If you had all the money in the world, where would you go?
Paris, New York, or even Dubai are some of the answers you would expect from the average person. We are all dazzled by Paris, the city of love and bohemian lifestyle, by New York’s busy streets, and of the opulence and decadence of Dubai. When one asks this question, the destinations are all in this blue orb tucked away in a corner of the Milky Way. We can always go further, and why shouldn’t we? Allow me to rephrase the question: Where would you go if you had all the means and there were no limits?
Stephen Hawking’s answer is not limited by economic, temporal, physical or technological boundaries; not even the force of gravity can stop him from dreaming of leaving this planet. Hawking shared five incredible places that guard the mysteries of the universe and which he would love to visit.
The Big Bang
The start of all things is the first pitstop in Hawking’s trip. His intention is to experience the moment the Universe came into being. He affirms that traveling to that precise instant would solve crucial questions and would explain one of the greatest mysteries mankind has yet to crack.
The Biggest Black Hole In the Milky Way
The second destination is described in his A Brief History of Time (1988), and it’s located in a densest part of the Milky Way, known as Sagittarius A, a supermassive black hole 4.1 million times larger than our sun. For Hawking, all is not lost if you fall into a black hole; you might appear in another universe. In a lecture at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, Hawking was swift to point out that he would keep a healthy distance. “The hole would need to be large, and if it was rotating it might have a passage to another universe. But you couldn’t come back to our universe. So although I’m keen on space flight, I’m not going to try that.”
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A mere 16 light years away lies an extrasolar planet half the size of the sun.
What makes it special? It has the highest Earth Similarity Indices for any known extrasolar planet. It is five times the size of planet Earth and further research must be conducted to deduce whether it can sustain life. Its temperature is predicted to be similar to Earth’s, but it can be subject to significant variations as it orbits its star. A crucial stop for any space traveller worth his salt.
Saturn
The crown jewel of our solar system, coveted by star gazers and scientists alike. No other planet can compare with its elegance and rings that shift year after year. Hawking is in love with this planet and its 60 moons. “I have no doubt in the future it will be a massive tourist hot spot, complete with hot-dog stands and screaming children,” he says in the documentary, “Stephen Hawking’s Favorite Places.” Important emphasis has been placed on Enceladusa,a strong candidate for sheltering life, which harbors an ocean under its icebergs and perpetual ice.
Earth
There’s no place like home. The place that houses the first spark of human consciousness. Earth is the starting point for a species that has taken thousands of years to arrive to the point in which it finds itself today. Santa Barbara, California holds a special place in Hawking’s heart, since he has fond memories of traveling there with his family while he was coping with the early stages of his neurodegenerative disease.
