♥ Otherworldly Contemplations.
A photo taken by the Hubble in 2003. These are the most distant objects ever photographed. More than 13 billion light years away. Every dot in this image is an entire galaxy. Every galaxy contains up to 1 trillion (1,000,000,000,000) stars. Each star may have a system of planets. There are over 10,000 galaxies in this photo alone. See the large yellow star in the bottom right hand corner? That large galaxy contains 8 times as many stars as our Milky Way Galaxy. It is so large, it technically shouldn't exist according to current physics theories.
My mind is plagued daily- even nightly as I try to fall asleep- by thoughts of this Universe we exist in.
We live on Planet Earth. Planet Earth exists in our solar system. Our solar system is part of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Milky Way Galaxy is one of only millions- if not billions, trillions- of galaxies existing in the Universe. But how big is the Universe? Is it just boundlessly large? Or is there some sort of edge? And if there's an edge, what is beyond it?
We can't look beyond our visible horizon of the Universe. What is the horizon of a civilization that exists on our horizon? What about civilizations on the edge of their horizon? The region of the Universe that's visible by us could be an infinitely small fraction of the whole universe.
We know how stars are made. We know how planets are made. We know how solar systems work. We know how galaxies work. How was the Universe made? If you believe in the "big bang" theory, the big bang created a "shockwave" of sorts, which goes outwards until it hits a boundary and ends. Since our universe as we know it has no boundaries, this shockwave is going infinitely outwards, causing our universe to expand as we speak. And that's a known fact in astronomy- the universe is ever-expanding. Behind the shockwave, where it's already passed (where we exist), there is space, time & matter. On the other side of the shockwave, there is nothingness. No space, no time, and no matter.
I don't know if I can believe that nothingness exists beyond our universe. I want to believe in the theory of multiverses- otherwise known as parallel universes. But how that would work is beyond my comprehension as well. Is this universe part of a cluster of universes that rotates around something bigger? I wonder if the universe exceeds three dimensions and bounds into the 4th dimension. I guess I shouldn't fret, because nobody else understands these things either. It's just beyond our earthly knowledge and experience. If nothingness does exist- I wonder what color it would be.
I believe we are not the only life in this universe. To say we were would be incredibly naive. I've always believed in life on other planets. And while there may not be life on planets in our own solar system- there has to be life on at least one planet in another galaxy in our so called infinite universe. I wish so badly for us to make contact with an otherworldly civilization. But would they be advanced enough to understand us? I doubt we'd even be able to communicate with them even if they were standing right in front of us. What are the odds they would understand our language? What if our body language meant complete opposite things to them? I wonder if they'd even be as far advanced as us. Maybe they are just creatures- otherworldly animals. Whatever they are- I know they are out there.
What do you think is beyond the universe? Do you think there's a wall of sorts? Do you think it's truly infinite & unbounded, and is absolute nothingness? What do you think would happen if we ever made contact with an otherworldly civilization?