{"id":4287,"date":"2013-05-13T11:23:56","date_gmt":"2013-05-13T18:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/collinsunbound\/?p=4287"},"modified":"2013-05-13T11:23:56","modified_gmt":"2013-05-13T18:23:56","slug":"the-scale-of-the-universe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/collinsunbound\/the-scale-of-the-universe\/","title":{"rendered":"The Scale of the Universe"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hubble<\/a>

Hubble Deep Field (1996) NASA<\/p><\/div>\n

Have you ever wondered about the scale of the universe from the smallest microscopic entity up to the extent of our vast universe? Scale of the Universe<\/a> presents this concept beautifully using simple illustrations, a horizontal slider, and minimal text. It spans 62 orders of magnitude: 35 orders of magnitude smaller than you, and 27 orders of magnitude larger. Here\u2019s a quick sample of what you will find along the journey.<\/p>\n

10-35<\/sup> meter\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 String, Planck length, quantum foam (not confirmed)<\/p>\n

10-14.7<\/sup> meter \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (10 yoctometers) proton<\/p>\n

3 x 10-9<\/sup> meter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (3 nanometers) DNA<\/p>\n

5 x 10-3<\/sup> meter \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (5 millimeters) grain of rice<\/p>\n

1.7 x 100<\/sup> meters \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (1.7 meters) human<\/p>\n

1 x 102<\/sup> meters \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (100 meters) Redwood tree<\/p>\n

1.27 x 107<\/sup> meters \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (12,700 kilometers) Earth<\/p>\n

1.4 x 109<\/sup> meters \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (1.4 million kilometers) Sun<\/p>\n

1.2 x 1021<\/sup> meters \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (120,000 light-years) Milky Way Galaxy<\/p>\n

1.27 x 1026<\/sup> meters \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (1.27 billion light-years) Distance to the Hubble Deep Field<\/a>, a seemingly empty spot in the sky near the Big Dipper for which the Hubble Space Telescope did a long exposure photograph in 1995 and discovered 1500 distant galaxies.<\/p>\n

9.3 x 1026 <\/sup>meters \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (93 billion light-years) Radius of the Universe. The age of the universe is 13.7 billion years but it is expanding.<\/p>\n

1.6 x 1027 <\/sup>meters \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (160 billion light-years) Observable Universe<\/p>\n

The widely acclaimed ten-minute film Powers of Ten<\/a> by Charles and Ray Eames (1968) is a narrated version of the same concept as Scale of the Universe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Search the Collins Library catalog on the subject terms \u2018cosmological distances,\u2019 or \u2018physical measurements,\u2019 to find books and other resources on this topic. Here are a few titles to explore.<\/p>\n