The known universe

[Krazy Kat]

Interesting thread. Those astronomical units are so mindboggling!

I wanted to see how much of the solar system I could fit into my sitting room, which is approx 10ft 2 (without the bay window). To keep the size of the Earth visible to the naked eye, the Sun would have to be (roughly) a little bit bigger than a tennis ball.

Then I just supposed Mars would be indoors, because Jupiter would be in the garden. And Pluto...well, it's too cold outside to for a measured walk...phew! Magnification seems to make more sense than miniturisation. I'll try it again some other day.

[drew]

I never realized the Moon was that far away!

[fragile granite]

Krazy Kat, what you attempted would make an awesome classroom project for middle school students! Again, it conveys a sense of scale. Proportionately speaking, there is just as much "space" within the atom as there is within the solar system. I seem to recall that if the sun were the size of a grain of sand, the closest star, Alpha Centauri, would be about two miles away!

I do appreciate it, lorin, and in a manner of speaking, we're all working on overcoming those limitations. Indeed, it seems to me those people dance because they have finally realized, it makes no difference which direction you go. Microcosmic or macrocosmic, miniturization or magnification, they dance because the song (and the pattern) remains the same: it is the Song of Life.

Perhaps members of this forum would be interested in this link:

The Size of Our World



This compares all the small, rocky, worlds. Maybe some of you know that Pluto was recently demoted to minor planet status. Pluto itself hasn't changed, merely the scientific definition of "planet" has.



This compares the gas-giant planets with the small, rocky, worlds.



This compares the sun with its family of planets.



This compares the sun with a few nearby stars. Depending on the exact method used, we could say the sun is just a bit smaller than the average star. Keep in mind that the vast majority of stars are smaller than the sun.



This compares the sun with a few well known Red or Blue Supergiant stars. There are very few stars larger than Antares.

[Menolly]

Krazy Kat, what you attempted would make an awesome classroom project for middle school students! Again, it conveys a sense of scale. Proportionately speaking, there is just as much "space" within the atom as there is within the solar system. I seem to recall that if the sun were the size of a grain of sand, the closest star, Alpha Centauri, would be about two miles away!

Those of us here in Gator Town have been blessed with the outdoor Gainesville Solar Walk since 2002. Beorn, Hyperception and I have attended many a field trip, and have done the walk only as a family, on many an occasion.

I remember when I shared the following article on my Facebook, Furls gave it a "Like."

City to cover solar walk sculptures for AIDS awareness

And once again...
*tears*

[fragile granite]

It seems Gainesville turned a classroom project into a public art & social awareness project regardless of Pluto's status.

Awesome Menolly!

p.s. isn't Molley Hatchet from Gainesville?

[Kil Tyme]

I was surprised at the two vast swaths of the sky they haven't yet mapped; they are relatively huge areas! They need to get off their butts and start mappin. I also found it interesting of the part where we are outside the universe looking at the whole thing, where actually, from what I read, there is no "outside the universe"; if you went in one direction long enough, you'd end up back where you started; now that is mid-boggleing.

[fragile granite]

Kil Tyme,

Regarding those areas you mentioned which aren't yet mapped---it's because these areas coincide with our galactic plane. It's a case of nearer (and brighter) objects blocking farther (and therefore dimmer) objects beyond our galaxy.

Trust me, it isn't for lack of trying.

Stellar density of stars within the Milky Way along the galactic plane, especially in the direction of the galactic core, as well as copious amounts of interstellar dust within the spiral arms makes it extremely difficult to map anything in the direction of the galactic plane. Hence, there are large areas of the sky which haven't been mapped for those reasons. The directions away from the galactic plane are much easier for current technology and research methods to map. While it is possible for some of our current methods and technology to penetrate the galactic plane, it doesn't give a complete enough picture to map those directions.

Another link I'd like to submit is called "Galaxy Map" which the star students of this forum may find both educational and entertaining in an effort to understand more about this topic.

FG

[fragile granite]

re Pluto:



Hubble's most recent pics of Pluto are astonishing! For more here's a link to story on Space.com:

New Views of Pluto Reveal Weird Bright Spot

By Clara Moskowitz
SPACE.com Staff Writer
posted: 04 February 2010
01:49 pm ET

This story was updated at 1:59 p.m.ET

Dwarf planet or not, Pluto remains a puzzle.

[Krazy Kat]

I really need to get myself a camera so I wouldn't have to fumble my way through the descriptive like this. Anyway -

Lunar Observation

Last night I took a short walk, short because it was very cold.
In the sky was a three-quartered moon, pearly white and misty. It was surrounded by an immense halo. At first glance I took it for a ring of light, but on further observation saw that it was a very thinly spun cloud.

It wasn't a full halo, only about 110 to 160 degrees arc (a guesstimate as I don't normally carry a protractor around with me in my pocket.) On the southern part of the sky the clouds were thinly streaked to a small angle with an unusual single oblique line of cloud running down across it.

Something had cut the sky. What that might have been I have absolutely no idea.
It might have been a night jet, but I think that would have dispersed the veil of cloud that was with it.

Also, within the halo was a single star. All other stars were faintly hidden behind the southern cloud and the heavy northern cloud cover.
It was really neat and I'm glad to have seen it.

Drat clumsy words! I really must get myself a camera!