Everyone knows that as mere Earth-dwellers, our home planet is but a pale blue dot when compared to other celestial bodies. Even our nearby planets quickly become magnitudes larger than ourselves, and the Sun is almost incomprehensibly massive – around 1.3 million Earths would fit inside our star.
However, sometimes we need a fancy animation to really help us understand, and one Twitter user has got us covered.
In an incredible animation by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronomer James O’Donoghue, the true scale of the Solar System can truly be appreciated, as well as the rotational speeds of each planet. Jupiter in particular needs to chill. And did you know Uranus rotates at nearly right angles to its orbit?
It’s a short introduction to the scale of the universe, but one that needs to be seen to be appreciated.
And since this sent us down a rabbit hole of size comparisons (get your mind out of the gutter), this is our Sun compared to the largest star discovered yet, Stephenson 2-18.
And if you want your mind truly blown, as O’Donoghue says, there are people out there who truly believe this (below) is real.
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