The Scale of the Universe

[Inquisitor]

It is interesting.. but why show radio waves? Radio waves are completely meaningless in this scale and it makes me think think the person that made this site doesn't quite 'get' things.

Radio waves are electro magnetic radiation and bare no relation to this scale of physical size which is the theme of this site.

The EM spectrum is relevant isn't it? Why doesn't the person "get" things for including it on the scale?

 

[oweneades]

Giant earthworms are how long?

Indeed, I jump at the sight of a normal one. I would run a bloody mile if I saw one that was 7 metres long....

 

[Selekt0r]

It's not as big as my penis...

in your own parallel universe, maybe

 

[jm240]

I found this to be a good video to put sizes of planets, stars, our galaxy and the universe into perspective... Let me know what you think

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEheh1BH34Q

 

[gillywibble]

Fascinating stuff.

 

[jm240]

Fascinating stuff.

What gets even more fascinating, is when you pose the question: Could there be more than one universe? Potentially in a parallel to the one we are in?

 

[Merlin5]

I think you'll find the sun(sol) is the largest star in our solar system (and the only one).

Yes, my mistake, wasn't thinking. It's in our galaxy though, within the milky way right?

Check these pictures out. Unbelievable panoramics of the milky way as seen from earth, which I didn't think was possible.

Warning, 34mb image.

"The Milky Way arches across this 360-degree panorama of the night sky above the Paranal platform, home of ESO’s Very Large Telescope. The image was made from 37 individual frames with a total exposure time of about 30 minutes, taken in the early morning hours. The Moon is just rising and the zodiacal light shines above it, while the Milky Way stretches across the sky opposite the observatory."
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/360-degree_Panorama_of_the_Southern_Sky_edit.jpg



"A panorama of the Milky Way, as seen from Death Valley, 2005"
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Deathvalleysky_nps_big.jpg

 

[Spook187]

I found this to be a good video to put sizes of planets, stars, our galaxy and the universe into perspective... Let me know what you think

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEheh1BH34Q

And the great soundtrack from the black hole movie..

 

[Ziggy]

Things like this amaze me

It should amaze everyone.

 

[Curunen]

Giant earthworms are how long?

Quite. I never knew there were 7m long earthworms.

 

[Ghosteh]

That was awesome, Too much information right now though, but I'll definitely have a look again tomorrow once the alcohol has subsided .

But for now, I think I'll watch some Horizon episodes I have on space lol.

 

[2StepSteve]

The EM spectrum is relevant isn't it? Why doesn't the person "get" things for including it on the scale?

I didn't say that the electro magnet spectrum isn't relevant.

The sites main aim/theme is for comparing physical sizes but strangely adds electro magnetic wavelengths in a random manner, which bare no relation to the physical size of objects.

 

[Inquisitor]

I didn't say that the electro magnet spectrum isn't relevant.

The sites main aim/theme is for comparing physical sizes but strangely adds electro magnetic wavelengths in a random manner, which bare no relation to the physical size of objects.

Well, physical objects can affect waves in ways that depend on wavelength. How about the diffraction limit of optical microscopy? We can't image atoms optically precisely because they're smaller than the wavelength of visible light

Wavelength is measured in the same units as "size" and (in a rough sense) gives the scale on which the radiation typically interacts with matter, and so it's perfectly natural to include it. For anyone who's interested in physics, the EM spectrum is completely relevant, and it's not exactly ruining it for those who don't understand it. I don't see what the issue is.