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The Scale of the Universe

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Interactive online visualization tool 2010 video game
The Scale of the Universe
Title screen of "The Scale of the Universe".Title screen of the first edition
Developer(s)Cary Huang, Michael Huang
Composer(s)Kevin MacLeod, Cliff Martinez
EngineAdobe Flash
Platform(s)Web-based
Release2010
Genre(s)Edutainment

The Scale of the Universe is an interactive online visualization tool and website first created in 2010 by Chinese-American twins Cary and Michael Huang, based in Moraga, California. Released on Newgrounds and the Huang brothers' web page, it features a scrollbar that players can use to navigate through orders of magnitude and view various objects within such size ranges. Sliding the scrollbar to the left and right causes the screen to zoom in and out respectively, utilizing resolution independence in the process.

In 2012, Cary and Michael Huang released a sequel titled The Scale of the Universe 2, in which clicking on objects brings up infoboxes that display information about them. The current version of The Scale of the Universe 2 uses Pixi.js instead of Flash, ported by Matthew Martori.

The Scale of the Universe was featured on NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day on October 7, 2018.

In 2020, animation studio Kurzgesagt released the app Universe in a Nutshell, which took inspiration from The Scale of the Universe.

The main-belt asteroid 10003 Caryhuang was officially named by the International Astronomical Union on June 16, 2021, partly in recognition of Cary Huang's involvement in The Scale of the Universe.

