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268 points wglb | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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waltbosz ◴[] No.42158640[source]
One fun thing think about is that these two galaxies are only aligned from our perspective in the universe. Viewed from a different location, and they're just two normal galaxies.

Also, imagine having the technology to send signals through the lens and get the attention of intelligent life on the other side.

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snakeyjake ◴[] No.42159262[source]
In order to use them as a signaling platform (how?) the signal would have needed to have been sent several billion years ago.

At 10 billion light years away from the most distant lens it is 100% certain that they are no longer in a gravitational lensing configuration.

For a frame of reference, the Milky Way will be in the middle of its epic merger with Andromeda in about 5 billion years.

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1. NetOpWibby ◴[] No.42163283[source]
This time scale is nuts to me. I cannot fathom it. Just…wow. None of this (humanity) matters in the grand scale.