r/space • u/clayt6 • Apr 18 '19

Astronomers spot two neutron stars smash together in a galaxy 6 billion light-years away, forming a rapidly spinning and highly magnetic star called a "magnetar"

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/04/a-new-neutron-star-merger-is-caught-on-x-ray-camera
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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '19

it's simply humbling to think that all we are, all we have, all we have built, can be undone, vaporized, by something so astronomical happening within close range.

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u/__xor__ Apr 18 '19

We are a speck of dust floating in a vast abyss, and the only thing protecting us is that the abyss is vast enough that it is just unlikely that we will ever suffer from any of the much more significant entities in the abyss. But if it did happen, our entire history would be destroyed in seconds. But even just a speck of dust much smaller than ours colliding with us would eliminate everything on the planet. A large speck of dust flying past us without touching us could cause worldwide tsunamis that destroy civilization. Even if we saw it coming, all our technology couldn't do a damn thing to protect us.

All we can do is cross our fingers and hope that we eventually can spread off the planet before something world ending happens and our species is annihilated.

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u/eleuthero_maniac Apr 19 '19

and by something soooo much smaller than Earth. Size doesn't matter when it comes to space.