How Big Is Our Universe?

[Fly2e]

[center][size=12]Ok, so how big is our planet Earth?

[dcunning30]

Haven't you learned anything?

[matt2190]

Haven't you learned anything?  Stars don't produce warmth!  Farting cows, SUVs, and incadescent light bulbs do!    ;)

Thats why I try to eat as many cows as I can.

[Isak922]

Wanna see big?  ;D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sun_ ... ajoris.png

Click the picture, then click it again. That's big  8-)

[ATI_7500]

I want to live near Antares...should make for a really nice tan.  ;D

[Jakemaster]

I want to live near Antares...should make for a really nice tan.  ;D

*Sniff* Whose cooking?  

It really puts you in your place to see things like that...

[DONTREADMYUSERNAME]

and we think our solar flares are bad....

[ozzy72]

If there is ANYTHING larger than my ego in this galaxy I want it caught and shot immediately!

[61_OTU]

If there is ANYTHING larger than my ego in this galaxy I want it caught and shot immediately!

Only Fozzer's solar flares, and he hasn't worn those outside in ages  ;)  ;D

[fighter25]

[quote]Wanna see big?

[freedomhays]

List of the largest stars Star name solar diameter
(Sun = 1)

VY Canis Majoris (Humphreys Model) 1800-2100
VV Cephei 1600-1900
V354 Cephei 1520
KW Sagitarii 1460
KY Cygni 1420
Mu Cephei (Herschel's "Garnet Star") 1420
V509 Cassiopeiae 910
V838 Monocerotis 800
V382 Carinae 747
Antares (Alpha Scorpii) 700
Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) 650
VY Canis Majoris (Massey-Levesque-Plez Model) 600  
S Pegasi 580  
S Doradus 550
T Cepheii 540
S Orionis 530
W Hydrae 520
119 Tauri 510
R Cassiopeiae 500
Delta Canis Majoris (Wezen) 482
Chi Cygni 470
Alpha Herculis (Ras Algethi) 460
Rho Cassiopeiae 450
Mira A (Omicron Ceti) 400
Eta Carinae 400
R Doradus 370
HR Carinae 350
R Leonis 350
The Pistol Star 340
La Superba (Y Canum Venaticorum) 300
Deneb (Alpha Cygni) 220
LBV 1806-20 200
Epsilon Aurigae A 175
Zeta Aurigae 160
Epsilon Pegasi (Enif) 150
Gamma Crucis (Gacrux) 113
Beta Cygni A1 109
Gamma Andromedae 83
Alpha Leporis (Arneb) 77
Rigel (Beta Orionis) 70
Epsilon Carinae 70
R Coronae Borealis 65
Canopus (Alpha Carinae) 65
Delta Orionis (Mintaka) 60
Zeta Orionis (Alnitak) 60
Alpha Persei (Mirfak) 60
Zeta Geminorum (Mekbuda) 60
Eta Aquilae 60
Gamma Draconis (Eltanin) 50
Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri) 43
Beta Ursae Minoris (Kochab) 41

[beaky]

Speaking of perspective: all of those objects are but mere specks inside our galaxy, which is about 100,00 light-years across, and just packed with stars... billions of 'em!

And the nearest galaxy, M31, one of the largest if not  brightest distant objects in the night sky, is itself about 2.5 million light-years away...  in a very dark place, you can sometimes make out M31 with the naked eye... binocs work even better. If you ever see it, consider that that light has taken over 2 million years to reach your eye...!!!  

[Sir_Crashalot]

[quote]If you ever see it, consider that that light has taken over 2 million years to reach your eye...!!!

[Katahu]

And the nearest galaxy, M31, one of the largest if not  brightest distant objects in the night sky,

I thought Andromeda was the nearest galaxy. By the way, Andromeda is destined to collide with the Milky Way in about 3 billion years from now.

http://www.cita.utoronto.ca/~dubinski/tflops/

[beaky]

And the nearest galaxy, M31, one of the largest if not  brightest distant objects in the night sky,

I thought Andromeda was the nearest galaxy. By the way, Andromeda is destined to collide with the Milky Way in about 3 billion years from now.

http://www.cita.utoronto.ca/~dubinski/tflops/

M31 is the Andromeda galaxy- it's in the constellation of Andromeda.
But it's called M31 because it's #31 on Charles Messier's list of nebulae and star clusters he compiled in
the 18th century. He was a comet hunter who decided to catalogue non-transient objects in order to help himself and others avoid wasting time in their hunt for comets. Did it all with a rather crude telescope, too... some of them are pretty hard to find even with a good telescope, unless you have the coordinates.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Messier_objects

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Messier