Please picture a mile. Imagine walking that mile in one straight line. That mile represents the size of The Earth.
Now imagine flying round the planet. A full circuit would be just under 25,000 miles. That is too far to walk but most of us can imagine a non-stop round-the-world flight returning to the city we set off from.
Now imagine repeating that orbital flight until you have completed forty circuits of the planet. You will have travelled a million miles in total. 40 x 25,000 = 1,000,000 (one million). That million represents the size of The Sun.
Picture it. That single mile you walked (The Earth) and those forty round-the world flights (The Sun). This ball we are all living on is not much more than a speck of dust compared with that ginormous fiery orb which shines upon us day after day. When you lie on the grass in summertime you can pretend to hold The Sun between your thumb and index finger but of course that is just an illusion connected with the fact that The Sun is 93 million miles away - in other words the equivalent of 3720 round-the-world flights.
These thoughts and calculations arose after hearing Professor Brian Cox on the radio yesterday morning. He informed listeners that The Sun is a million times bigger than The Earth. Wow! I must admit that until now I had never really appreciated the sheer enormity of the size difference. Our planet is roughly the size of an ant on a hot air balloon.
My apologies to visitors who had already grasped this.
My apologies to visitors who had already grasped this.
I'm not sure I grasped the size difference precisely, but I knew the sun was a heck of a lot bigger than the earth. I wonder about that illustration, though. I don't think the distances could be correct. Wouldn't the moon be much closer to the earth, relative to the sun?
ReplyDeleteThe illustration is just to show size differences. To show accurate distances between the orbs our computer screens would have to be as wide as Buckingham Palace.
DeleteI think that whether you knew it or not seeing/hearing those statistics once again impresses on the brain just how enormous the difference in size actually is.
ReplyDeleteI'd walk a million miles for one of your smiles!
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Cathy @ Still Waters
I'd walk a million miles for one of your smiles!
DeleteOh CA-A-THY!
And that is just the beginning! The nearest star from our solar system is about 4 lightyears away.
ReplyDeleteAre you trying to blow my mind?
DeleteAwesome.
ReplyDeleteYou have used that word correctly.
DeleteI think I'll stick to admiring the sizes of the lemons my lemon tree is presently producing. They are huge!
ReplyDeleteAs for laying on the grass looking at the sun during summer...a few things are likely to happen - or not happen. Firstly, I'd find it difficult enough to get down there, and then,even more difficult trying to get back up again. I guess I could roll back inside...if I'd left the door open, that is...and lever myself back up by grabbing hold of some furniture.
Secondly, the ticks might take a liking to me, but the feeling isn't mutual.
Thirdly, and most important...my landlord on his Mad Max machine (ride-on mower) would probably run over me. He's always lost in his own world, and for certain wouldn't see me! He arrive back from the UK on Sunday night apparently, so he is due to be running wild on Max Max in the next day or two.
So...I'll just have to take your word, and the word of the wonderful Brian Cox, for it, Major Pud.
Ha-ha! As we get older, getting up from the ground or floor does seem to present far more challenge than it used to do. Once I would leap up like jack-in-the-box but now I am like a rug. I hope your kind landlord brought you a gift back from England - perhaps The Houses of Parliament in a glass snowstorm.
DeleteThis is one of those facts that it is good to be reminded of sometimes.
ReplyDeleteMy goodness, but in the grand scheme of things we are so relatively insignificant.
"Is there anybody else out there?"
DeleteI don't think so.
And is it even more truely remarkable that, given the size of the earth and the size of the sun, the earth is at just the correct distance from the sun to allow life to thrive? Not many (any?) planets can say that.
ReplyDeleteIt is a remarkable accident isn't it? Shame we seem incapable of treasuring this incredible jewel.
DeleteIt boggles the mind! And then remember that we are in just one of an unknown number of solar systems! I guess we have to remember that size is relative.
ReplyDeleteOur little corner of The Universe is like a tiny seed in The Amazon Basin.
DeleteIt's all relative. We are in the Milkie Way which is full of suns and planets. Yes we're small potatoes.
ReplyDeleteCanada must feel like Jupiter while Great Britain feels like Mercury.
DeleteJust last weekend I went to our local university planetarium with a friend and watched a show narrated by Patrick Stewart about the life of a star. He touched on the size difference between the sun and the earth. Fascinating stuff!
ReplyDeleteI have a friend in New Zealand who is a devotee of Broan Cox and I've heard that so many times that I'd be far to afraid to admit that I wasn't aware of it
ReplyDeleteBrian Cox (🙁)
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