![]() Directly opposite, at the 6 o’clock position, is the figure of a human, at the centre size of all scales. At 12 o’clock, the snake swallows it’s tail, where we believe gravity to link the smallest forces with the largest galactic events. This image, which is essentially a circle of a snake swallowing its tail, is referenced here with the size scales of the universe (sixty orders of magnitude) circling it like the hours on a clock face. ![]() In his essay Cosmology and Culture, he places humans right in the centre of one of the oldest visual symbols that expresses the comic cycle: the uroboros. Primack, Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, would appear to agree with this. When we see it in this way, humans no longer seemed dwarfed by the universe, but are poised elegantly somewhere in the middle of the cosmic scale. In fact, the Planck scale itself refers to a very large energy scale and a very small size scale. It takes the ability to measure the very small (one millionth of a degree in temperature change) to understand the vastly large. Interestingly, it is these very small-scale “seeds” or “clots” of information that are the key to our vision of the larger-scale expanding universe.Įach tiny variation in temperature is a reflection of the ancient time when matter and radiation were in a relationship, representing the seeds of our current galaxies and galaxy clusters. While this very old, weak, cool bath of light appears to be spread across the sky with an even intensity, there are in fact miniscule variations in temperature that exist here and there. The European Space Agency’s Planck space telescope has been reaching the incomprehensible distance of 13.75 billion light-years by measuring cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, the afterglow of the Big Bang that has since come to us. What kind of measuring tape could possibly take us there? The perfectly poised human This is positively tiny compared to the known edge of the universe, 13.75 billion light-years away. If the longer 100,000 AU journey seems daunting, you may be relieved to discover that distance is equivalent to the more reasonable-sounding 1.5 light-years. When we realize that Mars is a mere half AU away from us, the trip starts to seem pretty manageable. The distance to the edge of our solar system is approximately 100,000 AU. Since that hot yellow ball in the sky is in our everyday visual and tactile human experience (if you don’t live somewhere too foggy), it’s easy for us to imagine our solar system in relationship to this unit. One AU represents the average distance from the Earth to the Sun. The convenient unit of measurement for local interplanetary distances is the Astronomical Unit (AU). How do we go about measuring something so far beyond our own world view? Can we create rulers that stretch to the edges of the universe? The branch of the space industry known as physical space sciences is faced with that particular task. Similarly for an adult, a light-year (just under ten trillion kilometres, the distance light travels in a year) can be both a vague and awesome idea because it is so much larger than our everyday existence. For a five year old, a a year can seem like a nebulous and grand notion. It’s so huge that we have trouble grasping the concept of its scale, much as a young child views time. But what if you find yourself drawn to exploring even bigger worlds? Cosmic measuring tapes With this magic key, you can create a perfect little chair the size of your thumbnail, or conversely, blow up stamp-sized portraits into images the width of an opera house. Once you unlock the secret of how it works, it opens up doors to a vast number of different sized worlds. ![]() Shaped like a Toblerone, this three-sized ruler with it’s myriad markings is totally perplexing upon first glance. If you have ever taken a drafting class, you will have encountered a curious object known as the architect’s scale. Architect's Scale by Catherine Munro (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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