[CaptainGyro]

This thread could have gone into "Photo Albums" or "Entertainment", but I thought "Astronomy" was the best fit. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, I want to introduce you to the APOD, or Astromomy Picture of the Day website:

Astronomy Picture of the Day

As my daughters would say, "the name is self-explanatory"; the pictures are high-def and downloadable, so you can find some amazing desktop photos.

What I really want to call your attention to though, is the entry for January 12th of this year. Instead of a photo, NASA presents a Flash animation by twin brothers, Cary and Michael Huang, which is the best presentation of size and scale I've ever seen:

APOD: 2014 January 12 - The Scale of the Universe: Interactive

As you slide the scroll bar at the bottom, the animation zooms in and out to illustrate the size of different objects, from the visible universe down to subatomic particles. Clicking on different objects brings up explanations. Even the music is good, and the whole thing is downloadable. If you have any interest in science at all (or even if you don't), do yourself a favor and waste a little time with this thing.

 

[Diamondback]

Vaguely reminiscent of the end of the first Men In Black... LOL

In all seriousness, an interesting and educational way to kill some time, without being too dry and hardcore-science-geek-y.

 

[bearcat6]

Great post Captain Gyro, Thanks.

 

[WaltGraham]

What I really want to call your attention to though, is the entry for January 12th of this year. Instead of a photo, NASA presents a Flash animation by twin brothers, Cary and Michael Huang, which is the best presentation of size and scale I've ever seen:

APOD: 2014 January 12 - The Scale of the Universe: Interactive

Boy, that sure puts things in perspective.

 

[Skeptic49]

I like the 'Space is Big, Really Big" comment from the Novelization of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

The APOD has been my opening tab on my morning browser for many years.

Geoff
Who is set in his ways.