Quote- "Our solar system may be the liveliest thing for trillions of miles, but all the visible stuff in it-the Sun, the planets and their moons, the billion or so tumbling rocks of the asteroid belt, comets, and other miscellaneous drifting detritus- fills less than a trillionth of the available space.You also quickly realize that none of the maps you have ever seen of the solar system were remotely drawn to scale."
Questions- How do scientists know this, if the universe is so big for them to know exactly how big it is? How are scientists able to figure out what is even outside of our solar system being that it is just so enormous? What tools allow them to do that?
Questions- How do scientists know this, if the universe is so big for them to know exactly how big it is? How are scientists able to figure out what is even outside of our solar system being that it is just so enormous? What tools allow them to do that?
Comment- It is hard to think of the universe or even the solar system because it is just so enormous and everything is just so big for us to really imagine how it looks like. Even just Earth, for me, is so big and it is just a little tiny ball when looked at in the solar system. As the author said, "...the solar system is really quite enormous," and it is but our solar system is just a little tiny thing in our galaxy and even tinier in the universe. Being so enormous, like the author said, "...it isn't possible, in any practical terms, to draw the solar system to scale." The planets are just so far apart that it would be impossible to ever draw them to scale. This means that it is almost impossible for us to imagine how our solar system really looks like.
I really love the way you were being honest when analyzing the quote and while reading it I honestly think I can relate to the way you thought about the solar system, how everything is just so big, it's kind of overwhelming at first, but you show much interest in this subject with your intriguing questions at the end. Nice:)
ReplyDeleteYour quote really stood out to me, especially this part, "You also quickly realize that none of the maps you have ever seen of the solar system were remotely drawn to scale." There is just so many things in the solar system that sometimes it's not even on the map. Just thinking about it kind of creeps me out of what other things we don't know, or aren't able to see.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, the universe is so enormous that you can't really picture just how big it is. There are so many things out in space but our planet is the only one that we know so far that can sustain life. I have always wondered how scientist know how space looks like if they haven't been out in space for themselves to see it. They seem to know where one planet or star is like if was no problem.
ReplyDeleteThat quote blew me away. Just the thought of the shear size of the space around us. It seems unimaginable. I get chills thinking about what else can possibly be out there, with how little we are able to see and know. Though the thought of other life out there seem ever more likely to me, just because you cant see it doesnt mean it is not there.
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