Objects measured

Less than 1 meter

Item Measurement given in The Scale of the Universe Measurement given in The Scale of the Universe 2
Quantum foam 9.3 × 10 meters
String (physics) 9.3 × 10 meters
Brane 10 meters
Planck length 10 meters 1.6 × 10 meters
Yoctometer 10 meters 10 meters
Neutrino 10 meters 10 meters
Top quark 10 meters
Zeptometer 10 meters 10 meters
Preon 10 meters
High-energy radius of a neutrino (SOTU) / High-Energy Neutrino (SOTU 2) 10 meters 1.5 × 10 meters
Bottom quark 3 × 10 meters
Charm quark 10 meters
Strange quark 4 × 10 meters
Attometer 10 meters 10 meters
Up quark 10 meters
Down quark 10 meters
Quark 10 meters
Electron core 10 meters
Range of the weak force 10 meters
Lengths shorter than this are not confirmed 10 meters
Femtometer 10 meters 10 meters
Proton 10 meters 10 meters
Neutron 10 meters 10 meters
Helium nucleus 3 × 10 meters
Electron (classical) 5.64 × 10 meters
Chlorine nucleus 6 × 10 meters
Average size of an atom's nucleus 10 meters
Uranium nucleus 1.5 × 10 meters
Picometer 10 meters 10 meters
Gamma ray wavelength 10 meters 10 meters
Electron compton wavelength 2 × 10 meters
Helium atom 3.1 × 10 meters 2.5 × 10 meters
Hydrogen atom 2.5 × 10 meters 3.1 × 10 meters
Smallest thing visible to an electron microscope 5 × 10 meters
Angstrom 10 meters 10 meters
Sulfur atom 10 meters
Carbon atom 7 × 10 meters 1.6 × 10 meters
Water molecule 2.8 × 10 meters 2.8 × 10 meters
X-ray wavelength 5 × 10 meters 5 × 10 meters
Caesium atom 2.6 × 10 meters 5 × 10 meters
Width of a protein alpha helix 5 × 10 meters 8 × 10 meters
Glucose molecule 8 × 10 meters
Nanometer 10 meters 10 meters
Width of a carbon nanotube 10 meters 10 meters
Buckyball 10 meters
Smallest transistor gate of a microprocessor 2 × 10 meters
Phospholipid 2.5 × 10 meters
Thickness of DNA 3 × 10 meters 3 × 10 meters
Phospholipid bilayer 5 × 10 meters
Width of the cell membrane 10 meters
Porcine circovirus 1.7 × 10 meters
Transistor gate 2.5 × 10 meters
Hepatitis B virus 4.2 × 10 meters
Ultraviolet light wavelength 5 × 10 meters 6 × 10 meters
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 9 × 10 meters 9 × 10 meters
Depth of a pit in a CD 1.2 × 10 meters
Smallest thing visible to an optical microscope 2 × 10 meters
Bacteriophage 2 × 10 meters
Violet light wavelength 3 × 10 meters 4 × 10 meters
Mimivirus 4 × 10 meters
Largest virus 5 × 10 meters 4.4 × 10 meters
Violet light wavelength 7 × 10 meters 7.5 × 10 meters
Micrometer 10 meters 10 meters
Smallest-sized particle surgical masks block out 10 meters
Y chromosome 1.5 × 10 meters
E. coli 10 meters 2 × 10 meters
Clay particle 10 meters 2 × 10 meters
X chromosome 4 × 10 meters
Mitochondrion 4 × 10 meters
Red blood cell 7 × 10 meters 7 × 10 meters
Cell nucleus 7 × 10 meters
Chloroplast 8 × 10 meters
White blood cell 10 meters 10 meters
Width of acrylic fiber 1.2 × 10 meters
Infrared light wavelength 10 meters 1.5 × 10 meters
Width of silk fiber 1.5 × 10 meters
Twip 1.76 × 10 meters
Mist/fog droplet (SOTU)
Mist droplet (SOTU 2)
10 meters 2 × 10 meters
Mil, point, or thou (SOTU)
Thou (SOTU 2)
2.5 × 10 meters 2.54 × 10 meters
Skin cell 3.5 × 10 meters
Pollen grain 5 × 10 meters
Silt particle 5 × 10 meters 5 × 10 meters
Smallest thing/object visible to the naked eye 10 meters 10 meters
Width of human hair 10 meters 10 meters
Human egg 2.5 × 10 meters 1.2 × 10 meters
Thickness of paper 10 meters 1.5 × 10 meters
Ciliate protist 2 × 10 meters
Paramecium 2 × 10 meters
Dust mite 3 × 10 meters
Computer pixel (SOTU)
LCD pixel (SOTU 2)
3 × 10 meters 3 × 10 meters
Amoeba 3.5 × 10 meters
Grain of salt 5 × 10 meters 5 × 10 meters
Grain of sand 10 meters 5 × 10 meters
Thickness of human skin (thinnest, eyelids) 5 × 10 meters
Thickness of a credit card 7 × 10 meters
Mechanical pencil lead (SOTU)
Pencil lead (SOTU 2)
7 × 10 meters (7 ± 2) × 10 meters
Largest bacteria 5 × 10 meters 7.5 × 10 meters
Millimeter 10 meters 10 meters
Duckweed 2 × 10 meters
Sesame seed 3 × 10 meters
Microchip 4 × 10 meters
Thickness of human skin (thickest, soles of feet) 4 × 10 meters
Ant 4 × 10 meters 4 × 10 meters
Sleet 5 × 10 meters 5 × 10 meters
Sunflower seed 7 × 10 meters
Grain of rice 8 × 10 meters 5 × 10 meters
Average size of a snowflake 10 meters
Coffee bean 10 meters 10 meters
Microwave wavelength 10 meters 10 meters
Hummingbird egg 1.2 × 10 meters
Glass marble 1.5 × 10 meters
U.S. penny 1.9 × 10 meters
Square inch 2.54 × 10 meters 2.5 × 10 meters
Quail egg 3 × 10 meters 3 × 10 meters
Common earthworm 4 × 10 meters 4 × 10 meters
Matchstick 5 × 10 meters
Rubik's cube 5.5 × 10 meters
Chicken egg 5.5 × 10 meters 5.5 × 10 meters
Hummingbird 10 meters
Shrew 10 meters
Cup 1.2 × 10 meters
Ostrich egg 1.5 × 10 meters
Approximate size of this viewport 2 × 10 meters
Largest hailstone 2 × 10 meters
Basketball 2.4 × 10 meters
Russell's teapot 2.5 × 10 meters
Inch ruler 3.1 × 10 meters 3 × 10 meters
Largest snowflake found 3.8 × 10 meters
Beach ball 5 × 10 meters (small)
1 meter (large)
8 × 10 meters

