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PSA: I just learned that the Andromeda Galaxy is actually 2.5 million light years away
Saw that stat on a NASA site while looking at some photos last night and it blew my mind lol. I always figured it was way closer since you can see it with the naked eye on a clear night. Anyone else get surprised by how far stuff actually is when you look up distances?
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elliotm705mo ago
holy crap, 2.5 million?? no way. i thought it was like a million at most haha. that's insane how something that far away can still light up the night sky like that. makes you realize how tiny we really are out here.
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johnson.faith5mo ago
Man, @elliotm70 that's exactly what gets me too. It's like how people think their commute is long at 30 miles, but then you realize light is traveling for 2.5 million years to hit your backyard telescope. Real life is constantly like that if you pay attention. The gap between what something looks like and what it actually is cracks me up every time.
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sandraflores5mo ago
Respect gotta disagree a bit here. I don't find it humbling or scary at all. To me it's more like a reminder that the universe is big and we're just a tiny part of it, which actually feels kind of freeing. Andromeda being 2.5 million light years away doesn't make me feel small, it makes me feel lucky that we even get to see it at all. We're sitting on this little rock in the middle of nowhere and somehow we figured out how far away things are, that's pretty impressive if you ask me.
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