Do you think the solar systems & Galaxies where placed so far apart too.......?

Question

Either stop us from reaching each other.
Or to challenge us to one day reach each other.

*I'm working on the assumption that the universe was created and there is other life outside of ours!*

*PollyPocket* I’m talking more hypothetically; I've probably put this in the wrong section.

*Skip* I did indeed and thank you for interesting one!

Answer 1

An interesting notion, even if it does smack heavily of Intelligent Design and such like. Stars and Galaxies aren't "placed" anywhere, at least not in the way a gardener places shrubs and plants. Secondly, not all stars and galaxies are far from each other. The stars in globular clusters and near the centres of spiral galaxies are much closer together than stars like our Sun. They are sometimes separated by a matter of light days or even less, rather than light years.

The same goes for galaxies, although on a much bigger scale. The distances between galaxies is affected by the expansion of the Universe, which means that they were closer to each other in the distant past.

Having said that, it is true that the general distances between stars are still vast. I think it's probably a good thing that violent, aggresive species such as ours are confined to our planet by these seemingly insurmountable distances. Maybe civisations that are advanced enough to achieve interstellar travel will have been in existence long enough to have consigned their baser instincts to history.

Answer 2

To be honest, it doesn't really matter whether it was 'created' or not. What (or who) ever put events in motion (assuming the big bang theory is correct) has since left things to develop pretty much as the laws of physics have dictated.

Assuming there is life out there, it also must be wondering if it's alone. There's nothing to say they haven't evolved faster/sooner than us, back when the universe was closer together and it was much easier to get between places.

I'm pretty sure that the universe wasn't designed as some gigantic interstellar game show just to see if we've got the skill and courage to explore it all, but that is the way it has turned out. We've got a few years before our planet becomes too close to the expanding sun to be habitable so the challenge is there whether we like it or not. We better get our thinking caps on.

If you ask 'how can we avoid stellar obliteration' next I'd love to have a pop at that one too.

Answer 3

Well, you did ask for opinions.
That the stars and galaxies are so far apart is a natural consequence of the fact that the universe is so big (and old). The universe is so big because the probability of intelligent life is so low that in order for you to even exist and ask this question the universe has to be about this big IMHO. This makes it unlikely that there is any other intelligent life in the universe and your basic question about reaching each other may be pointless. Consider the proposition that the universe was created for the sole purpose of having "one" intelligent race evolve to appreciate it.
While the possibility of other intelligent life is an exciting thought, the possibility that we may be the only ones is also pregnant with meaning. The only data point we have is us. Extraterrestrial intelligences are conspicuous by their absence.

Answer 4

I'm assuming you are one those people who would think that the Milky Way is in the center of the Universe, and the Earth is in the center of the galaxy?

The galaxies are moving around at random speeds and intervals, colliding with one another and moving apart without a pattern. Indeed, the Andromeda galaxy and the Milky Way galaxy are on a collision course, calculated to hit around 13 billion years or so - but don't quote me on exactly when.

Answer 5

The sun and other stars are so far apart because they are made from clouds of hydrogen gas that were light years in diameter. There may be other life in the universe, if this is the case it had nothing to do with the spacing of celistial bodies.

Answer 6

There are millions of life forms that are similar to us.
One day we may get some proof that they exist but we will never meet one.
They are sprinkled throughout the universe and probably parallel us in intelligence and technology and are just as speculative about us.
A single space-time pulse of minimum size and duration initiated this universe that evolved into what we see to-day.
The separation is necessary to give them space to evolve.
The first massive stars that blew up launched millions of solar systems like ours.
The solar systems merged and formed galaxies.
In an area of a hundred million light years thousands of galaxies could accumulate.
The universe is made up of billions of light years.
As these entities evolved they had to spread out to allow room for them to be accommodated.
The universe is a finite entity so it must have a maximum size.
the farthest galaxies aren't expanding to-day because they don't exist anymore.

Answer 7

It's actually a good thing they are so far apart, or we'd be colliding or near-colliding with them so often that life would have very little chance to evolve to this point (oops, instead of evolve, how about survive?).

Also, according to Carl Sagan in his book Cosmos, the stars at the core of the galaxy are much closer together, but the cosmic ray count is so high that it becomes prohibitive to life (I was going to say the mutation rate is too high, but since mutations are part of evolution theory...).

Answer 8

It's your basic assumption that is wrong in my view. There is no credible evidence that the universe was created. I have no problem with the idea that there is other life outside of planet earth, but frankly the idea that the galaxies were placed so far apart to stop interplanetary communication or to challenge the development of interplanetary travel is laughable.

Answer 9

I don't agree with you that the Universe was 'created', but I do believe that there is other life (and probably intelligent life) besides us 'out there'. I think that 'life' is merely a natural by-product of Stellar Evolution. Unless you want to include the 'Big Bang' as an act (or 'the' act) of 'creation'.

Doug

Answer 10

The way the universe has evolved is just a direct product of its evolution. Galaxies are formed by the gas within the interstellar medium contracting under gravity to form stars and then planets. This leaves space in between, but it isn't empty all space is filled with this gas.