A perspective of size ...

Professor Stoddard demonstrating how
small Earth is compared to our own
Sun during the second SSE.

The Solar System Event is one my favorite labs in this course. It is designed to give us an appreciation to how vast our own solar system is, a sensation that usually hits most people by the time we get to Jupiter on our scale. However, it all starts when we compare Earth's size to the size of our Sun. In general, we are already aware of how small we are in comparison to our own Earth. We stand next to mountains, valleys and canyons and we suddenly feel small, and yet that insignificance is suddenly multiplied by a million folds when compared to the Sun. Just try to imagine how many human heads would fit inside the Sun (in 2D first then in 3D) :o)

Location of Mercury at our second SSE.

Where it usually always hits me (I get goosebumps and all) is when I realize how far away the closest star to us is. The fascinating part about all this is knowing that each star in our galaxy is at least that far from the next if not more, and that there are approximately 200 billion stars in our galaxy - the distances are unthinkable!

At Earth ...

At Earth when the BLIZZARD started!

One thing we talked about last semester during the Solar System Event was where the Voyager probes would be right now on our scale. Here's a quick "back of the envelope" calculation:

As of this date, Voyager 1 is about 127 AU from the Sun. On our scale, we said that Saturn (~10 AU) was 1 mile away from the Sun (i.e on Orchard Lake Road). So if 10 AU is equivalent to 1 mile, then 127 AU is equivalent to 12.7 miles (call it 13). This means that on our scale, Voyager 1 right now would be close to Stephenson Highway, right before you hit I-75 if you were driving East on 12 mile. That's a speed of ~ 0.35 miles per year!!! (That's 2.5 inches per hour). Can you imagine driving down 12 mile road at 2.5 inches per hour?

For the first time ever, we had to do the Asteroid Belt inside!

All in all, the solar system is huge - and we have barely ventured out to gain any real perspective of how vast it truly is. While only at Jupiter, we remembered that Earth on our scale was that tiny blue marble in the parking lot close to Farmington Rd, and it is from that location the we were able to discover Pluto, which was all the way on Lahser Rd. It is only proper that I end this entry with the famous words of Carl Sagan from Cosmos:

“The size and age of the Cosmos are beyond ordinary human understanding. Lost somewhere between immensity and eternity is our tiny planetary home. In a cosmic perspective, most human concerns seem insignificant, even petty. And yet our species is young and curious and brave and shows much promise. In the last few millennia we have made the most astonishing and unexpected discoveries about the Cosmos and our place within it, explorations that are exhilarating to consider. They remind us that humans have evolved to wonder, that understanding is a joy, that knowledge is prerequisite to survival. I believe our future depends on how well we know this Cosmos in which we float like a mote of dust in the morning sky.” 

Keep looking up, CLEAR SKIES! 

-SHH