It's hard to get tired of this picture

GSnow · 4 months

http://scaleofuniverse.com

Alexxandria · 4 months

My mind just fucked itself trying to comprehend this.

politics_is_sexy · 4 months

Same concept, but less mental visualisation

HitLikeAGirl · 4 months

Did anyone else read Alderbaran as Alderaan? :|

happywaffle · 4 months

I can't see Wolf 359 without thinking "That's where the Borg slapped around the Federation like a little bitch!"

mstrorbit · 4 months

Betelgeuse < Mu Cephei < VV Cephei < VY Canis Majoris < Your Mom

chicken_dippers · 4 months

I love Jupiter. I know most people go crazy over Saturn because of the ring system, but Jupiter is majestic and totally blows me away when i catch it in the eyepiece of my telescope.

Viashiv · 4 months

“I, a universe of atoms, an atom in the universe.” ― Richard P. Feynman

irishdef · 4 months

Betelgeuse! Betelgeuse! Betelgeuse!

bigontheinside · 4 months

This makes it easy to justify eating an entire cake.

KamehamehaWave · 4 months

Pretty sure Aldebaran was blown up?

jwiz · 4 months

If you like that, you'll love this.

Sil369 · 4 months

if there were ever an earth the size of canis majoris, i wonder how long it would take to explore the whole surface, not knowing whats on the other side

TheWingedPig · 4 months

According to Wikipedia, the conservative estimate for VY Canis Majoris' radius is, "merely 600 times the radius of the Sun". The sun's radius is roughly 110 times Earth's radius. Therefore, VY Canis Majoris' radius is 66,000 times that of Earth. Assuming I'm not making some huge mistake with math, that means our planet is 1/66,000 the size of VY Canis Majoris.

So, let's see how big the Earth is when put right up next to VY Canis Majoris?

The Earth's average radius is 6,371 km
6,371 km / 66,000 = .09653 km
.09653 km = 105.5665 yd

So if we made a scale model comparing the Earth to VY Canis Majoris, and used the Earth to represent VY Canis Majoris, then the model of the Earth would need to be a sphere with a diameter of a little more than the length of two American football fields (excluding end-zones and stands of course). Go to Google Earth, or Google Maps and find a Football field. Duplicate that football field and make the two sit next to each other. That is how large our planet is...

EDIT And let me stress that that is the conservative estimate for VY Canis Majoris' size. Other estimates put it's radius as high as 2100 times the radius of the sun, so three times larger than what my math was based on.

touriste · 4 months

One of the possible source : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov5AHcCQtd8&feature=related

There are many other similar videos in the suggestions

uwsdwfismyname · 4 months

it makes me think about those japanese chocolates

cptgame446 · 4 months

I always thougt sirius was black.

DJFracture · 4 months

"If the Earth were to be represented by a sphere one centimeter (0.39") in diameter, the Sun would be represented as a sphere with a diameter of 109 centimeters (3½ ft.), at a distance of 117 meters. At these scales, VY Canis Majoris would have a diameter of approximately 2.3 kilometers (1.43 mi.), assuming the upper limit estimate of its radius."

[deleted] · 4 months

Well, try this one

SimilarImage · 4 months

Age	User	Title	Reddit	Cmnt	Points
1 month	Rigochu	Mind Blown	here	20	56
1 year	gogofoward	Size of the Earth (pic)	here	15	13
1 year	vindicated19	Just how tiny and insignificant we are [pic]	here	64	131

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x21in2010x · 4 months

I didn't realize the fleet was decimated around such a small star.

adamwhoopass · 4 months

Another crazy concept, is that a typical speck of dust floating in the air, is HALFWAY between the size of the earth, and a sub-atomic particle.

wbmustard · 4 months

Aldebaran... similar, to similar...

Tzahi12345 · 4 months

This has been my background picture of my computer for a while now. I still can't get tired of it.

murdochmoss · 4 months

all I could think was where's our sun, and why doesn't it have a name? or does it and we never hear it?

trogdor259 · 4 months

Upvote for not adding the "your mom" at the end. That got old fast.

loath-engine · 4 months

I like this one better.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120312.html

njt159 · 4 months

I have never felt so insignificant compared to anything else in my entire life except for right now...

CSec064 · 4 months

Wolf 359.