1 meter to 1 terameter

Item Measurement given in The Scale of the Universe Measurement given in The Scale of the Universe 2
Meter 10 meters 10 meters
Meterstick 1 meter
Dodo bird 1 meter
Rafflesia 1 meter
FM radio wavelength 1 meter 1 meter
Human 1.7 meters 1.7 meters
Wandering albatross 2.3 meters
Floor to ceiling 2.5 meters
Sunflower 2.5 meters
Japanese spider crab 3 meters
Giant earthworm 7 meters 3 meters
Bubble car 4 meters
Elephant 5 meters
Giraffe 6 meters
Tyrannosaurus rex 7 meters
Green anaconda 8 meters
Apollo lunar module 9 meters
Bus 1.2 × 10 meters
Saguaro cactus 2 × 10 meters 1.4 × 10 meters
Average U.S. house 1.5 × 10 meters
Oak tree 2 × 10 meters 1.5 × 10 meters
Blue whale 3 × 10 meters
Amphilicoelias fragilimus 3 × 10 meters
Boeing 747 7 × 10 meters 6.5 × 10 meters
Redwood tree 1.1 × 10 meters 10 meters
International Space Station 1.08 × 10 meters
Football field 1.097 × 10 meters
Saturn V 1.1 × 10 meters
Great Pyramid of Giza 1.5 × 10 meters
Gateway Arch 1.92 × 10 meters
Hoover Dam 2.2 × 10 meters
Titanic 2.7 × 10 meters
Eiffel Tower 3.2 × 10 meters 3.2 × 10 meters
Half Dome 4.2 × 10 meters 4.1 × 10 meters
Sears Tower 4.42 × 10 meters
International Commerce Centre 4.84 × 10 meters
Vatican City 8 × 10 meters
Burj Khalifa 8.28 × 10 meters
Angel Falls 9.79 × 10 meters 9.8 × 10 meters
AM radio wavelength 10 meters 10 meters
Kilometer 10 meters 10 meters
Boeing Everett Factory 10 meters
Mile 1.609 × 10 meters
Stanford Linear Collider 3 × 10 meters
Uluru 3 × 10 meters
Central Park 4 × 10 meters
Cruithne 5 × 10 meters
Large Hadron Collider 8 × 10 meters
Palm Jebel Ali 8 × 10 meters
Mount Everest 8 × 10 meters 8 × 10 meters
Large Electron-Positron Collider 10 meters
Depth of the Mariana Trench 1.1 × 10 meters 10 meters
Halley's Comet 1.1 × 10 meters
Deimos 1.3 × 10 meters 1.3 × 10 meters
Phobos 2.3 × 10 meters 2.3 × 10 meters
Neutron star 2.4 × 10 meters
Ganymed 3.2 × 10 meters
Marathon 4.2 × 10 meters 4.2 × 10 meters
Bianca 5.4 × 10 meters
Rhode Island 7.5 × 10 meters
Belinda 8 × 10 meters
Nix 8 × 10 meters
Hydra 10 meters
Brunei 1.2 × 10 meters
Dysnomia 1.5 × 10 meters
Galatea 1.6 × 10 meters
Rwanda 2.4 × 10 meters
Nereid 3.4 × 10 meters
West Virginia 4 × 10 meters
Grand Canyon 4.5 × 10 meters
Miranda 4.7 × 10 meters
Ceres 9.5 × 10 meters 9.5 × 10 meters
Megameter 10 meters 10 meters
Italy 1.1 × 10 meters
California 1.2 × 10 meters
Charon 1.2 × 10 meters 1.2 × 10 meters
