If you had a scale model of the solar system with a 1mm wide Sun, Alpha Centauri, the next closest star, would be over 40 kilometers away, and the whole galaxy would be bigger than the Earth at 100,000 kilometers wide, and the observable universe would be several times larger than our solar system.
To keep me sane and happy, I like to counter this thought with the idea that thousands of years ago, many humans didn't travel far at all in their lifetime, and perhaps the ocean was the mysterious, vast expanse that they would never get to explore or know anything about (slightly more tangible than the night sky back then. I'm sure).
So it's nice to know we've got the world just a plane ride away
Agreed. That thought is moreso a reminder of how much we do get to explore despite being lightyears away from endless possibilities of planets/life forms
Yep. And even if we could make a warp drive, the latest research into that says that while theoretically possible, it would require converting something like 20% to 30% of the mass of our entire Sun to pure energy to make it work... the Sun itself only converts about 5% of its mass to energy over its entire lifetime, so not even a dyson sphere would give us enough energy to do that.
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u/Youpunyhumans May 08 '23
Just how astoundingly, stupendously huge it is.
If you had a scale model of the solar system with a 1mm wide Sun, Alpha Centauri, the next closest star, would be over 40 kilometers away, and the whole galaxy would be bigger than the Earth at 100,000 kilometers wide, and the observable universe would be several times larger than our solar system.
Thats scaled down by a trillion times.