Scale of the universe

[ReaperCushions]

Sorry if this is a repost, I couldnt see it:

http://www.onemorelevel.com/game/scale_of_the_univ...

A great way of visualising it, I'd imagine good for kids (or big kids like me)

Start at one end or the other of the slider once you figure out what its doing.

[Mr Noble]

That's superb

[tuscaneer]

that is absolutely mindblowing.you need to scoot back and forth a few times just to try and take it in.and i still can't!!

[Shaolin]

Ooh that's good! I've seen similar more primitive versions before. Quite dizzying especially when you think you're as far in or out as you can be and then see how much of the slider bar there is left (fnarr).

[Simpo Two]

ReaperCushions said:

Sorry if this is a repost...

A great way of visualising it

It is and it is

[Oakey]

I once had an acid trip like this, except instead of scale I was travelling through dimensions

[jmorgan]

I like these. Puts you into perspective.

[uktrailmonster]

Simply awesome and great learning tool.

It's hard to get your head around the very small and very large scales when you are human sized. It's even very difficult to take in the sheer scale of our own planet, nevermind the scale of our Solar System and beyond.

[Simpo Two]

Oakey said:

I once had an acid trip like this, except instead of scale I was travelling through dimensions

Scale is a dimension... X,Y,Z

[crofty1984]

This might sound a bit wierd, but I find the universe to be disappointingly young.

I mean 14.odd billion years is hardly a spring chicken but look at the scale of universe slider. On one side you have unfathomably tiny objects, electron waves/particles etc. Then at the other end distances so massive I can't get my head round them. ooh, it's only a lightyear away. What in your understanding of life is even slightly comparable to the distance light can travel in one year?

Then the age of the universe. Just shy of 15 billion years. Oh. . I mean, I can easily grasp what a billion is. There are people with a billion pounds. There are 7 billion people on earth. It just sounds so ordinary.

Yes, I'm aware that's odd.

[carmonk]

crofty1984 said:

This might sound a bit wierd, but I find the universe to be disappointingly young.

I mean 14.odd billion years is hardly a spring chicken but look at the scale of universe slider. On one side you have unfathomably tiny objects, electron waves/particles etc. Then at the other end distances so massive I can't get my head round them. ooh, it's only a lightyear away. What in your understanding of life is even slightly comparable to the distance light can travel in one year?

Then the age of the universe. Just shy of 15 billion years. Oh. . I mean, I can easily grasp what a billion is. There are people with a billion pounds. There are 7 billion people on earth. It just sounds so ordinary.

Yes, I'm aware that's odd.

13.7 billion is still a large number. If each year was an inch it would go ten times round the Earth. I suppose in terms of how much time the universe has left it's a short span but then again it's generally accepted that our universe isn't the only one, and therefore time on a more general scale is far more extensive and possibly infinite. Nobody's sure exactly how this manifests yet, of course - universes separated by space / time / dimensions, branes, etc.

[tuscaneer]

carmonk said:

13.7 billion is still a large number. If each year was an inch it would go ten times round the Earth.

jesus christ,that really brings to life how big that number is!!

i love comparisons like this.

i saw something the other day to demonstrate the scale of an atom.along the lines that if you put a tennis ball in the middle of a football stadium the electrons would be whizzing round the periphery of the stadium.

also, if our sun was the size of a cricket ball in london the next star would be a cricket ball in manhattan!!

something like that anyway!

[carmonk]

tuscaneer said:

carmonk said:

13.7 billion is still a large number. If each year was an inch it would go ten times round the Earth.

jesus christ,that really brings to life how big that number is!!

i love comparisons like this.

i saw something the other day to demonstrate the scale of an atom.along the lines that if you put a tennis ball in the middle of a football stadium the electrons would be whizzing round the periphery of the stadium.

also, if our sun was the size of a cricket ball in london the next star would be a cricket ball in manhattan!!

something like that anyway!

Or, if the universe (the one we know about) was shrunk to the size of the Earth, our entire solar system would fit into a grain of pollen - 40,000,000 times.

[anonymous-user]

I like this one too ...

[tankslappa]

Talking about the size of stars, this vid is one of my faves.

http://youtu.be/HEheh1BH34Q

[crofty1984]

carmonk said:

Or, if the universe (the one we know about) was shrunk to the size of the Earth, our entire solar system would fit into a grain of pollen - 40,000,000 times.

Wow. Now that IS mind boggling.

[jbudgie]

And if you read Brian Greene's latest book there about multiple universes there could be 10 to the power 500 of them ( universes)in some theories.

Mind boggling to say the least

[carmonk]

I've deleted this because I think I got my figures wrong so I'm searching out the right ones... or trying to...

Edited by carmonk on Tuesday 7th February 18:45

[The Excession]

carmonk said:

I've deleted this because I think I got my figures wrong so I'm searching out the right ones... or trying to...

Edited by carmonk on Tuesday 7th February 18:45

Fantastic stuff carmonk.... Would you mind applying for a job researching climate change?

Still, back to the OP, great stuff I'm really looking forward to showing that to my little boy tomorrow.

[tuscaneer]

carmonk said:

Or, if the universe (the one we know about) was shrunk to the size of the Earth, our entire solar system would fit into a grain of pollen - 40,000,000 times.

i've just given myself a headache trying to compute that!!

i like that youtube vid of relative star sizes as well.we really are insignificant in the great scheme of things