Interesting scales of the universe!

[weeman]

<p>Have you ever used scaled models of the universe to actually get an idea of how incredibly massive it is?</p><p>If we shrank down the solar system so that Saturn was less than an inch in diameter, the Sun would be nearly three football fields away! </p><p>Additionally, if we shrank down the universe so that the Sun were the size of a large orange, the nearest star, Proxima Cenauria, would be 2500 miles away! Even with our fastest form of propulsion, it would take about 50,000 years to reach Proxima. </p><p>Who else can add to this?</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[DrRocket]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'> the nearest star, Proxima Cenauria, would be 2500 miles away! Even with our fastest form of propulsion, it would take about 50,000 years to reach Proxima. Posted by weeman</DIV></p><p>I did a back of the envelope calculation a few years ago and came up with a similar number, actually 30,000 years with some wildly optimistic projections of Isp and mass fraction.&nbsp; The motivation was a call by Dan Golden, then NASA administrator, for a mission to the nearest star.&nbsp; I concluded that we would need more long term funding (authorized budgets normally go out no more than about 4 years) and some really dedicated people in the mission control center.<br /></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Have you ever used scaled models of the universe to actually get an idea of how incredibly massive it is?Posted by weeman</DIV></p><p>Actually, big would be a better word than massive for the subject...<img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-wink.gif" border="0" alt="Wink" title="Wink" /></p><p>I do this all the time in my meteor talks, and on public nights at the NJAA.</p><p>I have a 1 meter Sun to show planetary sizes (though the distance is too great to demonstrate).</p><p>I use an LP album (anybody remember them?) as a model of the flatness and size of the solar system (out to Neptune) and show where the earth's orbit is, and where the nearest star&nbsp;and the nearest galaxy is. People sit slack jawed when they grok it.</p><p>Anything you can do to get the scale of sizes distance in people's heads ratchets up the awe of the Universe.<br /></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[weeman]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Actually, big would be a better word than massive for the subject...I do this all the time in my meteor talks, and on public nights at the NJAA.I have a 1 meter Sun to show planetary sizes (though the distance is too great to demonstrate).I use an LP album (anybody remember them?) as a model of the flatness and size of the solar system (out to Neptune) and show where the earth's orbit is, and where the nearest star&nbsp;and the nearest galaxy is. People sit slack jawed when they grok it.Anything you can do to get the scale of sizes distance in people's heads ratchets up the awe of the Universe. <br />Posted by MeteorWayne</DIV><br /><br />Ah yes.....BIG universe! </p><p>Hopefully getting people so perplexed with the entire subject will get them more interested in astronomy. It absolutely baffles my mind when people say that they don't find astronomy to be interesting. When I see all the amazing pictures from Hubble it almost puts tears in my eyes from all the beauty! <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-cry.gif" border="0" alt="Cry" title="Cry" /></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[derekmcd]

<p>Discussions of scales of the universe always remind me of the powers of 10 videos.</p><p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glqm2knjGWU</p><p>I never tire watching these.&nbsp; Nothing like being made to feel insignificant <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-wink.gif" border="0" alt="Wink" title="Wink" /> </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div> </div><br /><div><span style="color:#0000ff" class="Apple-style-span">"If something's hard to do, then it's not worth doing." - Homer Simpson</span></div> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Discussions of scales of the universe always remind me of the powers of 10 videos.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glqm2knjGWUI never tire watching these.&nbsp; Nothing like being made to feel insignificant <br />Posted by derekmcd</DIV><br /><br />That is great stuff, have it on my hard drive.&nbsp;Probably should have a copy at the observatory for when somebody asks a good question. <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" title="Laughing" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[3488]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'><font color="#ff0000">Discussions of scales of the universe always remind me of the powers of 10 videos.</font><font color="#000080">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glqm2knjGWU</font><font color="#ff0000">&nbsp;I never tire watching these.&nbsp; Nothing like being made to feel insignificant.</font><font color="#ff0000">Posted by derekmcd</font>&nbsp;</DIV></p><p><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>Cheers Derek, that video is truly something, reminds me of a similar one done by the Late Dr Carl Sagan in Cosmos, but this one, gives a greater sense of scale.</strong></font></p><p>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'><font color="#ff0000">That is great stuff, have it on my hard drive.&nbsp;Probably should have a copy at the observatory for when somebody asks a good question. <br />Posted by MeteorWayne</font></DIV></p><p><strong><font size="2">Hi Wayne, I could imagine that being useful at The NJAA, puts things into perspective.</font></strong><br /><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>Andrew Brown.</strong></font></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[weeman]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Discussions of scales of the universe always remind me of the powers of 10 videos.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glqm2knjGWUI never tire watching these.&nbsp; Nothing like being made to feel insignificant <br />Posted by derekmcd</DIV><br /><br />Cool vid. That helped kill 9 minutes of my boredom! It reminds me of an IMAX film I saw years ago at the Air & Space Museum called 'Cosmic Voyage' (I think!). <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>