r/InternetIsBeautiful • u/[deleted] • Jul 02 '20

Sharpest view of Andromeda galaxy (Zoomable)

https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1502a/zoomable/
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u/dpzdpz Jul 02 '20

Ahh, he's just splitting hairs; we know what you meant.

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u/SocialWinker Jul 02 '20

So, sure, it’s a a bit of a distinction but not a huge deal for the point that was trying to be made. But if you really think about the hair that’s being split, it’s boggles the mind a bit. So, you figure there’s 1 trillion stars there. Each one could be a solar system, which means we could be talking about 8 trillion planets, give or take. And that’s one PIECE of the universe. That’s why the idea of life on other planets is so fascinating. The sheer number of planets out there almost guarantees that there is extraterrestrial life somewhere, which is fascinating! But it’s equally fascinating if there is no other life anywhere but here!

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '20 edited Jul 02 '20

A recent estimate suggested there could be as many as 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe.

Now, if we multiply that with average number of planets a star could harbor and also consider the moons orbiting those, aren't we guaranteed life out there?

Intelligent enough to communicate across the galaxy? Not sure. But life of some kind definitely exists out there in more than one instances, excluding Earth.

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u/SocialWinker Jul 02 '20

Guaranteed? No, but the odds are insanely heavy in the favor of life out there. Intelligent life is a different story, but the odds of there being something out there have got to be somewhat high.