Texas 1.2 × 10 meters
Quaoar 1.3 × 10 meters 1.3 × 10 meters
Titania 1.5 × 10 meters
Sedna 1.7 × 10 meters 1.8 × 10 meters
Pluto 2.3 × 10 meters 2.3 × 10 meters
Eris 2.7 × 10 meters 2.4 × 10 meters
Great Barrier Reef 2.6 × 10 meters
Triton 2.7 × 10 meters 2.7 × 10 meters
Europa 3.1 × 10 meters
Moon 3.5 × 10 meters 3.5 × 10 meters
Io 3.6 × 10 meters
Width of the United States 4.2 × 10 meters 4.2 × 10 meters
Callisto 4.8 × 10 meters
Mercury 4.7 × 10 meters 4.9 × 10 meters
Titan 5.2 × 10 meters
Ganymede 5.3 × 10 meters 5.3 × 10 meters
Mars 6.8 × 10 meters 6.8 × 10 meters
Asia 8 × 10 meters
Great Wall of China 8.8 × 10 meters
Venus 1.2 × 10 meters 1.2 × 10 meters
Earth 1.27 × 10 meters 1.27 × 10 meters
Sirius B 2 × 10 meters 2 × 10 meters
Neptune 4.9 × 10 meters 4.9 × 10 meters
Uranus 5.1 × 10 meters 5.1 × 10 meters
Minecraft world 6.4 × 10 meters
Gliese 229 B 1.1 × 10 meters 1.1 × 10 meters
Saturn 1.2 × 10 meters 1.2 × 10 meters
Jupiter 1.4 × 10 meters 1.4 × 10 meters
Wolf 359 1.9 × 10 meters 1.5 × 10 meters
Proxima Centauri 2.8 × 10 meters 2 × 10 meters
TrES-4 2.3 × 10 meters 2.29999 × 10 meters
Luyten's Star 3.3 × 10 meters 3.3 × 10 meters
Kapteyn's Star 4.2 × 10 meters
Distance from Earth to the Moon 4 × 10 meters 3.8 × 10 meters
Gliese 229A 9.6 × 10 meters
Gigameter 10 meters 10 meters
Alpha Centauri B 10 meters 10 meters
Sun 1.4 × 10 meters 1.4 × 10 meters
Alpha Centauri A 1.5 × 10 meters 1.5 × 10 meters
Sirius A 2.5 × 10 meters 2.5 × 10 meters
Altair 2.6 × 10 meters
Procyon 2.9 × 10 meters
Vega 3.8 × 10 meters 3.8 × 10 meters
Regulus 5.8 × 10 meters 5.8 × 10 meters
Spica 9.6 × 10 meters 9.6 × 10 meters
Total human height 10 meters
Pollux 1.1 × 10 meters 1.1 × 10 meters
Capella 1.7 × 10 meters
VV Cephei B 2 × 10 meters
Albireo 2.2 × 10 meters
Arcturus 3.6 × 10 meters 3.6 × 10 meters
Polaris 4 × 10 meters 4 × 10 meters
Aldebaran 6 × 10 meters 6 × 10 meters
Distance from Mercury to the Sun 6 × 10 meters
Alnitak 8.4 × 10 meters 8.4 × 10 meters
Rigel 9.7 × 10 meters 9.7 × 10 meters
Distance from Earth to the Sun 1.5 × 10 meters 1.5 × 10 meters
Gacrux 1.6 × 10 meters 1.6 × 10 meters
Enif 1.6 × 10 meters
Deneb 3.1 × 10 meters 3.1 × 10 meters
La Superba 4.2 × 10 meters 4.2 × 10 meters
Pistol Star 4.7 × 10 meters 4.7 × 10 meters
R Doradus 5.2 × 10 meters
S Doradus 7.7 × 10 meters 7.7 × 10 meters
Distance from Jupiter to the Sun 7.8 × 10 meters
Antares 9.7 × 10 meters 9.69999999 × 10 meters

