Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of
our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief
explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2012 March 12
Explanation: What does the universe look like on small scales?
On large scales? Humanity is discovering that the universe is a
very different place on every proportion that has been explored.
For example, so far as we know, every tiny proton is exactly the
same, but every huge galaxy is different. On more familiar
scales, a small glass table top to a human is a vast plane of
strange smoothness to a dust mite -- possibly speckled with cell
boulders. Not all scale lengths are well explored -- what
happens to the smallest mist droplets you sneeze, for example,
is a topic of active research -- and possibly useful to know to
help stop the spread of disease. The above interactive flash
animation, a modern version of the classic video Powers of Ten,
is a new window to many of the known scales of our universe. By
moving the scroll bar