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f_d t1_iv3ztc6 wrote

Reply to comment by roxmj8 in Closest known black hole to Earth spotted by astronomers by lunarmoonr

Which would also not be something you want barreling straight through the solar system toward the Earth. But those are all extremely unlikely scenarios.

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Mollusc_Memes t1_iv5du5h wrote

And even if it were, we’d have over a thousand years to get out of the solar system. Nobody alive today would ever meet anyone who’d get to meet somebody affected by this black hole.

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f_d t1_iv6l9na wrote

It looks like a microscopic black hole passed through the end of your sentence. But you are still correct.

Barring total societal collapse, humans could probably cobble together some kind of interstellar life raft in the space of a thousand years. Would they be able to evacuate most of the planet to a safe destination? Hard to say for sure. With current technology it would be very unlikely. But at least they would know they needed to get to work on it.

For all we know, there's a deadly asteroid already headed toward us from a blind spot. And the Earth won't support life forever. Distant black holes or not, getting a toehold outside the solar system is a vital step if we want our lineage to continue.

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roxmj8 t1_iv42zo3 wrote

We would already know this is happening, and it’s not. Stars don’t move at the speed of light.

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