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The Largest Model of Our Universe [cool video]

GodlessAstronomer

GodlessAstronomer

Lifer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W35SYkfdGtw

I know that there are hundreds of these videos out there now that attempt to show the scale of the universe, but in my opinion this is the most successful one yet. What you're looking at is the large scale structure of the cosmos - strands of galaxies extending for billions of lightyears through space. Amazing.

Read the video description for more info.
 
lame video.

Started off with some abstract squigglies, and zoomed into a yellow spot. Still not exactly sure what the video was trying to convey.
 
Stupid question of the day...

Looking at that second video reminded me of the flat orbit the planets have around the sun. Why is that? It seems like any elliptical path would work, but all the planets look like they're roughly on the same plane. Is there a reason for it, or is it just "one of those things", and it occurred by happenstance?
 
lxskllr said:
Stupid question of the day...

Looking at that second video reminded me of the flat orbit the planets have around the sun. Why is that? It seems like any elliptical path would work, but all the planets look like they're roughly on the same plane. Is there a reason for it, or is it just "one of those things", and it occurred by happenstance?
Click to expand...
primordial rotating disk of stuff..
 
lxskllr said:
Stupid question of the day...

Looking at that second video reminded me of the flat orbit the planets have around the sun. Why is that? It seems like any elliptical path would work, but all the planets look like they're roughly on the same plane. Is there a reason for it, or is it just "one of those things", and it occurred by happenstance?
Click to expand...

Didn't we have a thread on that exact subject in the past couple days?

E:
I can't find it, maybe it was on another forum.
 
Last edited:
Didn't we have a thread on that exact subject in the past couple days?

E:
I can't find it, maybe it was on another forum.
Click to expand...
It's because when the solar system formed, the matter that would become the sun and planets clumped together and started rotating. The rotation more or less forced the matter into a disk. Over time the disk in turn formed a central bulge, which would turn into the Sun, and smaller accretions further and further out, which became the planets. That is why most of the planets spin in the same direction as the sun's rotation. I'm not quite sure what happened with Venus, and Pluto and thek Oort cloud were likely captured by the sun after its formation.
 
So, that is fairly accurate given our current state of knowledge and imagery?

I love seeing the filamentary nature actually stand out like that. It was one of my favorite things to learn about the universe, really puts the whole concept and nature and order into clear view. But at the time was never shown any 3D models of such a filamentary universe, there were flat maps based on simulations.
 
GodlessAstronomer said:
The stringy filamentary look is actually known by direct observation, I believe.
Click to expand...

That much I reckon is true.
But direct observation alone, as with many things about the universe, doesn't always tell the whole tale.

My main point was not so much about how they know it, but how it is shown and relayed to the lesser folk. This was the first time I ever got to see such a view of the filamentary look. And seeing how it looks with depth as it is navigated is even more eye-opening.

The fun with the filamentary look is just what it means. While galaxies and the like would seemingly spring up with random order, the filamentary nature is a complex yet ordered development and expansion style that, with current knowledge, demonstrates a lot about something we know so little.
IIRC, the level of understanding regarding dark matter is still extremely limited, yes?
As the way I was instructed regarding the filamentary nature of the universe is entirely due to dark matter.
 
Gothgar said:
good video... gave me the chills
Click to expand...

no doubt...I am no where near anything of a scientist...but the sheer volume of what we know now regarding the universe would lead me to believe that there is life on other planets...it is sad to think that in our lifetime we won't find anything...maybe in a 100 or 200 years...contact would be made with another life form...that would be very cool to experience!
 
Too bad it's impossible for us to see any more than 6000 light years out anything farther clearly just fabrications made last thrusday to give us the illusion of that.
 
Fritzo said:
It's an oversimplification of the term. It's actually the distance of the longest side of a triangle formed between the Earth, the Sun, and a pre-selected point in space.
Click to expand...

No it's not. In order to define a triangle, you need 3 pieces of information about it, and one has to be a length. You can then get all the other information about the triangle that you need.

It's the length of a leg which completes a right triangle which has base of 1 AU (Earth-Sun distance), and angle opposite that base of 1 arc second.

Thus, the three pieces of information needed to construct the triangle and determine the length of the leg are:

1 angle - the right angle
1 angle - the 1 arc second angle
1 side - the 1AU

It's called a parsec because it is the parallax angle of one arcsecond.

Saying "it's the length from the sun to a star" has absolutely nothing to do with it, as there aren't any stars 1 pc away.
 
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