The Engine and Core of our Galaxy
18 Sep 2024Cristina Gomez
Another day of my galactic expedition aboard the Deep Space Explorer, my trusty 'Conda'. Today marks a milestone in my journey - I've finally reached Sagittarius A Star, again... I have been there before - the supermassive black hole at the heart of our Milky Way. Yes, the approach was breathtaking, watching the swirling distortion of the accretion disk grow larger in my viewscreen with each passing moment. Again, I half expected to encounter a bustling hub of activity, with countless ships and stations orbiting this cosmic marvel. I found only silence and emptiness.The star density here is unlike anything I've ever seen. Everywhere I look, the void is filled with countless pinpricks of light, each a sun unto itself. It's both awe-inspiring and humbling to witness the sheer scale of stellar bodies clustered around this gravitational giant. The navigation computer works overtime to plot safe courses through this celestial maze, and I find myself constantly adjusting my route to avoid unexpected stellar phenomena.
I can't shake the feeling of profound loneliness out here. In all my travels across the galaxy, I've yet to encounter any signs of sentient alien life. I had hoped that perhaps here, at the very core of our galaxy, I might find evidence of an ancient civilization or some cosmic beacon left behind by an advanced species. Instead, I'm met with the same empty expanses of space, albeit more densely packed with stars. The silence is deafening, and I find myself longing for the distant outposts of human civilization I left behind months ago.
As I prepare to continue my journey, a thought nags at me: is every galaxy like this? Are we truly alone in this vast cosmic ocean? Or are there other travelers out there, asking themselves the same questions as they gaze upon the heart of their own galaxies? Perhaps one day, humanity will develop the technology to bridge these incomprehensible distances and find out. Until then, I'll keep exploring, charting the unknown, and hoping that somewhere out there, someone or something is doing the same.