There are a set of images that went around not long ago.

Post #327,080 by static 5/30/10 8:10:04 PM Reply	There are a set of images that went around not long ago. I don't remember the whole set, but an early one shows the comparative sizes of the first four planets, plus Pluto, in quite good oblique rendering. Earth is obviously the biggest and a skilled orator can play that up, as the preacher at my church did on Sunday morning (but in a nice way). The next picture shows all our planets. The third adds our sun. I could hear a few noises of surprise from the congregation at the comparison. The next show some well-known stars, Sirius, Pollux and Arcturus against which Sol is really quite small. The last showed Rigel, Aldebaran, Betelgeuse and Antares against which Sol is almost invisible. There were people in the same room as me who hadn't thought about this for a long time and may have never seen this answer. Oh yes; I found the images. http://www.kiroastro...tings/perspective Wade. Q:Is it proper to eat cheeseburgers with your fingers? A:No, the fingers should be eaten separately.
Post #327,082 by Another Scott 5/30/10 8:18:51 PM Reply	Neat.
Post #327,092 by static 5/31/10 2:03:39 AM Reply	Aye. Of course, I already knew the magnitude of the size comparisons. The Smithsonian in D.C. has a display showing our solar system in scale. I imagine many visitors don't even see it as it's so big and spread out. http://www.space.com...ystem_011010.html Wade. Q:Is it proper to eat cheeseburgers with your fingers? A:No, the fingers should be eaten separately.
Post #327,093 by drook 5/31/10 9:26:51 AM Reply	Link to the display site http://www.voyageonline.org/ There are a bunch of other versions, too. Good listing here -- http://www.vendian.o...dir3/solarsystem/ -- which includes this one -- http://www.efn.org/~...uttheProject.html -- that a father built for his 4th-grader son to help him with his astronomy homework. I saw one on TV a while back that was based at a college. The sun was over a story tall, which put pluto in the next town. -- Drew
Post #327,098 by Another Scott 5/31/10 10:26:47 AM Reply	Going the other way. While the universe is big, it's startling how tiny parts of its contents are. An atom has a diameter of ~2-3x10^-10 meters - http://hyperphysics....cles/atomsiz.html - or 0.2-0.3 nm. AMD and Intel are selling CPUs based on 45 nm design rules (some distances on the chip are substantially smaller). The electron is point-like - it has no physical size. Measurements show it has a radius no larger than 10^-22 meters - http://en.wikipedia....mental_properties The problem with measuring dramatically smaller distances is that larger and more massive equipment is required. The physical limit is the Planck distance (~10^-35 meters). Supposedly, to try to measure something smaller would require an interferometer that would be massive enough to create a black hole... http://www.newscient...th-announced.html In contrast, the lower-limit of the diameter of the universe is estimated to be 78x10^9 light years ( http://en.wikipedia....servable_universe ) or 7.4 x10^26 meters. A neat short video of the sizes of the planets and a few stars - http://www.youtube.c...tch?v=P38ri8vQjRU One of course would be remiss without mentioning Powers of 10: http://en.wikipedia....iki/Powers_of_Ten http://www.powersof10.com/ Cheers, Scott.
Post #327,125 by Ashton 5/31/10 7:08:17 PM Reply	Ergo, the distance from Mr. Planck --> just-shy-of nirvana is ~< a mere 10^62. However, in just an 11-dimensional construct [under-construction 'they' say] -- these data may prove meaningless / the End of all spreadsheets? Perhaps, should we Actually Face the current Planetary Problems of the [Known and extremely-Likely] scale: some form of Buddha-compassionate philosophy / Gaea-nourishing better-Science might supersede the boring mercantile marketing approach to all things in liff, that Me-Me Affluenza mindset which Got US Here, to the ragged-edge of survivability: http://www.newscient...nd-of-silence.php http://www.amazon.co...nce/dp/1416599592 Some angles in the above might give an intro to that which is perpetually absent in today's environment of inescapable Noise -- that silence from which authentic Thought may arise. (Couldn't hoit.) (Maybe begin from Mahler's Fifth. Then, turn that gear off and -- if it's quiet enough that you can hear your own heartbeat (in anechoic chambers, some have heard another's heartbeat, too) -- go within.) Find a species-saving Out to this mess. Eh? Forget the Think Tank 'solutions' -- too many echoes in those and nary a one with originality.. I could almost see voting for Palin in 2012 on the grounds that this sorry ratfucking excuse for a republic, this savage, smirking, predatory empire deserves her. Bring on the Rapture, motherfuckers! -- via RC
Post #327,127 by static 5/31/10 9:13:55 PM Reply	That takes commitment. I had a science teacher in year 7 who wanted us to build something like that. I already knew it wasn't something you could carry on the bus. Wade. Q:Is it proper to eat cheeseburgers with your fingers? A:No, the fingers should be eaten separately.

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