1 terameter and beyond

Item Measurement given in The Scale of the Universe Measurement given in The Scale of the Universe 2
Terameter 10 meters 10 meters
V382 Carinae 10 meters
V838 Monocerotis 1.1 × 10 meters
Betelgeuse 1.4 × 10 meters 1.3 × 10 meters
Mu Cephei 1.9 × 10 meters 1.9 × 10 meters
KY Cygni 2 × 10 meters 2 × 10 meters
V354 Cephei 2.1 × 10 meters 2.1 × 10 meters
VV Cephei A 2.4 × 10 meters 2.4 × 10 meters
WOH G64 2.8 × 10 meters 2.8 × 10 meters
VY Canis Majoris 3 × 10 meters 3 × 10 meters
Distance from Neptune to the Sun 4.5 × 10 meters
Distance from Pluto to the Sun 5.9 × 10 meters
Kuiper Belt 1.5 × 10 meters 1.5 × 10 meters
Distance from Voyager 1 to Earth 1.7 × 10 meters
Homunculus Nebula 2 × 10 meters 2 × 10 meters
Light-day 2.6 × 10 meters
Distance from Comet Hale-Bopp to Sun (farthest) 5.5 × 10 meters
Distance from Sedna to Sun (farthest) 1.4 × 10 meters
Stingray Nebula 3 × 10 meters 8 × 10 meters
Petameter 10 meters 10 meters
Distance from Proxima Centauri to Alpha Centauri A 1.5 × 10 meters 1.5 × 10 meters
Gomez's Hamburger 2.5 × 10 meters
Cat's Eye Nebula 3.5 × 10 meters 2.5 × 10 meters
Hourglass Nebula 3 × 10 meters
Blinking Nebula 4.5 × 10 meters
Light year 9.5 × 10 meters 10 meters
Rotten Egg Nebula 1 light year
1.4 × 10 meters
Ring Nebula 1.3 × 10 meters 2 light years
1.7 × 10 meters
Oort cloud 1.5 × 10 meters 2 light years
2 × 10 meters
Horsehead Nebula 2 × 10 meters 2 light years
2 × 10 meters
Ant Nebula 2 light years
2 × 10 meters
Eskimo Nebula 2 light years
2 × 10 meters
Boomerang Nebula 2 light years
2.1 × 10 meters
Helix Nebula 3 × 10 meters 3 light years
3 × 10 meters
Parsec 3 light years
3.3 × 10 meters
Distance from the Sun to Proxima Centauri 4 × 10 meters 4 light years
4.2 × 10 meters
Bubble Nebula 7 light years
7 × 10 meters
Cone Nebula 8 light years
8 × 10 meters
Pillars of Creation 9.5 × 10 meters 10 light years
10 meters
Crab Nebula 7 × 10 meters 11 light years
1.1 × 10 meters
The Spire 20 light years
2 × 10 meters
Orion Nebula 2 × 10 meters 24 light years
2.4 × 10 meters
Solar System's solar neighborhood 4 × 10 meters
North America Nebula 40 light years
4 × 10 meters
Messier 14 5 × 10 meters
Great Nebula in Carina 60 light years
6 × 10 meters
Cave Nebula 70 light years
7 × 10 meters
Eagle Nebula 70 light years
7 × 10 meters
Rosette Nebula 6.5 × 10 meters 100 light years
10 meters
Exameter 10 meters 10 meters
Lagoon Nebula 110 light years
1.1 × 10 meters
Omega Centauri 10 meters 150 light years
1.5 × 10 meters
Messier 54 1.5 × 10 meters 300 light years
3 × 10 meters
Barnard's Loop 300 light years
3 × 10 meters
Tarantula Nebula 5 × 10 meters 600 light years
6 × 10 meters
Leo II 2,000 light years
2 × 10 meters
Messier 87 relativistic jets 5 × 10 meters
Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy 5,000 light years
5 × 10 meters
Canes Venatici I 6,500 light years
6.5 × 10 meters
Small Magellanic Cloud 3.5 × 10 meters 7,000 light years
7 × 10 meters
Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy 10 meters 10,000 light years
10 meters
Large Magellanic Cloud 7.5 × 10 meters 14,000 light years
