Our Universe...In Perspective.

[RobsIron]

Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky and more than a 1000 light years away.


Imagine what else is out there. We could be a bunch of ants on a atom.

 

[RUQWKNF]

Very interesting. I wonder how the Zeti Reticuli star system would stack up?

 

[ijames]

Nice. Would be neat to add the Moon as well, to show how it compares to the smaller planets - kind of makes the point as to why they demoted Pluto .

 

[tom h]

far more mind-boggling than relative sizes of the stars, I think, is the vast distances separating the stars.

By a quick calculation, if the Sun is represented by a 1-inch ball, then the nearest star (4.3 light years actual) is around 450 miles away !

On this scale, the size of our home Milky Way galaxy (100,000 light years actual) would be over 11 million miles, or 44 times the actual earth-moon distance.

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

ALRIGHT, NOBODY SNEEZE, I DONT WANT YOU TO RUIN ANY OF MY PROJECTS!

We are just a spec of a 1/100000000000000x100000000 of a spec of sand in the mojave desert.

I prefer to be called amoeba, and my name is Bryan. I am here today tomorrow and forever, i believe in reincarnation and i believe that everything in life has its purpose.


Has anyone ever thought in their lives that how small we are to the rest of our galaxy and the entire universe? Nobody talks about it.

Why does it always turn into a religious battle when you talk science?

Everyone has their views on life, but the facts are straight forward...

BW

 

[lyonsd]

Those are some big-ass balls of gas.

 

[UNGN]

Oh great, now we have something else to worry about.

Antares isn't 1000, light years away, it's only 500 light years away.

From the looks of it, that thing is fixin' to go supernova.

That would be bad.

 

[lyonsd]

Oh great, now we have something else to worry about.

Antares isn't 1000, light years away, it's only 500 light years away.

From the looks of it, that thing is fixin' to go supernova.

That would be bad.

Not for us. If it's 500 light years away then we'll not see it until 500 years later. And we'll probably be dead by then.

 

[UNGN]

Not for us. If it's 500 light years away then we'll not see it until 500 years later. And we'll probably be dead by then.

Unless it went supernova 499 years ago.

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

Unless it went supernova 499 years ago.

LOL

 

[JOHNDEEREGN]

Keep em coming fellas

 

[UNGN]

The official NASA position on Antares is a star has to be within 30 Light Years to risk life on earth if it goes Supernova.

If Antares does go Supernova in our lifetime, they will bring any orbiting astronauts down, however, as they are at risk from radiation from a supernova even 3000 light years away.

well at least there is one less thing to worry about.

 

[imjoesnuffy]

In the last pic, the star on the left. Is that pronounced Beetlejuice?

 

[Renthorin]

I always loved the models of the solar system on metal rods that would rotate around the sun at their proportional rate

Wish I had one now.

I used to lay on the ground at night and look up into the sky and wonder if anyone (anything) else was on another planet doing the same thing. Also used to wonder what it would be like to fall up into the sky if gravity let go.

Now in my wise old age I wonder about more important things like who is going to shovel the driveway when it shows.....

Those picts are really cool. Thanks for posting. :smile:

 

[turbo buicks]

Unless it went supernova 499 years ago.

if its currently seen to be going SN then i dont think it couldve gone SN 499 as well as the delay would still be 499 yrs. like if it did go SN last year we are still seeing 500 yr old light from it.

 

[UNGN]

if its currently seen to be going SN then i dont think it couldve gone SN 499 as well as the delay would still be 499 yrs. like if it did go SN last year we are still seeing 500 yr old light from it.

Every star we see "about to go supernova" has already gone supernova. We just haven't seen it, yet.

If Antares went supernova 499 years, 364 days ago (roughly, of course), we wouldn't know it until tomorrow.

 

[Renthorin]

In the last pic, the star on the left. Is that pronounced Beetlejuice?

If it is do NOT say it 3 times in a row!!!!

 

[turbo buicks]

Every star we see "about to go supernova" has already gone supernova. We just haven't seen it, yet.

If Antares went supernova 499 years, 364 days ago (roughly, of course), we wouldn't know it until tomorrow.

right but the danger to us is still 500+ yrs away, were only seeing the light from it

 

[Madcat455]

right but the danger to us is still 500+ yrs away, were only seeing the light from it

If it were close enough to pose a danger, the danger would reach us the exact same time the light from it going SN would.

now... all the activity leading up to the SN could be monitored, but the time frame is still the same.

if it started pulsating on Monday... then went SN on friday.. We'd see the pulsating mon 500yrs later (not knowing about the SN) and see/feel the SN that friday.

 

[UNGN]

right but the danger to us is still 500+ yrs away, were only seeing the light from it

Radiation travels at the speed of light. The danger of a supernova is that by the time you see it, it is too late, even if it is light years away and actually happened years in the past.

If we observed Antares going supernova tomorrow (it actually happened 500 years ago), most of the radiation (and danger) from Antares going supernova would reach the earth almost simultaneously with the light.