11,000 Starfleet officers. Never forget.

digitalscale · 4 months

Wow! Siriusly?

unamenottaken · 4 months

If the earth was 1 inch in diameter, V Y Canis Majoris would be 3.5 miles in diameter. Somebody had to do it.

matttrick · 4 months

the problem with this is the inability to keep the continuity mentally. im curious, how big would VY have to be, to scale, to keep earth visible to the naked eye? say, if this were beamed onto a side of a huge mountain like one of those laser light shows..

DrJudgmental · 4 months

This image is not intuitive. It would be better as a single strip.

While breaking it into 6 frames certainly makes it easier to accommodate the massive scale difference between Mercury and Canis Majoris, it requires too much mental scale-shifting.

I think this hack-job I did in 3 minutes is slightly better, since you can progress in a linear fashion: http://i.imgur.com/ChHLO.jpg

However, obviously the videos and interactive visualizations are better.

Almost_Dead · 4 months

I agree. Always worth a repost.

title	comnts	points	age	/r/
Put yourself in the picture.	2^coms	2^pts	1^mo	pics
Mind Blown	20^coms	56^pts	1^mo	pics
Size of the Earth (pic)	15^coms	13^pts	1^yr	pics
Just how tiny and insignificant we are [pic]	64^coms	131^pts	1^yr	pics
It's hard to get tire of this picture_(FIXED)	1^com	7^pts	2^hrs	funny
How small are we really?	1^com	-6^pts	1^mo	pics
To put things into perspective...	286^coms	1181^pts	1^mo	funny
Relative size of planetary bodies	12^coms	39^pts	7^mos	funny
The size of ...	172^coms	1131^pts	9^mos	funny
Great Masses of the Universe	6^coms	11^pts	9^mos	pics

source: karmadecay

callummacinnes · 4 months

I don't get why people say this makes them feel insignificant and that we as humans are insignificant. If anything, I feel more included in the universe knowing that I'm one of only 6 billion known beings in all of this vastness to have a conscience and I am a part of it!

Edit: 7 billion people

MrCavallis · 4 months

I was like: wtf

GordonMcFreeman · 4 months

Oh shit

Creativation · 4 months

The same goes for videos like this one showing the scale of solar eruptions.

LegendaryPunk · 4 months

Mind = blown. That is incredible.

theroarer · 4 months

Shouldn't alderbaran be a bunch of dust?

nilspils · 4 months

Is that canis majoris in your pants? Or are you just happy to see me...

mi_nombre_es_ricardo · 4 months

I'm having trouble finding Earth in the last picture.

Mint-BerryCRUNCH · 4 months

So... I can honestly say Uranus is bigger than the whole Earth...

Commander_Spock · 4 months

I've always had a hard time visualizing the scale with these images. It would be more effective to compare Betelgeuse, VV Cephei, etc with the size of our solar system. That way I can look at VY Canis Majoris and think,"Wow, if that star was at the center of the solar system, I'd still be inside the star's inner mantel. Probably around the carbon layer."

not2close · 4 months

we are less than a spec of dust

shundog · 4 months

If you guys think this is crazy you should look up super massive black holes.

Fennels · 4 months

It's hard to visualize because it is a shitty way of representing data. What they need to do is have a plain black image, with the earth as one white pixel, and VY CMa as a plain white orb — as big as it takes to get an accurate representation.

Edit: Kind of like this, except this is the against the sun.

http://basenorte.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/sun_and_vy_canis_majoris.png

serviceenginesoon · 4 months

Wow, I never knew such size difference existed from one end of the spectrum to the other

preske · 4 months

I can't wait until they find a sun even larger.

jsumm13 · 4 months

Shit starts to get pretty real starting at 3

ivvy2340 · 4 months

My head hurts.

ganjamensch · 4 months

...but not impossible.

[deleted] · 4 months

What giant monstrosities lurk in our universe....

superdan23 · 4 months

trying to fathom the unbelievable size of beyond earth is the fastest way to blow my mind every time. oh, and that "forever" distance is pretty nuts too.

leadrain86 · 4 months

Man, the universe like...blows my mind dude.

chironomidae · 4 months

you know, I love things like this, but they all assume people have a general idea of how big the earth is. The earth itself is way too big to properly imagine, let alone these other massive objects.

bestmmaren · 4 months

"When I reflect on that fact, I look up- many people feel small, cause their small and the universe is big. But I feel big because my atoms came from those stars. "

— Neil deGrasse Tyson

I'm not as nearly as good with the words as this NDT. Space is great.

