15 maggio 2010

Scale

As a massive geek, one of the perks of being incapacitated is endless viewing of SciChan/DiscChan/NatGeo space & astrophysics shows. They tend to throw out little nuggets that I happen to find infinitely interesting.
I while back I mentioned that space is HUGE (I won a Pulitzer for that one). Just how big?
One astronomer put it thus:
First, start by thinking about how many people are on Earth. Alot, huh?
Well, as big as the Earth is, you can fit a million Earths in the Sun.
Now look at the period of this sentence.
If the Sun was the size of that period, then the Milky Way would be the size of the United States.
!!


Reality:
More to the point, as another astronomer put it, the size and scope of space is really beyond human comprehension.
Pretty much.
More ridiculously absurd nuggets to follow.

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