The universe from subatom to super galaxy

1. 10 27 meters = 1000 yottameters 100 Billion Light Years This image represents the size of the known universe -- a sphere with a radius of 13.7 billion light years.

2. 10 26 meters = 100 yottameters Ten Billion Light Years Light from galaxies on the edge would require 5 billion years to reach the center. Observers at the center are seeing light that was emitted by these galaxies before the solar system formed. The largest scale picture ever taken. Each of the 9325 points is a galaxy like ours. They clump together in 'superclusters' around great voids which can be 150 million light years across.

3. 10 25 meters = 10 yottameters One Billion Light Years Astronomers have determined that the largest structures within the visible universe - superclusters, walls, and sheets - are about 200 million light years on a side.

4. 10 24 meters = 1 yottameter 100 Million Light Years Clusters of Galaxies

5. 10 23 meters = 100 zettameters 10 Million Light Years Within the Virgo Cluster

6. 10 22 meters = 10 zettameters 1 Million Light Years The Local Group - Our galaxy with the Magellanic Clouds - two companion galaxies on the right.

7. Our galaxy - the Milky Way - looks rather like a whirlpool. It has spiral arms curling outwards from the center and rotates at about 900 kilometres per hour. It contains about 200 billion stars. 10 21 meters = 1 zettameter 100,000 Light Years

8. 10 20 meters = 100 exameters 10,000 Light Years Our Spiral Arm

9. 10 19 meters = 10 exameters 1,000 Light Years The Stars of the Orion Arm

10. 10 18 meters = 1 exameter 100 Light Years Stars within 50 Light Years

11. 10 17 meters = 100 petameters 10 Light Years The Nearest Stars

12. 10 16 meters = 10 petameters 1 Light Year The Oort Cloud

13. 10 15 meters = 1 petameter 0.1 Light Year Sol - our Sun

14. 10 14 meters = 100 terameters Our Sun and a few rocks

15. The solar system. Only the orbit of Pluto, the furthest planet from the Sun, is off the picture. 10 13 meters = 10 terameters

16. Within the orbit of Jupiter - the orbits of the inner four planets : Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. All four have rocky crusts and metallic cores. 10 12 meters = 1 terameter

17. Six weeks of the Earth's orbit. The orbits of Venus and Mars are just visible on either side. 10 11 meters = 100 gigameters

18. Four days of the Earth's orbit. 10 10 meters = 10 gigameters

19. The moon's orbit around the Earth, the furthest humans have ever traveled. 10 9 meters = 1 gigameter

20. 10 8 meters = 100 megameters Earth

21. North and Central America 10 7 meters = 10 megameters

22. 10 6 meters = 1 megameter California

23. 10 5 meters = 100 kilometer The San Francisco Bay Area

24. 10 4 meters = 10 kilometers San Francisco

25. 10 3 meters = 1 kilometer Golden Gate Park

26. Japanese Tea Garden - one hectare (10,000 m 2 ) 10 2 meters = 100 meters

27. A pond with lily pads 10 1 meters = 10 meters

28. A one-meter square 10 0 meters = 1 meter

29. 10 -1 meters = 10 centimeters A bee on a lily pad flower

30. A bee's head 10 -2 meters = 1 centimeter

31. A bee's eye 10 -3 meters = 1 millimeter

32. Pollen 10 -4 meters = 100 micrometers

33. Bacteria 10 -5 meters = 10 micrometers

34. Virus on a bacterium 10 -6 meters = 1 micrometer

35. A virus 10 -7 meters = 100 nanometers

36. The structure of DNA 10 -8 meters = 10 nanometers

37. The molecules of DNA 10 -9 meters = 1 nanometer

38. Carbon's outer electron shell 10 -10 meters = 100 picometers

39. The inner electron cloud 10 -11 meters = 10 picometers

40. Within the electron cloud 10 -12 meters = 1 picometer

41. The nucleus 10 -13 meters = 100 femtometers

42. The nucleus of carbon 10 -14 meters = 10 femtometers

43. A proton 10 -15 meters = 1 femtometer

44. Within the proton 10 -16 meters = 100 attometers

45. Quarks and gluons 10 -17 meters = 10 attometers

46. We are “Star Stuff”

47. The Orion Nebula Located in the sword of the constellation Orion.

48. The Orion Nebula

49. The Orion Nebula

50. Proplyds or Proto Solar Systems in the Orion Nebula

51. Gaseous Pillars - Stellar Nursery

59. The Scientific Method

61. The idea that scientists should prefer the simpler of two models that agree equally well with observations - the second hallmark - after medieval scholar William of Occam (1285 - 1 349). For instance, original model of Copernicus (Sun-centered) did not match the data noticeably better than Ptolemy's model (Earth-centered). Thus, a purely data-driven judgment based on the third hallmark might have led scientists to immediately reject the Sun-centered idea. Instead, many scientists found elements of the Copernican model appealing, such as the simplicity of its explanation for apparent retrograde motion. Was kept alive until Kepler found a way to make it work. Occam’s Razor

