Stars big stars

YouTube&feature=player_embedded

Posted this link in general but it got ignored. It shows the comparative size of cosmic bodies and made me think about our significance in the universe. Not really "spiritual" but it is something of a perspective. Best in HD.

Originally posted by divegeester
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEheh1BH34Q&feature=player_embedded

Posted this link in general but it got ignored. It shows the comparative size of cosmic bodies and made me think about our significance in the universe. Not really "spiritual" but it is something of a perspective. Best in HD.

Nice video. Although it doesn't really do justice to the distances between stars.

Does anyone know, if that star VY Canis Majoris (the largest one) was put in our solar system, which planets orbit would be nearest to its surface?

Originally posted by twhitehead
Nice video. Although it doesn't really do justice to the distances between stars.

Does anyone know, if that star VY Canis Majoris (the largest one) was put in our solar system, which planets orbit would be nearest to its surface?

Saturn?

Edit: if that's right which I think it is, then that is some perspective on size - jeez.

Originally posted by divegeester
Saturn?

Edit: if that's right which I think it is, then that is some perspective on size - jeez.

However, that distance is nothing compared to the distance between stars. I believe the Sun is only 6 light minutes away whereas the nearest star is about 4 light years.

Originally posted by twhitehead
However, that distance is nothing compared to the distance between stars. I believe the Sun is only 6 light minutes away whereas the nearest star is about 4 light years.

At the risk of being a) wrong, and b) correcting a scientist (?) the Sun is 8 light mins away at 93,000,000 miles, and yes about 4 light years to the nearest star (other than the Sun). The scale of the cosmos has fascinated me since childhood - if only I had the brains to be a astrophysicist!

Originally posted by divegeester
At the risk of being a) wrong, and b) correcting a scientist (?)

My degree is in Maths, and my career is programing, so if I am a scientist is it more in spirit than education or career. I have looked up the figures and I think you are correct. I pulled the 6 mins figure out of my memory.

I calculate 4 light years as being about 2 million AU.
I calculate the radius of the largest star at about 3.38 light days. The nearest star is about 430 times that distance.