1-The Moon (The Nearest Heavenly Body We Have)
Distance: 238,900 miles
Travel Time: 1.28 seconds at light speed
For people living on planet Earth, the moon is the next most popular out of the world destination. If transferred at light speed, it would take approximately 1.28 seconds to reach. That is why NASA was able to land on the Moon with their technology based spacecrafts in a matter of augmentation of a few days. Now, we did go to the Moon before, there’s more to it than meets the eye, going back to the Moon will still be one heck of an experience!
2-Mars (Closest Earth-like Planet)
Distance: 140 million miles
Travel Time: 12.52 minutes at the speed of light
There is no denying that Mars is one of the best intelligences of human pleasure and even many quite believe to be the next giant step for mankind. Mars is on average 140 million miles far away and if you were to go to the speed of light you’d be there in just above 12 mins. Sadly, none of today’s knowledge approaches light speed. Instead, the mission to Mars would take about six to nine months. No one will shrug his shoulders when asked why it is necessary to look at the red planet in reality rather than just in pictures.
3. Proxima Centauri (The Sun’s Closest Star) Distance: 4.24 light-years
Travel Time: 4.24 years at the speed of light
Next up is Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our solar system. At what distance do they find Proxima Centauri? Ten times the distance from earth’s sun to its nearest star , light itself takes proxima centarily over four years. That is why Proxima Centauri is very interesting because it is assumed that there are planets similar to the Earth in its orbit. In the future, it would be great to see other star systems, but the problem is that they lie great miles away, making it a hard task for upcoming space travelers.
4-Gaia BH1 (Nearest Black Hole)
Distance: 1,600 light years
Travel Time: 1,600 years traveling at the speed of light
Of all the foreign and interesting facets of the universe, black holes stand out, and as the closest black hole known, Gaia BH1 is roughly 1,600 light years away. In other words, it would take 1,600 years of light speed before you can reach that place. Despite the fascination a black hole may provoke, how long it would take to reach the vicinity of a black hole makes this a fantasy worth relinquishing.
5-The Centre of Milky Way Galaxy (Our Home Base Galaxy)
Distance: 26,000 light years
Travel Time: 26,000 years traveling at light speed
Our Galaxy Centre Milky way is replete with beautiful sights at about 26,000 light years. Within this space of immense density, there lies a supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*. You could say, this is the longest journey one would ever undertake in search of a galaxy at the speed of light and this avoids all gravitational pulls. At this point, this is the best we can do because we are far from this portion of our galaxy. The chance of traveling there however makes one think of so many things about the universe that it is hard to let the figure go.
6-Andromeda Galaxy (Closest Galaxy to the Milky Way)
Distance: 2.53 million years with the speed of light
Climatic conditions outside the earth have not allowed humans travel there for a period of 2.53 Andromeda defines the limit since this is even more difficult to accomplish. In fact it is the nearest spiral galaxy to our Milky Way, with a massive distance of 2.53 million light years. Traveling there at the speed of light would take 2.53 million years! What is even more interesting, is that Andromeda and Milky Way are moving towards each other and will collide in some 4.5 billion years. Maybe, practically another day this galaxy will already be much closer than it is now.
7-The Edge of the Observable Universe
Distance: 46 billion light years
Traveling time: 46 billion years imitating the motion of light
It is difficult to grasp the size of the universe as it is so incredibly huge, but the limit that has been seen is the observable universe - the edge that is in 46.6 billion light-years away. And even traveling at light speed, it will take you 46.6 billion years to arrive there, the time work which puts the earthly age and even that of the entire solar system to shame. And what lies beyond this point? The sad reality is that mankind will never go further or see anything more than the observable universe. This barrier is a limit to our domain of space as the very end and will never be reached.
How Does This Concerns Us?
Space exploration is a very exciting thing to think of, however, consideration of the sheer volume of the universe makes it evident that we are just but a dot in this exceedingly wide universe. Present capabilities confine us to the neighboring planets, and occasionally the prospects of future improvements reignite the fantasies. At the moment, the lunar and Martian surfaces are the only feasible limits for space exploration above the earth.
One small step for us is usually a great one in pushing the frontiers of possibilities, and who can tell? Maybe stepping out of our solar system and roaming around the universe will not be a fantasy any longer. To that point though, we will just keep looking up at the skies, thinking of the how far away worlds and the vastness that lies ahead.