Comments on: A Galaxy Not So Far, Far Away…

By: island

island — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:39:21 +0000

Giordano Bruno said:
This galaxy is roughly the same size as our own, so its probability of having intelligent civilizations is the same as that for our galaxy

Which is almost exactly like saying that Mars and Venus have the same probability for life as the Earth does, since they are approximately the same mass, the same distance from the Sun, are formed out of the same material, and had approximately the same initial temperatures.

And you would be wrong.

http://www.astronomynotes.com/solarsys/s9.htm

But don’t feel too bad, because these bogus anticentric projections of mediocrity that do not fit the data are also the reason why physicists are begrudgingly known for their unscientific religious practice of “Copernicanism”.

The probabilities for finding life on Mars and Venus are not the same as they are for Earth because they exist outside of the planetary habitable zone, so for the same empirically supported reason, you are not going to find life within M51 unless it is in the intergalactic habitable zone.

Copernicanism… the bogus religion of scientists and other liberals everywhere…

By: Linda

Linda — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:19:44 +0000

I am, and always have been completely fascinated with the Cosmos. I did not know about Herschel, or the Whirlpool Galaxy. Discover is an interesting learning experience. Thanks.

By: QUASAR

QUASAR — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:21:52 +0000

BRAVO E.S.A.!!!

By: Lilian Nattel

Lilian Nattel — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:20:51 +0000

What a beautiful picture. I’m amazed at what comes from Hubbel and now this.

By: Curious Wavefunction

Curious Wavefunction — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:09:16 +0000

Speaking of LGM, you should check out Seth Shostak's new book, Confessions of an Alien Hunter: A Scientist's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Shostak is the senior astronomer at the SETI institute in California

By: Erasmussimo

Erasmussimo — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:16:18 +0000

…and if we DO wave to the people in that galaxy, we should put a message in our iPhones to remind us to look for them waving back in 50 million years.

By: Erasmussimo

Erasmussimo — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:14:54 +0000

I can’t help but wonder if just maybe, someone there may be looking back at us…

This galaxy is roughly the same size as our own, so its probability of having intelligent civilizations is the same as that for our galaxy — which, IMO, is pretty large. And with plenty of intelligent civilizations each populated by millions or billions of individuals, the odds that one of them is looking in our direction right now are very high.

There’s just one problem: they’re seeing our galaxy as it was 25 million years ago. That doesn’t include us. Nevertheless, we should still wave to the people in that galaxy who will see the light from our galaxy in 25 million years.