From the planets, to the stars, to the systems,
to the great unknown of the universe, join
us as we explore what lies beyond our solar
system!
8.
The Scope Of Our Own Solar System
Before we look beyond it, let's take stock
of our own solar system and what it all is
like.
There are 8 definitive planets (and more than
that if you count Dwarf Planets like Pluto),
we have one star, The Sun, that we orbit around,
and within the confines of our system are
asteroid belts, various rocks of various sizes,
tons of solar rays and radiation, and a whole
lot more.
Just in our solar system there is a LOT of
stuff to explore.
Which is sometimes hard to find because the
length of our solar system is about 287.46
billion kilometers long.
And even in the year 2020 we're STILL finding
out things about our solar system that are
shocking and surprising.
But of course, the main goal of humanity as
a whole is to do what many have thought is
unthinkable.
To go BEYOND our solar system and to not just
see it, but explore it, and live upon it.
To truly become a species that is intergalactic
instead of just living in one very small part
of the universe.
7.
What Lies Immediately Beyond Our Solar System
So let's posit for a moment that you are able
to go and get out of the reach of our solar
system.
Behind the Kuiper Belt, beyond the Heliosphere,
what are you going to find when you reach
that edge beyond?
What will you see?
What will you experience?
The honest and very simple answer...is nothing.
Because you'll be in what is known as Intergalactic
Space.
Or, the space between galaxies and systems.
But to be clear, just because you don't see
anything, doesn't mean that nothing is there.
"If you took a cubic meter, there would be
less than one atom in it," Michael Shull,
an astronomer at the University of Colorado
Boulder, told Live Science.
"But when you add it all up, it's somewhere
between 50 and 80% of all the ordinary matter
out there."
Scientists are honestly deeply interested
in this matter, or "Intergalactic Medium"
because of how they feel it forms and even
replenishes certain systems via the gas that
it provides.
The reason for this is that the medium is
mostly hot, ionized hydrogen (hydrogen that
has lost its electron) with bits of heavier
elements such as carbon, oxygen and silicon
thrown in.
While these elements typically don't glow
bright enough to be seen directly, scientists
know they're there because of the signature
they leave on light that passes by.
"IGM is the gas that feeds star formation
in galaxies," Shull said.
"If we didn't still have gas falling in, being
pulled in by gravity, star formation would
slowly grind to a halt as the gas [in the
galaxy] gets used up."
But because of its small numbers, when you're
floating through space, you're almost literally
floating through empty space.
Which is why many note that all the planets
and stars and celestial objects only fill
up about 5% of the known universe.
Everything else is minor matter, Dark Energy
and Dark Matter.
6.
Systems Beyond Our Own
Ok, so let's say that you are able to reach
another system.
What would it be like?
Well, that would depend on what you land upon.
Because there are at least 100 billion stars
in the Milky Way, a spiral galaxy about 100,000
light-years across.
The stars are arranged in a pinwheel pattern
with four major arms, and we live in one of
them, about two-thirds of the way outward
from the center.
Most of the stars in our galaxy are thought
to host their own families of planets.
Thousands of these extrasolar planets (or
exoplanets) have been discovered so far, with
thousands more candidates detected and awaiting
confirmation.
Many of these newly discovered planetary systems
are quite different from our own.
In fact, part of the fun of astronomy in the
eyes of many is going and seeing if you can
indeed find a new planet, or star that hadn't
been noticed before, and seeing what details
you notice about it.
In fact, various agencies from NASA to the
ESA and more have made their own satellites
and probes and such that they've launched
into space or our atmosphere to try and get
better looks at planets and stars and see
what we can find.
Some of the highlights for sure are many planets
that are "Earth-Like" in structure or form
or shape.
Numerous kinds of stars from dwarf stars to
binary stars, to Pulsars, Supernovas and more.
They've found black holes at the center of
most galaxies, and that's still only scratching
the surface of things.
The point here is that regardless of what
direction you go in, eventually you're going
to find a small system or cluster that has
something there, even if you don't realize
it at first.
That's part of what makes the universe of
so satisfying to think about and explore.
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5.
Beyond Our "Local Group"
Let's now look beyond just a few systems,
let's talk about galaxies as a whole.
The Milky Way is part of the Local Group,
a neighborhood about 10 million light years
across, consisting of more than 30 galaxies
that are gravitationally bound to each other.
Aside from our galaxy, the most massive one
in this group is Andromeda, which appears
to be on course to collide with the Milky
Way in about four billion years.
That might sound like a freak occurrence,
but actually, it's not.
Since the dawn of time, galaxies have formed,
moved, and then collided with one another.
When that happens, a whole host of things
occur, not the least of which is that the
galaxies tend to merge and thus become even
larger when they were before things happened.
As for Andromeda, these kinds of collisions
have happened MANY time in its life if certain
reports are to be believed.
Regardless of that though, every single galaxy
has its own stars, its own planets, its own
black holes, asteroids, comets, and other
things that make it special.
Some of them even have unique shapes that
defy the "spiral" pattern that many (including
the Milky Way) have.
It's one of the dreams of humanity to go across
the stars and reach these other galaxies so
that we can see what they are like and how
they compare to the Milky Way and its contents.
4.
Exoplanets
We already talked about planets beyond the
ones in our solar system, but let's dive a
little bit deeper into this.
Because a key field of study in astronomy
is not just finding planets in the universe,
but seeing what they're like, and whether
they're potentially habitable for humans.
Many feel that our best bet right now is in
the Alpha Centauri system.
Which is only about 4.2 light years away.
