A sense of scale

[nancylebov]

I keep watching this again and again, so you folks might be fascinated, too.

Unless I've lost track, the largest stars are a little under half the diameter of the solar system.

Link thanks to spacelem.

Comments

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

It depends on how you define "half the diameter". But if VY Canis Majoris were where the Sun is, it would touch Saturn.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Or perhaps how you define "Solar System". I used 40 AU because I still want to include Pluto.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

OMFG. Boosting. Then off to work.

[chomiji]

Wow, those are some big stars!

You're right, that's mesmerizing.

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

wow. just wow.
I remember Powers of 10, but I don't think I've ever seen something with star sizes.

[richardthinks.livejournal.com]

I've seen comparative scale charts that went up to Betelgeuse before, but this one just keeps going!

A star that extends to the orbit of Saturn.
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...
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I was going to comment that all this big stars are red giants, right? But then the wikipedia article on canis majoris made me realise I know nothing and should shut up. Still, I love that we're not really sure if it would extend to the orbit of Saturn or just Mars.

[bemused-leftist.livejournal.com]

I was more interested in the perspective on the Terran continents. Is it looking down on the North Pole or what?

[orawnzva.livejournal.com]

Or, apparently, on how you define the "surface" of a star — the "surface" layer of VY Canis Majoris is much less dense than parts of the Sun that are considered to be "outside" it.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

You might like this, which I've just been pointed at; it's like an interactive "Powers of Ten".