62. The most exciting words in science are not “Eureka (I found it)” but “Now that’s funny”.

64. Motions of Earth more distant galaxies moving away faster, with the most distant moving at speeds close to the speed of light universal expansion 300,000 km/hr toward Andromeda Galaxy motion within Local Group 800,000 km/hr around galactic center, with one galactic rotation taking about 230 million years rotation of the Milky Way Galaxy 70,000 km/hr relative to nearby stars motion within local solar neighborhood 100,000 km/hr around Sun, with one orbit taking 1 year orbit of Sun 1,000 km/hr or more around axis, with one rotation taking 1 day rotation Typical Speed Motion

65. The Earth rotates about its axis axis once per day - one rotation equals one day. The axis goes through the north and south poles and through the center of the Earth. It rotates counterclockwise when looking down on the north pole which means that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Rotation

66. The Rotation of the Earth From Space Earth Rotation Movie

67. Earth’s rotation causes the stars - the celestial sphere - to appear to rotate around the Earth. Viewed from outside, the stars (and the Sun, Moon, and planets) therefore appear to make simple daily circles around us. The red circles represent the apparent daily paths of a few selected stars.

69. Our lack of depth perception when we look into space creates the illusion that the Earth is surrounded by a celestial sphere. Thus, stars that appear very close to one another in our sky may actually lie at very different distances from Earth.

70. Constellations Constellations - groupings of stars named after mythical heroes, gods, and mystical beasts - made up over at least the last 6000 years - maybe more - used to identify seasons: - farmers know that for most crops, you plant in the spring and harvest in the fall. - in some regions, not much differentiation between the seasons. - different constellations visible at different times of the year - can use them to tell what month it is. For example, Scorpius is only visible in the northern hemisphere's evening sky in the summer. - many of the myths associated with the constellations thought to have been invented to help the farmers remember them - made up stories about them

71. Picture at right shows a start chart of the region around the constellation Orion. Picture at the left is an ornate star chart printed in 1835 - shows the great hunter Orion. He is holding a lion's head instead of his traditional bow or shield. He is stalking Taurus, the Bull in the upper right hand corner. Behind him, his faithful dog, Canis Major, is chasing Lepus, the Hare.

72. In modern world - constellations redefined so now every star in the sky is in exactly one constellation. In 1929, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) adopted official constellation boundaries that defined the 88 official constellations that exist today. Constellations Western culture constellations originated in Mesopotamia over 5000 years ago - added to by Babylonian, Egyptian, and Greek astronomers - current list based charts of Roman astronomer, Claudius Ptolemy (~140 AD)

75. Latitude and Longitude We can locate any place on the Earth's surface by its latitude and longitude. Latitude measures angular distance north or south of the equator. Longitude measures angular distance east or west of the prime meridian (which passes through Greenwich, England). Dallas: latitude = 32.78 º N longitude = 96.78º W

76. Zenith is the point directly overhead, nadir is the point directly underneath. The meridian is the line drawn from the horizon in the south through zenith to the horizon in the north.

78. The Earth's rotation causes stars to trace daily circles around the sky. The north celestial pole lies at the center of the circles. Over the course of a full day, circumpolar stars trace complete circles, and stars that rise in the east and set in the west trace partial circles. Here, the time exposure lasted about 6 hours - we see only about one-quarter of each portion of the full daily path. Star Trails The Northern Hemisphere The Southern Hemisphere

79. Finding the Celestial Poles You can always find north using the North Star. Polaris can be found using the big dipper. Draw a line through the two “pointer” stars at the end of the big dipper and follow it upwards from the dipper about four outstretched hand’s width. The big dipper is circumpolar in the US so is always above the horizon. The south celestial pole can be found using the Southern Cross. There is no “South Star”

80. The Big and Little Dippers

81. Motion of the Night Sky Animation

82. The height in degrees of the north star above the horizon is the same as your latitude.

83.  The angle  between the horizon and Polaris is the latitude of the observer. If Dallas is at 33º latitude, where is Polaris in the sky? Where is it at the Equator?