![]() ![]() Maybe there is a way to know whether or not we can know, you know? Nye: It is the coolest thing ever that there’s so much we don’t know! There’s so much out there yet to discover and perhaps the idea that we can’t know is wrong. That doesn’t cover a fraction of the universe’s total real estate.ĬNN: Is it frustrating to think about objects in the universe that are so far away from us we may never be able to study them? But to get to our nearest neighboring galaxy at light speed, Andromeda, it would take 2.5 million years. The sun is 8.3 light-minutes away from Earth, meaning if you were to look at the sun – please don’t – you’re seeing it as it was 8.3 minutes ago.Īccording to NASA, if you were to take a trip from the sun to the edge of our solar system, it would take approximately 1.87 years at light speed. ![]() Since space is ginormous and celestial objects are so far from one another, light from these objects can take a while to reach each other. In a light-minute, light travels 11,160,000 miles. Like Earth years, a light-year can be broken down into smaller units like a light day, hour, minute, etc. Space becomes even more difficult to understand. Then, these distances start to have even less meaning. ![]() Writing millions and millions or billions and billions of miles and kilometers is very difficult! You start to end up with zero, after zero, after zero, after zero – just a lot of zeros, and you lose track. Astronomers wanted units of measurement that were manageable. It’s vast, and you’ve got people like us trying to understand it. It’s a long way! And, what’s been discovered recently with the James Webb Space Telescope is that we are - as far as we can tell - looking at the light that came from the other side of the universe after the Big Bang.ĬNN: Why does outer space have a unique unit of measurement? Bill Nye, you’re an evil man.” No – the distance is rate (speed of light) times time (a year). Now, don’t come running to me about “I can’t do algebra, I hated math. If you’re driving 60 miles per hour for an hour, you’ll go 60 miles. When scientists or astronomers use the shorthand “light,” what we mean is the speed of light for a year. Amanda Edwards/Getty Imagesīill Nye: A light-year is how far a beam of light travels in a year – (over) 5.88 trillion miles. Bill Nye arrives at National Geographic's "Cosmos: Possible Worlds" Los Angeles Premiere at Royce Hall, UCLA, on February 26, 2020. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |