This is Earth, located 400 kilometers above, in an area that can be called space, reaching an altitude comparable to that of a commercial airplane. This place is difficult to reach without the propulsion of a rocket, and it is also the orbit where the space station is circling. It is a place that feels incredibly far and high to us. But what about a place even farther away? This is where our satellite, the Moon, resides. It is approximately 380,000 kilometers away from Earth. This distance is astonishingly far, especially since it is a place we cannot know without a spacecraft. If we were to communicate from here to Earth, we would actually experience a time delay due to the speed of light limitation. For a very long time, the Moon has been our distant neighbor. Shall we take a trip down there? This is a place that humanity has gazed at for hundreds of thousands of years. In this place, which has remained silent for billions of years without a trace of anyone, we have, for the very first time, just recently...

Looking up at the Earth, it is the farthest place where our other human footprints have reached. But what about farther places? This is our neighboring planet, Mars. Mars is located about 200 million kilometers from Earth on average, making it our most familiar neighboring planet. However, Mars is much farther away than we think. It takes more than half a year to reach Mars, even when the orbits are closest to overlapping. Currently, we lack the capability to send humans to such distant places, so Mars has been explored by various robotic missions, but human footprints have yet to be left there. Despite being an unknown planet so far away, Mars is the first planet with a relatively high possibility of human visitation. In terms of distance, Mars is close enough to Earth within our solar system, while the outer planets are simply beyond comprehension in terms of distance.

In the Kuiper Belt, where the demoted Pluto resides, there is a lesser-known dwarf planet called Haumea. This unusual dwarf planet is famous for its flattened shape and ring system. The Kuiper Belt is home to many small dwarf planets of various shapes and sizes. Among them, Haumea is one of the largest and has two moons. These dwarf planets are primarily located at least 30 times farther from the Earth than the Sun, making them a new family of demoted Pluto. Another well-known dwarf planet in this family is Eris. This dwarf planet is the farthest from Earth and was once speculated to be the tenth planet in the solar system due to its size, as there were no significant competitors similar in size to Pluto. However, it was eventually classified as a member of the dwarf planet category.

Eris is on average about 10 billion kilometers away from Earth. This is an astronomical distance that is 26,000 times greater than the distance between Earth and the Moon, making it a distance that would take decades to travel. We see the Sun as it was 8 minutes ago, but here we see it as it was 8 hours ago. However, no matter how far the outer edges of the solar system are, they would seem trivial compared to the distances to other star systems. The nearest exoplanet, Proxima Centauri, is about 40 trillion kilometers away from Earth. From this location, we would see the Sun as it was a staggering 4 years ago. Such an unimaginable distance would make Earth seem the size of an ant, with distances equivalent to many Americas. Voyager 1 still has about 80,000 years left to reach Proxima. Proxima also has planets, the most famous of which is Proxima b, where the possibility of life exists. Let's take a look at the planet.

Proxima b is the closest exoplanet to Earth. Proxima b is a rocky planet similar in size to Earth, with a warm climate and oceans, making it a place where life could potentially exist. Shall we take a closer look? 

Proxima b appears to have a desert-like terrain and a rough rocky surface, with an average temperature of around minus 30 degrees Celsius, which is close to an environment capable of supporting life. However, it is tidally locked to its star, meaning that eternal day and night coexist. Therefore, the dark and cold side is unlikely to be suitable for life. 

Proxima b is part of the Centaurus system, a multiple star system that includes Alpha Centauri A and B, which coexist as a triple star system. From Proxima b, along with its host star, two cousin stars also illuminate the sky. Is it possible that extraterrestrial life exists here? 

Proxima is even beyond the reach of unmanned exploration.

We are in a distant yet fascinating neighboring star system. This place takes a whopping 80,000 years to travel to, but someday it will be the closest neighbor we visit. However, even at the speed of light, it takes more than 8 years for a round trip to this neighbor, so it won't be an easy journey. The universe is harshly vast, and the stars in the night sky are incredibly far apart. Nevertheless, it will be an adventure worth taking, as the universe is so beautiful, like this brightly shining star. If you travel a bit further from Proxima, you will encounter a star called Sirius, the brightest star in our night sky. Sirius is bright on its own, but because it is incredibly close to us, it has become the brightest star in our night sky. That is why it was named Sirius, which means to sparkle.

Sirius is a binary star system that has a companion star. The companion star, Sirius B, was once brighter than Sirius itself, but now it has passed away, leaving behind only a white dwarf. Shall we take a closer look? 

The white dwarf that is Sirius B is so faint that it cannot be seen with the naked eye. Its atmosphere has completely dissipated, leaving only a high-density core that is smaller than Earth. Let's descend a bit. 

White dwarfs have such strong gravity that they can bend light. Due to their compact surface area, they also have a relatively fast rotation speed. If Sirius B had been heavier, it would have become a neutron star. 

In the current night sky, it would have been dozens of times brighter than Sirius. Our Sun is also destined to become a white dwarf someday when it reaches the end of its life. 

The Sirius binary star system is located about 8.6 light-years away from Earth.

There is a star cluster called the Hyades, which is the second closest star system to us after the Centaurus constellation. The Sirius star system is incredibly far away from us. However, the places we are about to discuss are even less within reach. This location, a staggering 153 light-years away, means that even if we could travel at the speed of light, we would not reach it in a lifetime. This is the closest open star cluster to Earth, known as the Hyades cluster. This cluster, which spans a wide area, contains hundreds of stars scattered across it and is one of the most prominent open star clusters in the night sky, along with the Pleiades cluster. The stars, spread over dozens of light-years, are all born from the same nebula and are mainly composed of young main-sequence stars. While they may appear as a single star in our night sky, most of the stars here are often binary. To visit this place aboard the Koizor 1, you would need to...

It takes about three million years, so the level we can explore directly is already far beyond our reach. However, we can observe it with telescopes. We can see the Hyades cluster, but because it took so long for the light to reach us, we can only see it as it appeared 150 years ago. This phenomenon becomes more pronounced the farther away the object is. Everything we see from the Earth has varying light travel times. But we must keep moving forward. What lies beyond the Hyades cluster? This seems to have come in incorrectly. Where are we? An enormous supergiant planet has revealed itself. Due to the immense gravity of this planet, it seems we have been drawn in here by mistake. This gigantic planet, located about 358 light-years from home, is the largest planet ever observed in the history of planet observation.

HD1 pipe 6 is a strange one. This enormous planet, which is close to the sun in terms of size, is a giant with a diameter seven times wider than Jupiter. If this incredible ancient planet were the size of a hula hoop, it would be comparable to a 30-story apartment building. If it were located where Venus or Mercury is, it would appear almost as large as the sun. This giant gas planet, which seems to be in the early stages of formation, is believed to have grown so massive due to absorbing a rich amount of material around its star. It's a relief to have escaped from that. Now, shall we embark on our next journey? Our destination is the star that served as a guiding map when our ancestors lost their way. Relying on it, our many ancestors crossed the rugged wilderness, scaled mountains, and sailed across the seas. This star, which was our landmark, always maintained its position.

The star is Polaris, the North Star. This star, which is closest to the North Pole in the night sky, has served as a compass for finding direction. By looking at this star, we could determine which way to go. Although it is often recognized as a bright star in the night sky, in reality, Polaris is quite faint. To see it with the naked eye, you need to find it using the Big Dipper. Polaris also has a companion star that is not visible to the naked eye. 

In fact, Polaris is a Cepheid variable star that is 120 times brighter than the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius. However, due to its enormous distance of 433 light-years, it appears faint in the night sky. A distance of several hundred light-years is incredibly daunting. But we will keep moving forward. What awaits us in the farther reaches of space? The spiral nebula is the Helix Nebula.

About 700 light-years away, this beautiful nebula was created by the dying breath of a star. When a star reaches the end of its life, it no longer has the strength to hold onto heavy elements, and the material that formed it is expelled into space. As a result, such beautiful forms of nebulae are created, known as planetary nebulae—these lovely cloud-like shapes. Shall we take a closer look inside the nebula? 

At the center of the planetary nebula is a lonely star, the owner of this place, a small white dwarf. After expelling all the material of the star, only the core remains, which is the remnant of the star. This beautiful nebula, the Helix Nebula, is often referred to as the Eye of God due to its resemblance to an eye. However, nebulae do not only take on this appearance. Planetary nebulae, like the Helix Nebula, are relatively small remnants of dying stars.

규모의 성운이죠. 우리에게 정말 유명한 성운이 또 있습니다. 지구로부터 약 1344 광년이나 떨어진 곳에 있는 아주 밝은 성운이죠. 과연 어떤 성운일까요? 바로 거대한 발광 성운, 오리온 성운입니다. 오리온자리에 수백 광년에 걸쳐 뻗어 있는 이 거대한 성관 구름의 복합체는 2800개의 별들을 품고 있는 오리온자리의 사다리꼴 성당, 트라페 지용 성단이 속해 있는 거대한 성운입니다. 온도가 무려 1만 도에 이르는 오리온 성운의 중심부에서는 동부한 가스와 성관 물질이 모여 새로운 별들이 탄생합니다. 오리온 성운의 별들은 완전히 같지 않아 젊은 별들로 이루어져 있어 그 나이가 고작 몇만 년밖에 되지 않습니다. 오리온 성운은 수많은 신생 별들을 품고 있는 별들의 요람인 것이죠. 오리온 성운은 우리의 밤하늘에서 가장 밝은 성운이자, 1천 방년이 넘는 어마어마한 거리에도 불구하고 여전히 그 아름다움을 뽐내고 있습니다.

What we can see with the naked eye is truly remarkable; it shines so brightly that it can be seen even in polluted skies. The Orion constellation is a celestial body located in a very distant place. We have traveled an immense distance, over a thousand years at the speed of light. However, we still need to go further because we are curious about how far we can actually reach. 

What lies beyond a thousand light-years? From now on, we must be prepared, as we are venturing into a universe so far that it is truly unimaginable. 

This is the giant globular cluster NGC 2808, located 31,000 light-years away. It is one of the largest clusters in our galaxy, containing over a million stars gathered in one place. This enormous cluster is home to thousands of stars, all of which are in close proximity to our Sun.

The stars are so densely packed that they could distribute across the universe. In such a massive star cluster, an incredible landscape unfolds where the entire sky we can see is covered with stars. The reason these enormous stars are gathered here is that globular clusters are actually remnants of gigantic celestial bodies that once collided with our galaxy and became stranded wrecks. For this reason, globular clusters are mostly located at tremendous distances from us. We have come frighteningly far. Globular clusters are like lonely tuna drifting far away from our galaxy. This is not a place one would typically consider distant. Just as it is nearly impossible for primitive beings to look at Earth from space, we would need to travel on Voyager 1 to observe our galaxy from intergalactic space.

It will take over a billion years because the universe is so vast that it would make even the most basic concepts feel overwhelming. However, there is still more to come because behind our galaxy, there is still another world. From here, it is truly incomprehensibly far away. 160,000 light-years away is the Magellanic Cloud. Our galaxy has satellite galaxies, and among them, the most well-known is the Magellanic Cloud, which is the most distant external galaxy compared to any celestial body in our Milky Way. The Magellanic Cloud may seem close to us, but it is clearly a different world from where we live. When we look at our galaxy from here, it will appear as if a fish, no matter how much it swims, cannot escape the confines of its aquarium. This distance between here and our galaxy is beyond what humans can imagine. However, there is another Magellanic Cloud, which is the Small Magellanic Cloud.

Sombrero, which is much darker and smaller, is not easily visible from the sky. The Large Magellanic Cloud is located about 200,000 light-years away from us. The Large Magellanic Cloud is a small galaxy containing approximately 3 billion stars. While it is really small compared to our galaxy, it is still one of the most representative satellites along with the Small Magellanic Cloud. These two Magellanic Clouds are what we commonly refer to as satellite galaxies, but in fact, our galaxy has over 60 satellite galaxies. Let's take a look at what some of them are. 

About 330,000 light-years away, in the constellation Ursa Major, is the dwarf galaxy Ursa Major II. This distant galaxy orbits our Milky Way and is part of a world that is not well known to us. This small galaxy contains about 68 million stars.

There are numerous satellite cultures, most of which are relatively small in scale. Among these satellite cultures, what about the farthest one? Let's go to the Leo II dwarf galaxy, located in the constellation Leo. The Leo II dwarf is situated 1.36 million light-years away from us and is a satellite culture that is incredibly distant from our galaxy. It can be said to be at the very edge of the influence of our galaxy. The Leo II dwarf, hidden in a faraway place, is a very small world with only a few million stars. This place is so dark and faint that it cannot be seen with the naked eye. This tiny world, hidden far away, is one of the smallest and darkest galaxies in our vicinity and is truly difficult to observe, existing on the fringes of the gravitational pull of our galaxy.

The satellite orbiting the edge is the dwarf planet, which is the final destination on the path of our galaxy. So, what will we encounter once we leave this final stop? Beyond our galactic city, we will meet a nearby neighboring city, our most famous and familiar neighbor, Andromeda. The Andromeda Galaxy, visible to the naked eye, has long been known as the closest neighboring world. To reach this amazing world, we must travel a distance of 2.5 million light-years. After traversing that enormous distance, we will encounter the beautiful galaxy known as Andromeda. The massive spiral galaxy, Andromeda, is the largest in the local group and is more than twice the size of our Milky Way, boasting a vast expanse. In our neighborhood, Andromeda has twice as many stars as our galaxy, making it a magnificent and dazzling sight.

The Milky Way is a beautiful neighboring world, with over a trillion stars spread across a diameter of 150,000 light-years. The magnificent Andromeda Galaxy, known to us for a long time, is our beautiful neighboring city that has accompanied us in the night sky. However, beyond the national treasure, the universe, it will no longer be a familiar place. The exploding galaxy is the Andromeda Galaxy. Here, an enormous amount of stellar material is extending outward from the center, and this is a galaxy on the brink of collapse due to an imminent collision. The stellar material at the blazing center is being expelled by the gravitational forces of the neighboring galaxy, resulting in the destruction of the galaxy's structure due to tidal interactions between galaxies. In the center of the galaxy, distorted by the encounter with an unwelcome visitor, there is a scream that has completely twisted.

A tremendous amount of star-forming material flows in, leading to explosive star formation, a phenomenon known as a starburst. This can be described as the flames rising from a collapsing galaxy. The visual galaxy Messier 82 is located 12 million light-years away in a truly deep and dark part of the universe. It is an unimaginably distant place. However, from now on, we must venture into an even deeper, endless abyss. 

This is the Whirlpool Galaxy, NGC 5194, existing at an inconceivable distance of 31 million light-years. This massive spiral galaxy is in the process of merging with another smaller galaxy. The Whirlpool Galaxy is being fed by a companion galaxy that is being drawn in by it. At a distance of tens of millions of light-years, even at the speed of light, the existence of the Whirlpool Galaxy is beyond our imagination.

We are in the deep, dark universe. From here, even if we want to go back, it would take 62 billion years by spaceship. The astronomical scale of the universe is so overwhelming that it borders on terrifying. We have come so far that we no longer even have a sense of where we started from. Where does this pitch-black abyss end? This is the Antennae Galaxy, existing in a long stretch of darkness, 65 million light-years away. The Antennae Galaxy has a bizarre appearance, as a pair of galaxies dance and spin towards each other. The two galaxies are interacting, mixing with each other through gravity. Originally, they each had beautiful spiral shapes, but during the process of their collision, they ended up destroying each other, resulting in this strange appearance. The Antennae Galaxy, hidden in the pitch-black darkness, is a celestial body located in a place beyond our imagination.

Because it is so far away that even at the speed of light, we wouldn't have enough time to get there. However, we now need to go beyond the hundreds of millions. Beyond the distance of 460 million, we encounter a desperate galaxy in another world. NGC 665, located in the Hercules cluster, is a much stranger world than we might think. It is truly a unique place that is hard to find even in the vast universe. It is a triple interaction galaxy where massive galaxies collide. In this galaxy, where truly bizarre events are taking place, you will see a chilling sight of a colossal galaxy almost covering the night sky. To reach this unimaginably distant place, if we had started traveling at the speed of light, we would have been staring at the screen for over 400 million years, living in a world of interaction within the depths of eternity.