jalopenohandjob · 4 months

Even with that graphic representation of size difference, it hurts my brain to ponder it...

fitzpasd · 4 months

I wonder which is the largest one that it would be possible for a human to walk the circumference of in their entire lifetime, say 80 years worth of walking. Someone do the math!! Can assume they don't stop walking. . .or maybe they only walk for 12 hours a day

sammyboyg · 4 months

VY Canis Majoris < Your Mom

NavajoMX · 4 months

That's no moon…

actuallyitsnotokay · 4 months

Can you even imagine the gravitational pull of VY Canoris Majoris?

dosomethingtoday · 4 months

http://twilight.ponychan.net/chan/g/src/133328375162.jpg

Slight modification.

gtonethegreat · 4 months

Hey someone please reply: so im only 15 and i find this really intresting but whta os the last red circle just look AT THE SIZE OF THAT!! but what is it?

xChaoZ · 4 months

And you think you matter, eh?

Zooteo · 4 months

This picture really puts things in perspective.

It makes me realize I don't know anything about astrology because I was lost after "the sun."

i_go_to_uri · 4 months

Do we have a mathematician in the house that can do some sort of comparison as if earth were the size of a pinhead how big would VY Canis Majoris be?

Hopulus · 4 months

Fun fact: VY Canis Majoris is approximately 3 billion kilometers (1.9 billion miles) in diameter

ELDERPE · 4 months

This is insane.

lolwuuut · 4 months

Ive never felt so small

aspirations27 · 4 months

If you've never read Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan, check it out. Book will blow your mind.

alexu3939 · 4 months

Awesome video showing the same thing http://www.wimp.com/sizestar/

Skafsgaard · 4 months

Aldebaran - that's from Star Wars, right?

shabutaru118 · 4 months

No its not.

[deleted] · 4 months

I got a headache just looking at this, curse you

sonanz · 4 months

That's nothing! Consider the size of the star that's casting those shadows!

Piscator629 · 4 months

Bullshit, Betelgeuse is a red giant and Antares is a white giant. I now feel like the smartest person in the room.

groftsnurw · 4 months

uranus is pretty big...

ereiv · 4 months

Hold the fuckin phone. Wolf 359 is a real place??

Mind. Blown.

Gamper33 · 4 months

/r/Astronomy

hackysack · 4 months

And yet, I have.

deeznutz12 · 4 months

Hard to imagine size on that kind of scale.

BobbySweets · 4 months

Can not imagine this… I am in awe! Great post.

lamqta · 4 months

That said, we're definitely making progress.

Muffytuff · 4 months

Very cool,my 5th grade science teacher had a chart in her class that says the same thing

mqduck · 4 months

I'm so goddamn small!

drennon3 · 4 months

Uhh, you have to say beetle juice 3 times....

scstraus · 4 months

I don't know, after about the 40th time it's quite possible.

pwnetah · 4 months

lol. uranus

canadamoose18 · 4 months

Solar system so humangous beeg

sgrwck · 4 months

I like that the largest one roughly translates to "Big Dog"

surly_redditor · 4 months

No. No it is not

Cheddarwurst · 4 months

It'd be funny if someone edited a clip from Beetlejuice, so that they accidentally say Betelgeuse, and the entire solar system is vaporized.

NYHCxPurity · 4 months

Link for a bit.

injekted · 4 months

I'm showing this to my doctor next time he tells me I'm overweight.

VanceDiezel · 4 months

mind=BLOWN

king_hippo77 · 4 months

It's easier to get tired of looking at this picture if your daughter is an annoying orange fan. Suddenly they're all tweaked out and laughing and trying (but failing) to be funny.

colinsteadman · 4 months

If we swooped out our sun with VY Canis Majoris, we'd all be inside the thing right now, and it probably wouldn't even notice.

canna-crux · 4 months

"How insignificant we are, with our pygmy little world!- An atom glinting with uncounted myriads of other atom worlds in a broad shaft of light streaming from God's countenance..." — Mark Twain, The Bible According to Mark Twain

BroskydaGreat · 4 months

Louie Giglio did a sermon-type-thing on this, though I can't seem to remember what the video was called, it should be fairly easy to look up.

alancar · 4 months

especially since someone posts it twice a wk

TH0UGHTP0LICE · 4 months

I call bullshit.

I see Wolf 359 but no Borge cube anywhere. Shenanigans. SHENANIGANS!!

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