Scale of the universe

[awein999]

I've seen videos of the scale of the universe similar to this. I found this very cool.

[Reach]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNAUR7NQCLA

A cool scene from the start of Contact (movie) related to the original post here.

Another cool video of magnification; http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4m...o-a-tooth_tech

starts relatively boring but it's interesting to see things completely invisible to us at those magnifications.

[Reincarnate]

Originally Posted by Reach

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNAUR7NQCLA

A cool scene from the start of Contact (movie) related to the original post here.

Another cool video of magnification; http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4m...o-a-tooth_tech

starts relatively boring but it's interesting to see things completely invisible to us at those magnifications.

I always loved that scene from Contact even though the radio-signal stuff is inaccurate (the really early radio signals are lightyears away, but based on the "speed of zoom-out" in that scene, the sound of those early signals would zip by pretty quickly so it's negligible as far as the movie's concerned)


Astronomy is one of the coolest subjects ever.


I have no idea how someone could ever look at pictures like these and not be utterly amazed. To think that everything comes from these swirling masses of gas and elements is mind-blowing, especially when you consider just how large the universe is. It's overwhelming @_@ It's even crazier when you consider just how blind we are as humans, unable to see most of the electromagnetic spectrum. The thought that this stuff is hiding past our blue sky makes me anxious.

[Reincarnate]

If an atom were blown up to the size of a stadium, a pinhead would be the nucleus. I'm sure we've all heard that analogy.

But, now blow up that atom to the size of the known universe -- a Planck length would be a typical tree on our planet.

Size of known universe: 10^26 meters magnitude
Size of tree: 10^1 meters magnitude
Size of Planck length: 10^-35 meters magnitude
Size of atomic diameter: 10^-10 meters magnitude

Compare magnitudes:
26-1 = 25
-10-(-35) = 25

[foilman8805]

http://www.wimp.com/knownuniverse/

[Reincarnate]

Ahhhh seeing that Big-Bang WMAP picture in that video gave me chills

[Cenright]

That was truly enjoyable. I am happy someone made it into a scale. I have seen less comprehensive ones, that focus on specific things, but this is head and shoulders above that.

[Reincarnate]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z3cVQcfb-w

[5.points]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z3cVQcfb-w

I saw something like that when I went up to Northern Michigan a couple years ago. It's amazing how much more you can see once you get away from city lights.

It's practically impossible to think of how there are BILLIONS of galaxy's that are so big it's difficult to see across them, that contain the hundreds of billions of stars, that some contain solar systems like ours, and that's just the observable universe.

[foilman8805]

Originally Posted by 5.points

It's practically impossible to think of how there are BILLIONS of galaxy's that are so big it's difficult to see across them, that contain the hundreds of billions of stars, that some contain solar systems like ours, and that's just the observable universe.

Let this video think for you then:

http://www.wimp.com/knownuniverse/

[foilman8805]

Here's another really sweet video. First minute or so is black, but there's audio. Don't be alarmed.

http://www.wimp.com/arealone/

[ghost-]

utterly amazing. I just wish we could somehow get in contact with SOMETHING. I feel lonely on this planet, when I know there are other lifeforms out there that we can meet. It's a little frustrating.

[Reincarnate]

The beauty of evolution though suggests that life on other planets would be very different. Of course, we may only be able to get in contact with other life if it's evolved (biologically and technologically) intelligent enough to send signal out in the first place. But actually TRAVERSING the cosmos seems to be a hugely difficult feat without the help of things like wormholes, as it would take many many years for us to venture outside of our own galaxy.

[LadyJawz]

Originally Posted by ghost-

utterly amazing. I just wish we could somehow get in contact with SOMETHING. I feel lonely on this planet, when I know there are other lifeforms out there that we can meet. It's a little frustrating.

Im sure we will eventually, although by the time our Radio signals reach "them" the signals will be so distorted and spread out it would most likely be unrecognizable(there is a institute doing this at the moment although the name escapes me right now) But rest assured you dont need to feel lonely when there is more then enough evidence supporting the theory that life does exist and probably intellectual life, just look up "The Drake Equation". or I can just say they estimate that there is 10 sextillion stars in the universe, now even if only 1 out of every million stars has a habitable planet thats still billions of them. The problem at hand is reaching them which we will either need a wormhole or a "warp" drive as sci-fi people call it which is in essence theoretically possible