"Scientists have pinpointed the precise locations of a pair of supermassive black holes at the centers of two colliding galaxies 300 million light-years away." (that's my high-lighting in bold.)
It's amazing how casually a number like that is thrown around. Why not just 300 light years.... or 200 thousand light years? Wow. We, as the human race... we can SEE THAT FAR. It's the PAST. 300 million light years away this is/was happening.... and if you are just a casual reader... not even reading the whole article or even understanding it, --don't you feel a sense of.. well, I felt a certain awe... and then I read this part...
Our own Milky Way galaxy is expected to collide and merge with its neighbor Andromeda in a few billion years to form a large elliptical galaxy some scientists jokingly call "Milkomeda" or "Andromeda Way." When that occurs, a black hole merger similar to that of NGC 6420 could occur.
... Hmmm.. So life WON'T just go on and on here on this little planet. Even if a comet doesn't obliterate us; even if we don't blow ourselves up out of stupidity; we see our fate in front of us.... albeit billions of years away. Unless we get out there and go boldly where no man has gone before...
Edith Keeler: I think that one day they're going to take all the money that they spend now on war and death...
James T. Kirk: And make them spend it on life.
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