Guest GentleChaos Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 (edited) I was wondering the opinions of people on this site with regards to there perception of the stars and galaxys. To clarify, what i mean is when your viewing an object, say a galaxy, do your really sense the distance of the object you are viewing, even when perhaps looking up with the naked eye and identifying a planet, do you really see how close that object is to you in galactic terms. I personally feel amazment everytime i look up at the sky beacause i really know our place in the universe, and i feel so privileged that not only has 99% of the human race not had this understanding, but that most of the world today doesnt truly see how insignificant we are in the big picture and most seem uninterested, i often think to myself "if only they knew" or "if only they could see the world like i do". I just wanted to ask how some of you feel about how your perception differs from most people ? (Perhaps should have put this in astro discussion, my bad) Edited February 7, 2012 by GentleChaos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Understanding comes with knowledge and unless you have an interest in astronomy you are never going to grasp the sheer sizes involved in the universe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Understanding comes with knowledge and unless you have an interest in astronomy you are never going to grasp the sheer sizes involved in the universe. Agreed Mick. Speaking from a 'newbie' point of view the learning of that knowledge is what attracts and motivates me to go out and observe as much as possible. Also when one devotes time to contemplating the vastness of everything that has,for centuries been going on above our heads and to realise that the light which we see in the night sky is actually from the 'past' but has taken such a long time to get to us cos of the sheer distance involved you realise just how amazing our universe is. Like you said though you need the knowledge to understand and people will only seek out the knowledge if they are interested Felix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 It's a shame that so many look up and think how pretty it all is without having a real grasp of what's up there. Everything is way too far away to actually perceive distance - Even with the closest objects like planets it's difficult to "understand" what several humdreds of millions of miles looks like. I can just about comprhend the moon distance of a quarter of a millin miles lol. But the thought that stars we see may no longer actually exist cos they burnt out thousands of years ago, and the light from their time in existence has only just reached us, is a mind blowing realisation. You don't actually sense the distance - but you do get an inckling of "time" and "space". Wish I had a Tardis lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Strings Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 (edited) I dont see why the masses don't grasp the size of eternity, Douglas Adams said it all. "space is big, really big, I mean you might think it's a long way to the shops but that's nothing compared to space". Edited February 7, 2012 by Rusty Strings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I dont see why the masses don't grasp the size of eternity, Douglas Adams said it all. "space is big, really big, I mean you might think it's a long way to the shops but that's nothing compared to space". Brilliant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I think that most people don't have a grasp of how fast light travels, they assume it's instantaneous. Then when you tell them some thing is that far away, it took millions of years to reach us even at that speed you can see the thousand yard stare happening. I have seen a galaxy that is 65 million light years distant. When the light left there, Dinosaurs were still pootling about here, I find that humbling. One of my targets for the Spring is the Quasar 3C273, which is about the furthest thing I will ever see at 2.5 Billion light years away. Here it is if you would like to have a look. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~zhuxj/astro/html/quasar3c273.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 http://scaleofuniverse.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Harper. Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 That's pretty cool Craig, I've never seen anything like that. Nice find.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GentleChaos Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Thanks for the input guys, its interesting to see everyones perspectives on this http://scaleofuniverse.com/ Cant believe ive not seen this before its great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Harper. Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 So when does the multiverse one come out??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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