I have long been fascinated by the numbers of the universe. The vast, immense, enthralling numbers. When I consider the distances and masses of advanced theoretical physics, my mind is absolutely amazed. It fuels my passion for this science.
I lean back and consider what is happening right this very moment, in one particular square block of space about the size of the room I’m sitting in, on some far off planet billions, trillions, and further light years away. Something is happening, even if it is nothing. Even if it’s just the wind blowing across a lifeless alien desert which has never been graced by even the smallest of biology.
You don’t need little green men to be awed by the universe.
The Observable Universe
First of all, if I haven’t expressed it clearly enough, the universe is big. Very big.
However, our general observable universe (the parts which we can see) is pretty damn big, too. Albeit, most likely not the entire universe, but definitely enough to keep the little Homo Sapien busy for an exceedingly long time. As a matter of fact, according to the modern opinion, no human will probably ever reach even the distances of Pluto from our Earth. Besides the distance, there’s just not much reason to go out there since there’s not much… there — and no where to go beyond that.
A likely target beyond would be Alpha Centauri C, the star outside of our solar system that is closest to Earth. It is 40 trillion kilometers away (because it looks better with zeros, here you go: 40,000,000,000,000km). That’s 4.21 light years. That is an unimaginable amount of travel time for a human, even at the fastest of speeds. Not to mention, what’s the point?
Up the Scale
Just look at the scale of some interstellar objects.
At the top of the scale for this video is VV Cephei, an eclipsing binary star system located in the constellation Cepheus. It contains a red supergiant which fills its Roche lobe when closest to its companion blue star.
Matter flows from this insane supergiant onto the blue companion. The stars are located about 3000 light years away from Earth. The distance and size is awesome, for sure and the mass is truly overwhelming in comparison to our measly human perceptions.
13 Responses to “The Unimaginable Size of The Universe”rss
Luke, on April 3rd, 2008, said:
To quote the great H2G2, ‘In the beginning, the universe was made. Many saw this as a bad idea’. Really should have been a bit more cosy shouldn’t it.
Tis a big place. Big doesn’t really do it justice. You’d have to combine every equivilent in the dictionary to get to Pluto, and then every other word in the dictionary to get to Alpha Centurai, and then sulk off in a huff when you realise that your language is physically unable to get your further your solar system’s neighbour.
/endrant
Nice article :)
Cori, on April 3rd, 2008, said:
Have you seen this video? It’s called the Powers of 10. You really get a sense of how big the universe is.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BBsOeLcUARw
You ask, “what’s the point?” If it’s possible, find new resources and maybe colonize? This takes time, however, and there definitely has to be a dedicated number of people who are willing to travel and create generations and generations of explorers. Now that I think of it, in our lifetime, we won’t even see that being planned.
Steve, on April 4th, 2008, said:
I suggest we forget about the rest of the Universe until we can learn to respect what we already have here on Earth, including each other. Or is the plan to look for somewhere else once we have ruined the planet?
Forumistan, on April 6th, 2008, said:
That is a great video…
Futon-Matt, on April 7th, 2008, said:
I just watched a show on the science channel about the universe. It’s fascinating stuff.
Mark Albright, on April 15th, 2008, said:
I have to disagree with your statement that “no human will probably ever reach even the distances of Pluto”. I will happily concede that neither we nor even our grandchildren will see this but I have to take exception with the term “ever”.
John, on April 17th, 2008, said:
Well thanks a bunch… now your post has just put me in a very philosophical mood, my mind is going to be working over time all day :)
becky, on April 18th, 2008, said:
Oo. nice video. I still am intrigued by the whole concept of what’s out there. Too unimaginable to me.
luz, on April 20th, 2008, said:
Universe is as broad as how people reason out things. Unimaginable and unconditional:)
Becky, on April 24th, 2008, said:
It also makes me feel so … small. You know, on the other hand, the earth itself is only approx 15000 miles around. That’s really not that big, right?
Ralph, on April 24th, 2008, said:
If we compare us (humans) to the universe, we are just like how microbes are to us…
PS3 Guy, on May 2nd, 2008, said:
Oh how insanely insignificant this makes me feel!
This just reinforces the fact that it is impossible to even begin to comprehend the size of the universe.
I have seen a similar flash program which showed the size of atoms up to the size of planets up to the size of the universe on one never ending scale
John
Steve, on May 4th, 2008, said:
More accurately, it is impossible for the likes of you and I to comprehend but there are certainly people out there who do..or claim to.
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