The Scale of the Universe

Fantastic, thanks

Superb. Shared this with my son who is going to show his maths & science teachers tomorrow. Thanks once again.
Cheers
Flettster

Oh how insignificant we are. Great concept

That's brilliant. Great link thanks.

Great concept. Thanks.

Mind-blowing! Thanks for that. I guess size does matter.

Although, I heard an interesting episode of Radio Lab in which a former colleague of Carl Sagan's explained that in pondering whether we can make contact with intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, yes, distance is an issue, but the overriding problem is time!

Given that the earliest homo sapiens date back around 400,000 years ago (the earliest estimates), and given that the universe is estimated to be 14 billion years old, human civilization on earth is a minuscule blip along that time continuum. Perhaps humans will be around for another 400,000 years (or longer ... or, the way we're going, shorter!).

Now suppose there was an intelligent and developed civilization elsewhere in the universe, and let's suppose that it spanned a million years ... that million year span could have been 2 billion years ago! And obviously there would be no chance of contact.

That blows my mind, too!

Fred

Fred,

You may want to check out the Drake equation.

Given the age and size of the universe it's hard to believe we're alone. Whether we'll hear from them is a different matter.

Thanks, Tom ... very interesting.

Yes, the odds are that somewhere in the universe at least one other technological civilization has developed ... Sagan and his colleague were fairly sure of that.

But it's the coincidence in time that's the problem as far as making contact ... even the Drake equation doesn't factor in the vast "distances" of time.

The Drake Equation is interesting indeed - Sometimes wikepdia is invaluable for getting a grasp of a large and complicated body of knowledge with all the pros and cons. Take a look here Fermi paradox

I seem to remember that Douglas Adams said something rather good on the subject, something like - 'The Universe is big, very, very big'.

I am sure someone with a copy of 'The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Universe' to hand will have the correct quote.

Excellent graphic, and thanks for all the links.

quote:

Originally posted by JamieL_v2:
I seem to remember that Douglas Adams said something rather good on the subject, something like - 'The Universe is big, very, very big'.

As indeed did the mediaeval mystic Mother Julian of Norwich (1342-c1413),

"And in this he showed me something small, no bigger than a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed to me, and it was as round as a ball. I looked at it with the eye of my understanding and thought: What can this be? I was amazed that it could last, for I thought that because of its littleness it would suddenly have fallen into nothing. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and always will, because God loves it; and thus everything has being through the love of God."

quote:

Originally posted by JWM:

quote:

Originally posted by JamieL_v2:
I seem to remember that Douglas Adams said something rather good on the subject, something like - 'The Universe is big, very, very big'.

As indeed did the mediaeval mystic Mother Julian of Norwich (1342-c1413),

"And in this he showed me something small, no bigger than a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed to me, and it was as round as a ball. I looked at it with the eye of my understanding and thought: What can this be? I was amazed that it could last, for I thought that because of its littleness it would suddenly have fallen into nothing. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and always will, because God loves it; and thus everything has being through the love of God."

Ah yes, that's the same.

quote:

Originally posted by Sniper:
The Scale of the Universe - Hope you enjoy this.

Is my math correct?
roughly 1.471 trillion hours to cross?
Using 158,600kmps as light speed.
I have also seen light speed defined as nearly 299kmps. m=miles
Which is it?
Long way for a pizza.
MN

Marc,

IIRC, speed of light is approx 300,000 kilometers per second.

The Sun is about 93 million miles from the Earth and its light takes about 8 minutes to reach us.

Cheers

Don

Sonds about right Don

quote:

Is my math correct?
roughly 1.471 trillion hours to cross?
Using 158,600kmps as light speed.
I have also seen light speed defined as nearly 299kmps. m=miles
Which is it?
Long way for a pizza.
MN

Marc it is 186,000 miles per second for you americans.
The speed of light is really just an academic value since IF you travelled at the speed of light you would need a pretty damn big pizza since your mass would be infinite.
(E=MC2 and all that)

regards
Geoff

quote:

The speed of light is really just an academic value since IF you travelled at the speed of light you would need a pretty damn big pizza since your mass would be infinite.
(E=MC2 and all that)

If Einstien was right?

quote:

Originally posted by Geoff P:
Sonds about right Don

quote:

Is my math correct?
roughly 1.471 trillion hours to cross?
Using 158,600kmps as light speed.
I have also seen light speed defined as nearly 299kmps. m=miles
Which is it?
Long way for a pizza.
MN

Marc it is 186,000 miles per second for you americans.
The speed of light is really just an academic value since IF you travelled at the speed of light you would need a pretty damn big pizza since your mass would be infinite.
(E=MC2 and all that)

regards
Geoff

Hate to see what happens to a pizza after a sudden stop at the stoplight.
Light speed deceleration trauma.

It's always helped me to wrap my head around huge numbers, and especially to understand their relative scale, by considering these facts:

- a million seconds is roughly eleven days

- a billion seconds is roughly 32 years

- a trillion seconds, therefore, is roughly 32,000 years ... and so on and so on.

My mind never ceases to be blown pondering that. We may have trouble comprehending the numerical difference between a million, a billion, and a trillion, but almost anyone can appreciate the difference between eleven days, 32 years, and 32 thousand years!

All best,
Fred

Yes the universe is really big, you may think its a long way down the road to the chemists but thats nothing compared to space....

Perhaps not quite right but a beloved book and the orignal radio series.

Tim

Of course the most astonishing thing about the universe is not the size but the fact that the whole mind-boggling vastness of it is supported on the back of a turtle.