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"Space … is big. Really big. You
just won't believe how vastly
hugely mind bogglingly big it is. I
mean you may think it's a long
way down the road to
[Smith’s], but that's just
peanuts to space."
-The Hitchhiker’s Guide
to the Galaxy
Our look at the
Universe will begin on
Earth.
Source: bestanimations.com
The Moon is the
nearest world to
Earth.
Source: bestanimations.com
It is about 250,000
miles from Earth.
Source: NASA
The Sun is the
nearest star to Earth.
It is 93,000,000 miles
from Earth.
Golly, Gee Whiz Fact.
The Sun is
370 times
farther
from Earth
than Moon.
Source: Dan Heller
Photography
The fastest something can
move is the speed of light.
Light travels 186,000 miles
per second.
Source: recoverybridge.org
Distances in terms of the
speed of light.
Moon - 1.5 light seconds.
Sun- Eight light minutes.
Solar System Diameter –
Twelve light hours (eight
billion miles).
When we leave the
Solar System, we
need a new unit of
measurement.
The new unit is called a
“Light Year.”
A light year is the
distance light
travels in one year.
One light year = six
trillion miles.
Leaving the
Solar System,
our next stop
will be at the
Alpha Centauri
system.
Source: Wikipedia
Source: Goddard Spaceflight
Center
The system is four
light years away.
Source: Goddard Spaceflight Center
Move out 12.5 light
years.
Thirty-three
stars are within
12.5 light years
Note: Pictures and information that follows comes from
http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/12lys.html
Move out 250 light
years.
260,000 stars
are in this area.
Move out 5,000 light
years (Orion Arm).
600,000,000
stars are in this
area.
At 50,000 light years,
you see the Milky
Way.
There are about
200,000,000,000
stars in the Milky
Way.
More exploration of the
Milky Way (click the
picture below).
The Sun
Source: Atlas of
the Universe
Move out 500,000
light years.
The Local
Group – 13
galaxies
What is the Nearest
Galaxy to the Milky
Way?
Source: Cal Tech 2MASS Galaxy Redshift Catalog (XSCz)
Move out 5,000,000
light years.
49 galaxies
Move out
100,000,000 light
years.
The Virgo
Super
cluster –
200 galaxy
groups,
53,000
galaxies
Move out 1,000,000,000
light years.
Neighboring
Super clusters –
100; 240,000
clusters,
63,000,000
galaxies
Move out 14,000,000,000
light years (the visible
universe).
10,000,000
super clusters,
25,000,000,000
clusters,
7.4 trillion
galaxies,
30 billion trillion
stars.
It sure looks like the
Universe is full of
stuff, right?
WRONG!
What’s
between the
stars?
Space is mostly made of
empty space!
Galaxies can pass thru
each other with no stars
colliding!
How does the Sun
relate to the Milky
Way?
The Sun is one star
out of
200,000,000,000.
How does the Sun
relate to the
Universe?
The Sun is one star
out of thirty billion
trillion.
How does the Milky
Way compare to the
Universe?
It belongs to one of
10,000,000 super
clusters.
How does the Milky
Way compare to the
Universe?
It belongs to one of
25,000,000,000
clusters.
How does the Milky
Way compare to the
Universe?
It is one of
7.4 trillion
galaxies.
Source: Hubble Space
Telescope