This makes you feel small

Message boards : Science (non-SETI) : This makes you feel small

Author	Message
SciManStev Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 20 Jun 99 Posts: 4291 Credit: 62,702,860 RAC: 73,252	Message 1122198 - Posted: 27 Jun 2011, 22:38:11 UTC
	Steve ____________ Warning, addicted to SETI crunching! Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group. GPUUG Website
	ID: 1122198 ·

Byron Leigh Hatch @ team Carl Sagan Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 5 Jul 99 Posts: 2340 Credit: 11,689,977 RAC: 352	Message 1122254 - Posted: 28 Jun 2011, 1:02:07 UTC - in response to Message 1122198.
	WOW! the star Antares makes our Sun look like a tiny spec of dust. thank you Steve Best Wishes Byron
	ID: 1122254 ·

Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 9 Apr 02 Posts: 11987 Credit: 17,926,003 RAC: 60,450	Message 1122268 - Posted: 28 Jun 2011, 2:05:11 UTC - in response to Message 1122198.
	I love those pictures Steve! Those are so awesome to try to comprehend.
	ID: 1122268 ·

Lint trap Send message Joined: 30 May 03 Posts: 854 Credit: 20,141,308 RAC: 21,564	Message 1122278 - Posted: 28 Jun 2011, 2:23:14 UTC
	I used to walk farther than that to school! and it was uphill in both directions!!! LOL Thanks, Steve!, i think... Martin
	ID: 1122278 ·

SciManStev Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 20 Jun 99 Posts: 4291 Credit: 62,702,860 RAC: 73,252	Message 1122283 - Posted: 28 Jun 2011, 2:56:13 UTC
	What seems to be evident, is that the earth, and even the sun could vanish completely, and it would have no effect on anything. The rest of the galaxy, and universe would carry on for trillions of years until it eventually goes dark, is comsumed by black holes, and evaporates. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/history-universe.html Steve ____________ Warning, addicted to SETI crunching! Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group. GPUUG Website
	ID: 1122283 ·

Lint trap Send message Joined: 30 May 03 Posts: 854 Credit: 20,141,308 RAC: 21,564	Message 1122306 - Posted: 28 Jun 2011, 4:12:26 UTC Last modified: 28 Jun 2011, 4:36:35 UTC
	Visuals, like the pictures you posted Steve, are about the only way my pea brain can hope to comprehend the size of space and some of the objects in it. A trick I learned before the internet is to reduce everything to familiar (and comprehensible) units of measure. If space were scaled down so that 1/8th inch equaled one million miles, then the 96 1/8th inch marks on a 12" ruler could represent the ~93 million miles between Sun and Earth (1 AU) with only a small amount of error. Close enough. At that scale, Pluto would be ~40 ft (~40 AU's) from the Sun. On average, very roughly. The Sun's nearest companion, Proxima Centauri, would be over 51 Miles away! The real distance to the star is calculated (on-line) at 271,000 AU (4.22 ly). And so far, we humans have ventured out into space about 1/32" during our lunar excursions. Mind-boggling! Martin /edited/ ps more scales and other info here, often with the scale size of relevant objects.
	ID: 1122306 ·

SciManStev Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 20 Jun 99 Posts: 4291 Credit: 62,702,860 RAC: 73,252	Message 1122409 - Posted: 28 Jun 2011, 10:00:44 UTC
	One of my favorite comparisons is that if you take the sun, and the entire solar system, including Pluto and the Kyper belt, and shrink it to the size of a dime, the nearest star, (binary star Alpha Centari) is 5 miles away. (4.37 light years) The distances become mind boggling when you consider the size of a galaxy, and then the billions on billions of galaxies in the visible universe. If it takes 100,000 years traveling at 186,000 miles every second, just to cross our own milky way galaxy, the distances between the galaxies is just huge. Since the universe has been here 13.7 billion years, and the earth, about 4 billion years, although non-inhabitable for most of it, and the universe will be here trillions of years after the earth is swallowed up by the sun becoming a red giant, in makes one think.... Steve ____________ Warning, addicted to SETI crunching! Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group. GPUUG Website
	ID: 1122409 ·

skildude Send message Joined: 4 Oct 00 Posts: 8941 Credit: 36,438,163 RAC: 56,475	Message 1122436 - Posted: 28 Jun 2011, 12:54:16 UTC Last modified: 28 Jun 2011, 12:54:58 UTC
	checkout the dust cloud around Betelgeuse Betelgeuse is the small red circle in the center ____________ Proud member of TSWB. End terrorism by building a school
	ID: 1122436 ·

Message boards : Science (non-SETI) : This makes you feel small