Is the thought of this scary and/or mind-boggling to others besides me?

Question

Sometimes I think about the entire universe. Does it keep going on and on forever and ever, with no end? Does it end at some point where there is simply no matter, no vacuum, nothing? It scares me to think about this and to see how small we really are in this universe. I mean, we are a single tiny solar system (looks like a dot when you look at a picture of the Milky Way Galaxy) in a vastly ginormous galaxy. Plus, there are thousands and millions (who knows?) of other galaxies out there. Can you imagine how BIG that is?? Scary. It really freaks me out. Does anyone have any comments about that?

Answer 1

It boggles my mind. Just contemplating the distance to the nearest star to ours--it took more than 4 years for its light to get here--floors me.

We think of galaxies as these massive structures, and massive they are. One galaxy, called M31, pumps out such a vast quantity of starlight that it's easily visible to the naked eye 25 billion billion (That's 25 with 18 zeroes following) km away. Yet the average distance between neighboring stars is about 100 million times their diameters. These unimaginably huge, bright structures are almost entirely empty space!

As big as our Earth is, Jupiter, that tiny dot in the early morning sky, is 11 times as wide, 320 times as massive, and has more than 1200 times the volume.

Our star is 109 times as wide, 330,000 times as massive, and has 1.3 million times the volume of our apparently vast planet. That's impossible enough to imagine. Yet, there are stars that are 100 times the size of our Sun!

The Sun consumes a whooping 700 million tons of fuel every second. At this gluttonous pace, the fuel will last only 12 billion years. A star 100 times as big runs out of fuel in an ephemeral 3 million years. You can do the math.

I can point a binocular at the seemingly empty sky between Virgo and Leo, and identify a faint smudge called M87. It is faint only because it's more than 500 billion billion km away; the light from there enters my glasses after a 55 million year journey through the void of space. This megalogalaxy, perhaps 10 times as massive as our Milky Way, is perhaps the biggest object within several hundred million light years of here. It boasts a black hole 3 billion times as massive as the Sun and commands an entourage of 15,000 satellite star clusters.

Yet for all that distance between M87 and here, it is still practically in our neighborhood; M87 is the flagship of the Virgo Supercluster, of which we are a part. The *known* universe extends another 250 times farther! And that's only as we see it; the actual distance is much larger because the universe has continued to expand since the light left the object we are viewing.

That is BIG. ENORMOUS. GARGANTUAN. Oh, forget it, we don't have the word for it, and probably never can. I cannot wrap my mind around those distances. There is nothing in our mundane experience that can relate to it. I can only stand in awe. This is what Einstein meant by "religion," and what Carl Sagan meant by "spirituality."

Answer 2

Well the imagining of how big the Universe is can be overwelming and mindblowing and sometimes incomprehensible. But to keep things in perspective, and to avoid being made to feel insignificant, think about your own little universe--that space you fit into rather nicely that you have control over and can contribute to on a daily basis.
It's fun to wonder about the science of the universe and marvel at it, but not to let it freak you out. have fun with it.
Here's food for thought:Scientists say If a 21 year old astronaut were able to travel roundtrip to the Andromeda Galaxy at the speed of light, when he returned to earth he would be about 70 years old. But on Earth, 4 million years would have passed. Sooo, just think how much his IRA would be worth. LOL

Answer 3

I think about it often actually. It is pretty freaky. Sometimes I question if all this is real. I have so many questions and it's unfair to have to live on this earth without the answers. And I think to all of us who think this way have the mind of great philosophers. It's digging down deep and trying to comprehend this world. It's crazy. And I've also learned from research that life is just an experience. So there might be a lot more to life than we will ever know. Crazy, right?

Answer 4

There is nothing to be freaked out about. You only feel intimidated becuase, perhaps, you do not have a concept of what the Universe, how ever large or small it is, is all about.

Study the link below, and if you are smart enough to get it, from now on, you will view the entire Universe as your home.

Answer 5

When I was a little kid I remember having scary dreams of the size of the universe.

But why should it scare you? God created it that big for us. Haven't you ever come across a situation where you just didn't have enough room to do the things you wanted? Well, there's a whole lot of room just waiting for us to do things with it. Just try imagining that at some point it might seem too small for all your plans. :)

Answer 6

Yes, I used to think about that often when I was 8. This us the whole reason people want to go explore space so much. You can also think from another perspective- there are about 1.06*10^23 molecules of water in two tablespoons. How much bigger are we than that? Are there living objects in the subatomic level?

Answer 7

I think about this all the time. Sure, it's scary, but it's a wonderful, exhilarating kind of fear. It's one of the few forms of fear that is actually fun, and good for you. Your mind expands along with it's conception of the universe. Don't let others tell you not to try. Do it!

Answer 8

Considering most people would never even be able to travel to the edge of our solar system in our lifetime, it's probably best not to think about the rest of the universe, lol.

Answer 9

And then there's the beauty part....so far as we now know, we are the only humans in the vastness of space. Our planet is incredibly unique. And we are destroying it with pollution. Literally...where do we go from here, if here is destroyed by our stupidity. Now that is what is really scary.

Answer 10

The universe actually isn't endless, just ever growing of that helps. And yeah it's scary! Just don't stretch your mind out into it too far or you'll drive your self loco!