I have never ever seen a picture or website that posted actual comparisons of stars like that!!! flag n star for the creator of this thread im giving this 3 thumbs up, becuase im a HUGE astronomy fan.... i ahd no idea arcturus was tha big! the entire solar system is only a slit bar on the scren..that is one huge ball of fire! The same with Pollux! unbelivable scaling...

Er,dont like to be a party pooper but its been on ATS for ages and I use a slice for my side bar pictureBut very much agree it really puts things in perspective doesnt it?
Oh and S&F to you for showing it

[edit on 3/11/09 by Moreonethananyone]

Awesome Find! Star & Flag! That's a great interactive photo!
Thanks for posting this up for us to enjoy! The vastness of our Universe astounds and amazes.

Synth

Nice illustration first the size of atoms thread made me feel big, now this makes me feel really small!

Just imagine all the possibilities yet to explore out there.

i had never seen that picture before, what a trip. its crazy to think that as much as it feels like it put things in perspective, in reality its impossible to really understand how small we really are

That is an amazing picture..... truly amazing.

Utterly amazing!

This truely puts into perspective how small our solar system is.

Awesome, simply awesome.

Thank you, very informative picture.

absolutely gobsmacking jawdropping picture. And people say we are alone?? haha!!!

S+F

Amazing pics. I have a question though, if VY Canis Majoris is the largest known star and only 4900 light years away, why exactly are we not able to see it with our naked eyes and why are we not able to feel its effects? Has it not existed for 4900 years yet for its light to reach us??? Even if it takes 4900 years for light to reach us from it what do you think would happen in the situation its visible considering the fact that its sooo huge. Any astronomers here who can help me out???

It almost makes me sick to my stomach to think how infinitesimally small we are in comparison to the rest of the universe.

But at the same time, it also makes me laugh, and gives me an astounding sense of wonder! To think: what are the odds that our teeny-tiny little solar system came into existence at just the right time, that it would eventually be the womb of the only known forms of life (as far as we know it), in this section of our tiny little galaxy. But at the same time, just going on the size of our galaxy alone, there MUST be more life out there. The universe is too large NOT to contain some other forms of life!

Unfortunately, viewing this has made me slightly doubt my hope that the human race will ever contact another form of intelligent life. I certainly hope that I am proven wrong in my doubts.

wow thats a really cool photo
star and flag for you

Look at that Canis Majoris star!
It's a monster!

If Earth was to orbit around it up close we would only see a huge wall of fire with no end at the one side of the planet.
I wonder how many planets orbit it. Maybe 100? How about moons in system? Maybe more than 1000?

Amazing!

Imagine what rare elements we can find if only we could travel there.

Lol, I see a new thread about that picture at least three times a year. People should really look first. Anyhow, that doesn't lessen the lesson that picture invokes.