an X-ray binary where almost a sun-like star orbiting around a black hole. M51 galaxy is located about 28 million light-years from Earth. As of now, researchers have been able to figure out all exoplanets in our Milky Way galaxy, but majorly of them are located less than approximately 3,000 light-years from our planet. However, contemporary findings relating to M51, which would be approximately 3,000 light years from Earth, signify it would be about a thousand times farther than objects that fall under the Milky Way galaxy.
Our Cosmic Journey
Civilization on Earth has seen drastic transformations over the years, and in the last 100 years, we have witnessed considerable technological growth that has driven our attention to exploring the cosmos from a new perspective. As of new current energy harnessing and technological progress helped NASA to conduct the Apollo Mission that enabled astronauts to successful landing on our close celestial neighbour Moon, which also belongs to our solar system. Apart from this achievement, NASA, through its innovation competency, sent Rovers like Curiosity to the Red Planet (Mars) to search for a sign of life that was thought to be extinct a long time ago.
The years of experimentation also enable NASA to evaluate various planets of our solar system, including Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, as well as their moons through sending spacecraft like Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 that disclose stunning images of world that located far away from the Earth. Scientists and Engineers across the globe are working together to develop sophisticated technologies that astronauts will utilize one day to work on Mars and safely return to our home planet, Earth.
The eagerness to learn about new ways to explore planets in our solar system has opened up a multitude of questions that have been answered by scientists and intellectuals. However, when the aspect related to intergalactic travel, it is impossible within the human lifespan and travelling to M51 Whirlpool galaxy, which is located 28 million light years from the Earth, does not have any relevance concerning this specific query.
Will Humans ever travel beyond the Galaxy?
The technology needed to travel between galaxies is far beyond human innovation competency, and the notion that surrounds intergalactic travel is currently of science fiction and hypothesis. Intergalactic travel provides an understanding of the hypothetical travel between galaxies. Since our Miley Way galaxy and its close neighbors are separated by millions of light years hence, such an undertaking would require millions of years based on recent technological competency. As a result, intergalactic travel turns out to be impossible within the human lifetime.
FAQ
1. What is the Milky Way Galaxy?
The Milky Way Galaxy is a spiral-shaped galaxy that contains billions of stars, including our Sun. It’s a vast cosmic structure, and our solar system is just a tiny part of it.
2. How big is the Milky Way Galaxy?
The Milky Way Galaxy is about 100,000 light-years across. A light-year is the distance that light travels in one year, which is about 5.88 trillion miles.
3. What’s beyond the Milky Way Galaxy?
Beyond our Milky Way Galaxy, there are billions of other galaxies, each containing billions of stars. These galaxies are grouped into clusters and superclusters, forming a cosmic web that stretches across the observable universe.
4. Could humans ever travel to another galaxy?
With our current technology, intergalactic travel is not feasible. The distances between galaxies are immense, and the amount of energy required for such a journey is far beyond our capabilities.
5. What is a black hole?
A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. They form from the collapse of massive stars.
6. Are there other planets like Earth in the Milky Way?
Yes, astronomers have discovered thousands of exoplanets orbiting other stars in our galaxy. Some of these exoplanets are rocky and Earth-sized, and they may have the potential to support life.
7. What is dark matter?
Dark matter is a mysterious substance that makes up about 85% of the matter in the universe. It doesn’t emit or absorb light, making it difficult to detect directly.
8. What is dark energy?
Dark energy is an even more mysterious force that is accelerating the expansion of the universe. It’s a major area of research in cosmology.
9. How old is the universe?
The universe is approximately 13.8 billion years old.
10. What is the future of the universe?
The ultimate fate of the universe is still uncertain. It could continue to expand forever, or it could eventually collapse in a “Big Crunch.”
