The Universe is HUGE

Size: Planet vs. Solar System. vs. Galaxy For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the vastness of the Universe and how everything around us has been untouched by humans. Everyone lives on Earth (unless you are an alien…). Yet, Earth is only one of eight planets in our solar system.…

sabrinaalperin

January 22, 2024

1 minute

astro2110, blog1, milkyway, scale, Universe

Size: Planet vs. Solar System. vs. Galaxy

For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the vastness of the Universe and how everything around us has been untouched by humans. Everyone lives on Earth (unless you are an alien…). Yet, Earth is only one of eight planets in our solar system. Our solar system is centered around the Sun. The Sun is only one of 400 BILLION stars in our galaxy, which we call the Milky Way.

But how large is the Milky Way in actuality? For me to begin to explain the size of objects on a cosmic scale, let me first introduce the concept of the light-year. Despite its misleading name, a light-year is a measure of distance. It refers to the distance which light moves in one year. One light-year is roughly 6 trillion miles. Our Milky Way is huge. It has a diameter of 100,000 light-years, or 600 quadrillion miles! 2.14 x 10^14 continental United Sates could fit in the diameter of the Milky Way. Now imagine: our Milky Way represents merely one of BILLIONS of other galaxies in the universe! That’s crazy!

It is difficult not to be amazed by the incredible size of the universe. Personally, I find the large scale to be exciting. What exists outside of Earth? What can we learn from other planets, stars, and galaxies? However, I am also aware that the size of the universe can also be intimidating. It highlights how small and insignificant humans are on a galactic scale. How do you feel knowing the size of the universe? Does it make you excited or nervous?

3 responses to “The Universe is HUGE”

abbieychen

January 22, 2024 at 10:51 pm

It’s crazy how big the Universe actually is!! I cannot even comprehend it. To us, even the distance to the moon is a lot, but it is only 8 light-minutes from the Earth to the moon compared to the 100000 of light years across the Milky Way. It makes me feel intimidated, yet excited, because there is so much that we can discover out there (even if we don’t know how to yet). I wonder if possible species in other galaxies feel the same way…

LikeLike

Reply
James Bamshad

January 23, 2024 at 12:49 am

Wow! This post truly put into perspective how large the milky way is. I was extremely surprised to hear that 2.14 x 10^14 continental United Sates could fit in the diameter of the Milky Way. I love how you followed that up with stating how there are billions of other galaxies just like the Milky Way. This shows how amazingly large the universe is, and makes me feel extremely humble and small.

LikeLike

Reply
obisesoa

January 31, 2024 at 10:29 am

Nice job; I especially like how you managed to tie lightyears back into it and shut down any misconceptions in the process. It’s a little intimidating how vast the universe is, even when taking into account what the unaided eye can see from earth. I remember one time in the summer where I saw Cetus (or a star group that certainly looked like it) in the sky. There’s nothing like a colossal, crudely drawn whale in the sky to remind you of your place in the universe.

LikeLike

Reply