How Minuscule We Really Are

[Papi]

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/8089/perspectivestarsus4di8.gif

[apnepart2]

you have made me realize how lowly i am. we should thank akal purakj for each and every second of our life.

[Papi]

Although this next one is not really as dramatic as the previous one, it still gives us an idea on how small we really are compared to the creation.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap051202.html

Explanation: The Crab Nebula is cataloged as M1, the first object on Charles Messier's famous list of things which are not comets. In fact, the cosmic Crab is now known to be a supernova remnant, an expanding cloud of debris from the death explosion of a massive star. Light from that stellar catastrophe was first witnessed by astronomers on planet Earth in the year 1054. Composed of 24 exposures taken in October 1999, January 2000, and December 2000, this Hubble Space Telescope mosaic spans about twelve light years. Colors in the intricate filaments trace the light emitted from atoms of hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur in the debris cloud. The spooky blue interior glow is emitted by high-energy electrons accelerated by the Crab's central pulsar. One of the most exotic objects known to modern astronomers, the pulsar is a neutron star, the spinning remnant of the collapsed stellar core. The Crab Nebula lies about 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus.

An interesting thing to note is that the light from the supernovae (star exploding) was first noticed in 1054 AD; we are now in 2009. Even after 955 years, the explosion remnant is still getting bigger, it's still expanding!

For those that do not know, 12 light years = the distance one would travel while going at speed of light. Some simple math to see how many kms will that be:

1 -> Speed of light = 299 792 458 m/s ≈ 300,000 km/s

2 -> 1 year = 31 556 926 secs

So, from 1 and 2 we can see that in 12 years, if we travel at speed of light, we will cover 94,67,077,800,000 kms. That is how much distance the above picture has captured.

[apnepart2]

i am not feeling as small as i felt the last time i saw the first pic. but i am still very small i guess.

[Jag_Singh]

Although this may sound irrelevant but how did you manage to get

1 year = 31 556 926 secs

? I got something totally different..

[Papi]

Although this may sound irrelevant but how did you manage to get

1 year = 31 556 926 secs

? I got something totally different..

Your math is wrong son. I asked G and he said it was 1 year = 31 556 926 secs :happy:

[Jag_Singh]

I done it the long way, 3600 sec multiplied 24, by 7, you see where I'm going. Oh well, just going to trust G.

[Guest HaRdKaUrWaRrIoRz]

its easy to calculate:

365 days*( 24hr/1day)*(60min/1hr)*(60sec/1min)=31536000 seconds

[Amrit79]

I win XD

[Jag_Singh]

Do you have any idea how long that took to load..... :lol: