From Infinitesimal to Infinity and Beyond

[emc]

Do stars exist between galaxies or are all stars gravitationally tied to a galaxy? I imagine a solar system in between galaxies would have the best view. I'm not sure if that is possible though... we're dependent on our host galaxy to exist, right?

[Ann]

Do stars exist between galaxies or are all stars gravitationally tied to a galaxy? I imagine a solar system in between galaxies would have the best view. I'm not sure if that is possible though... we're dependent on our host galaxy to exist, right?

Well, take a look at this picture of the Antennae galaxies by Jack Harvey, Steve Mazlin, Rick Gilbert and Dan Verschatse. The galaxies, NGC 4038 and 4039, have got their popular nickname from the long tails emanating from them. These tails are stellar in nature - in other words, they are made up of stars that have been flung out of their "home galaxy".

The tails are likely to disperse over time, leaving the stars floating freely in space. Some of the stars will certainly orbit the large galaxy that the Antennae will create when they merge. But some of them may well remain unbounded.

It doesn't necessarily follow that any life forms on any planets orbiting any stars in these tails have to be killed by being flung out of their home galaxy.

Ann

[emc]

Thanks Ann! So it is possible that a solar system could have an unobstructed view from local stars. (That sounds kind of like an ad for a getaway vacation doesn't it?!)

[owlice]

Do stars exist between galaxies or are all stars gravitationally tied to a galaxy? I imagine a solar system in between galaxies would have the best view. I'm not sure if that is possible though... we're dependent on our host galaxy to exist, right?

Yes, stars exist between galaxies.

A solar system between galaxies would, I should think, have a poor view, given how far away from everything that might fill the night sky would be. Think of how much we see is in our own galaxy!

[Moonlady]

My religious parents taught me about infinity as eternity.
I grew up with thoughts about realm after realm, like dimensions.
They (muslims) believe that God created the universe in 7 eons, like periods, not days.

I imagined traveling to all kind of universes and have my inner universe filled with very funny and strange
beings, grewing, coming and going...

[emc]

Do stars exist between galaxies or are all stars gravitationally tied to a galaxy? I imagine a solar system in between galaxies would have the best view. I'm not sure if that is possible though... we're dependent on our host galaxy to exist, right?

Yes, stars exist between galaxies.

A solar system between galaxies would, I should think, have a poor view, given how far away from everything that might fill the night sky would be. Think of how much we see is in our own galaxy!

Thanks Owlice! I was imagining a view all around would allow us to see even more than what we do now. You caused me think about what we do see in our Milky Way that we can’t see as well in other galaxies far away. (I’m a bull in a china shop.)

[Chris Peterson]

What I am attempting to describe, but apparently failing to, is a situation where the only local stars that could be viewed are in fact only on one side of the planets orbit, the side which faces the galactic center. This hypothetical planet is proposed to be orbiting a star that is at the farthest point away from the center of its parent galaxy. Just over 180deg of view would have no local stars, except for near the polar regions.

I think the place that would come closest to this would be right at the edge of the galactic bulge. In one direction (outward) you'd see only the low density arms, so mainly just a small number of local stars. In the other (inward) the galactic bulge would cover a big piece of sky. Even so, you'd be more likely to sweep through this on a daily rate rather than yearly.

You could also be on a planet in the halo- actually out of the plane of the galaxy, above the core. Then you'd see the central galaxy in the sky in one direction, and very little in the other.

[emc]

I imagined traveling to all kind of universes and have my inner universe filled with very funny and strange
beings, grewing, coming and going...

I’ve always enjoyed thoughts of space travel… visiting “ends” of the universe. I had a Jimmy Jet and a lower bunk bed when I was a kid. I used to drape my lower bunk bed with sheets to help with the transition into an intergalactic space jumping vehicle using my lit battery powered Jimmy Jet as the controls. My room was different planets in strange unexplored star systems. “Someone” I know here used to do that with a wheelbarrow!