"Tolkien took Eärendil's name from the Old English name Earendel, found in the poem Crist 1, which hailed him as "brightest of angels"; this was the beginning of Tolkien's Middle-earth mythology."
A poignant thing about such objects is that our descendants will never reach them (unless FTL travel is a thing). Due to the accelerating expansion of the universe, even a beam of light directed at it will never reach it.
For all us Silmarillion fans, we win again! :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E%C3%A4rendil_and_Elwing
"Tolkien took Eärendil's name from the Old English name Earendel, found in the poem Crist 1, which hailed him as "brightest of angels"; this was the beginning of Tolkien's Middle-earth mythology."
A poignant thing about such objects is that our descendants will never reach them (unless FTL travel is a thing). Due to the accelerating expansion of the universe, even a beam of light directed at it will never reach it.