Other planets though have been found many
thousands of light years away and seem even
more plausible to live on...once you cross
the distance.
There are some truly incredible planets out
there that would amazing to see up close.
There are planets shaped like eggs instead
of spheres.
There's one where over 1/3 of the planet is
made of literal diamond.
There's even a planet that you almost can't
see because its natural color absorbs over
90% of the light shot at it.
While we haven't found "Another Earth" just
yet, it's not for lack of trying, as new planets
are discovered every year, and sometimes,
every month.
3.
Pop Culture
The mysteries of our Universe have long captivated
science fiction authors and countless, memorable
books at films—many of which inspired the
real life scientists and engineering currently
exploring the universe.
So to say that it's a part of pop culture
is honestly a bit of an understatement, because
in many ways it is its own genre that we continue
to reinvent and explore in various ways to
capture the imaginations of millions.
Many scientists cite Star Trek, first aired
on television in 1966 and reinvented numerous
times on both small and big screen in the
decades since, as an inspiration for various
things.
Star Trek was ironically the true birth of
the cell phone via the communicators that
the crew of the USS Enterprise had and use
to communicate with one another on board the
ship and beyond.
The various series and movies that followed
dealt with all sorts of important issues in
the world of space travel.
From utilizing various pieces of technology
to go farther into space, to having "First
Contact" missions, and so much more.
Star Trek continues to define the "goals"
of humanity in terms of going beyond our solar
system and to "Boldly Go Where No Man Has
Gone Before".
Then there is author Arthur C. Clarke’s
2001: A Space Odyssey, in which a fictional
astronaut is transported across the cosmos
through a mysterious portal.
This tale is both a memorable movie and novel.
For the next generation, who knows who will
be inspired by the the 2014 movie Interstellar,
a fictional team of astronauts search for
a habitable planet around a black hole in
a distant galaxy.
The 1980 television series Cosmos, featuring
Voyager mission scientist Carl Sagan, took
viewers on a factual tour of the known Universe
and sparked the imaginations of many present
day scientists and engineers.
The series was reimagined in 2014 with astronomer
Neil deGrasse Tyson as the host.
In video games, there are PLENTY of titles
that delve into what lies beyond the stars
of our own solar system.
A popular one is the Mass Effect Series where
we discover alien technology that allows us
to visit other systems quickly and humanity
quickly becomes a part of the larger order
of the universe.
The game No Man's Sky dared to try and show
players a universe that they could explore
on their own and feel the difference that
planets could have in the same system and
beyond.
And let's not forget comics, both DC Comics
and Marvel have created VAST universes that
feature alien races beyond our own solar system
that CONSTANTLY try and interfere with Earth.
It's a constant source of story, and some
of the most well-known heroes form both brands
are based on planets and systems outside of
the solar system.
Like the Guardians of the Galaxy, the New
Gods, Starfire of the Teen Titans, Hawkman
and Hawkgirl, the original Captain Marvel
(who was a Kree) and more!
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
There are many books, cartoons, television
shows, comics, and movies that want to try
and paint us a picture of what is beyond our
solar system.
Which is why many of them have been wildly
successful.
People WANT to think about what is beyond
our star and planets, and what could await
us out there.
And many have used these shows as inspiration
to not just go to the stars, but to search
them for what might be waiting for us to arrive
and see.
2.
Life?
That is the question, isn't it?
We KNOW that life lives in our solar system,
we're proof of it.
But does life live BEYOND the solar system?
That is something many are searching for.
In truth, it would be very odd if there WASN'T
life beyond our solar system, because that
would call into question both logical assumptions
about the universe as well as philosophical
ones of "Why Is It Just Us?"
There have been teases and potential sightings
of life among the cosmos, including radio
signals appearing in a random yet deliberate
way, certain sightings on moons or planets
that seem like more than just natural occurrences,
and more.
Until we find definitive proof, the questions
will remain.
But, that's yet another reason to go and explore
the stars, to see if we can find more definitive
proof that life is out there beyond what we
have now.
1.
The Universe Beyond
"Where is the edge of the universe?"
That is a question that many, MANY people
have asked over the years, and while it may
seem unlikely that of us currently on Earth
will ever see it or even come close to it,
it's still an important question to ask.
Because as many have noted, the universe...doesn't
really have an edge.
In fact, the universe even to this day, many
billions of years after the Big Bang...is
still growing.
That's right, the universe is infinitely expanding
in all directions.
In fact, it's expanding at such a rate that
it's going beyond what many scientists felt
was logical, possible, and some are even calling
for "new Physics" to define exactly how the
universe is growing at such a rate.
Of course, then the question becomes, "What
lies in those new areas of space?"
Well, unfortunately, we don't know, but more
than likely, it's nothing but Dark Energy
and Dark Matter.
Which as we noted earlier makes up 95% of
space in the universe.
So if a "new part" of the universe is suddenly
made, there's nothing to inhabit it, yet.
The current size of the "known universe" is
stated to be 93 billion light years across.
Which is an astounding number.
But, obviously, there's the "unknown universe"
and the fact the universe as a whole is still
growing.
So if you were to ask the question that started
off this whole topic of, "What lies beyond
our solar system?"
The easiest and most complete answer would
be, "A massive universe, and one that is still
growing."
Thanks for watching everyone!
That did you think of this look at the solar
system we live in, the galaxies beyond it,
and the universe as a whole?
Do you think that humanity will ever truly
travel amongst the greater parts of the universe?
Or do you think we'll be limited for a great
deal of time longer?
Let us know in the comments below, be sure
to subscribe, and I'll see you next time on
the channel!