MGC 655 is an astronomical object located at an unrealistically harsh distance from us. We have truly come to the depths of the universe, and if we go any farther, what could possibly be out there? This is a ring galaxy known as a Hawks Object, located in a far-off region of the universe that is beyond comprehension. The Hawks Object, existing at a distance of 600 million light-years, is a remarkably rare ring galaxy that is nearly perfect. Such galaxies are formed through intricately crafted interactions that result from collisions. This beautiful and perfect ring galaxy is quite rare and not commonly seen. The tail galaxy exists in a profoundly distant universe, beyond deep and dark times. Now, it feels as though we are almost at the end of this long journey. Have we finally reached the edge of the universe?

This is the largest spiral galaxy, known as a barred spiral. This overwhelming galaxy is the largest barred spiral galaxy we can encounter on our long journey of 1.2 billion light-years through the universe. This astonishing celestial body has an abnormal diameter that is six times wider than our own galaxy. It is an incredibly vast world where countless stars are presumed to be floating. This place is nearly 1.2 billion years away, even at the speed of light. We have traveled through numerous stars and galaxies to reach a distant world that is beyond count. Is there no longer a place for us to go? Not yet, because at the very edge of this long universe, there exists an unimaginable monster, possessing gravity strong enough to swallow light and galaxies, with a power equivalent to 140 trillion times that of the sun.

바로 우주의 거의 끝자락에 왔을 때 만날 수 있는 이 세상에서 가장 강력한 힘을 가진 존재, 그 이상 돈 식스 에이틴입니다. 100억 광년이 넘는 머나먼 우주 반대편에 존재하는 상상을 초월하는 천체, 그 존재는 우주에서 가장 강력한 블랙홀이며, 거대한 성운을 두르고 있을 정도로 엄청난 에너지를 방출하는 우주에서 가장 밝고 강력한 존재입니다. 인간이 신이라고 불러도 이상하지 않을 정도의 위력을 가진 천체입니다. 그 존재가 방출한 천문학적인 에너지는 우주가 얼마나 강한 힘을 품을 수 있는지를 우리에게 보여주는 경이로운 자연의 증거입니다. 여기는 감히 인간이 엿볼 수 있는 곳이 아닙니다. 그 존재는 초창기의 우주에 존재했던 원시의 은하의 활동성 은하액으로, 태양의 수백조 개에 달하는 빛을 내뿜는 우주에서 가장 밝은 천체입니다. 우리가 보고 있는 이 빛은 무려 108억 년 전에 발현된 우주에서 가장 강력한 빛입니다.

That galaxy is a celestial body located in a really distant place, close to the edge of the universe. We have come to a point in the universe that is almost at its end. Have we now reached a point where the journey of the universe comes to a close? Our journey is not over yet, as the farthest world we know still has a destination on this long journey. 

That place is the most distant observable galaxy, Jade GS-92000, located near the very edge of the visible universe. This primordial galaxy, formed just 200 million years after the birth of the universe, possesses the highest redshift known, making it the farthest galaxy we are aware of. The distance to it is an astonishing 33.6 billion light-years, a distance that borders on the mysterious, and we have no physical means to reach it.

곳입니다. 빛이 우리에게 날아온 광행 거리는 136억 광년이지만, 우주의 팽창으로 인해 실제 공간상의 거리는 무려 336억 광년이 된 것입니다. 지금부터 빛의 속도로 출발하더라도 오히려 조금씩 멀어지다가 결국에는 영원히 시야에서 사라지게 될 것입니다. 그러나 우리는 초월적인 힘으로 이곳까지 왔습니다. 삼백억 광년에 달하는 이 머나먼 세계조차도 관측 가능한 우주라는 우리에게 보이는 지평선의 끝자락일 뿐, 이것 또한 드넓은 우주 한가운데 어딘가에 불과합니다. 우주라는 공간이 도대체 얼마나 거대한 것인지, 기초 차도 가르쳐 주지 못할 정도로 넓기 때문입니다. 우리는 세상의 끝을 향해 먼 여정을 떠나왔지만, 이곳에서 우리가 볼 수 있는 것은 또 다른 세계의 시작이었습니다. 우리들의 여정 또한.

Is this a journey towards another beginning rather than an end? Thank you for joining us on this journey.

특별 기획 | 우주의 끝을 향한 여정

실감나는 우주 여정을 떠나보는 채널