1.4 × 10 meters
NGC 3310 22,000 light years
2.2 × 10 meters
NGC 7714 3.5 × 10 meters
Triangulum 5 × 10 meters 50,000 light years
5 × 10 meters
Sombrero Galaxy 7 × 10 meters 50,000 light years
5 × 10 meters
Black Eye Galaxy 8.5 × 10 meters
Zettameter 10 meters 10 meters
Milky Way 1.2 × 10 meters 120,000 light years
1.2 × 10 meters
Andromeda 1.5 × 10 meters 150,000 light years
1.5 × 10 meters
Cartwheel Galaxy 150,000 light years
1.5 × 10 meters
Pinwheel Galaxy 1.8 × 10 meters 170,000 light years
1.7 × 10 meters
Whirlpool Galaxy 180,000 light years
1.8 × 10 meters
NGC 1232 2 × 10 meters 220,000 light years
2.2 × 10 meters
Virgo A 2.5 × 10 meters 250,000 light years
2.5 × 10 meters
Tadpole Galaxy 300,000 light years
3 × 10 meters
Distance Earth has traveled relative to the sun 450,000 light years
4.5 × 10 meters
NGC 4889 5 × 10 meters 500,000 light years
5 × 10 meters
Distance to Andromeda 2 million light years
2 × 10 meters
IC 1101 5 × 10 meters 5 million light years
5 × 10 meters
Abell 2029 6 million light years
6 × 10 meters
Local Group 4 × 10 meters 10 million light years
10 meters
Fornax Cluster 20 million light years
2 × 10 meters
Virgo Cluster 1.55 × 10 meters 30 million light years
3 × 10 meters
Yottameter 10 meters 10 meters
Virgo Supercluster 1.5 × 10 meters 110 million light years
1.1 × 10 meters
Distance to the Great Attractor 250 million light years
2.5 × 10 meters
Eridanus Supervoid 500 million light years
5 × 10 meters
Distance to the Shapley Supercluster 650 million light years
6.5 × 10 meters
Pisces-Cetus Supercluster Complex 1 billion light years
10 meters
Sloan Great Wall 1.3 billion light years
1.3 × 10 meters
Gigaparsec 3.3 billion light years
3.3 × 10 meters
Distance to the Hubble Deep Field 12.7 billion light years
1.27 × 10 meters
Observable universe 1.4 × 10 meters 93.4 billion light years
9.34 × 10 meters
Estimated size of the universe 9.3 × 10 meters 160 billion light years
1.6 × 10 meters

See also

References

  1. ^ "'The Scale of the Universe,' by Two Teenage Brothers". ABC News. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  2. ^ "WGSBN Bulletin 1, #3" (PDF). WGSBN Bulletin. 1 (3). International Astronomical Union: 7. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  3. Murphy, Dan (1 March 2012). "Something beautiful: Cary Huang's Scale of the Universe".
  4. Wired Staff - The Scale of the Universe: an Interactive Infographic
  5. Michigan Radio Offbeat: Two 14 Year Olds Show Us The Scale Of The Universe
  6. ^ The Scale of the Universe 2. htwins.net
  7. Hill, David J. (2012-04-15). ""The Scale Of The Universe 2" Animation Made By 14-Year-Olds Is Mind Blowing". Singularity Hub. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  8. Rao, Mallika (2012-07-20). "'The Scale Of The Universe 2': Cary And Michael Huang Let You Scroll Through The Universe (PHOTOS)". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  9. "APOD: 2018 October 7 - The Scale of the Universe Interactive". NASA. October 7, 2018. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  10. @carykh (October 4, 2020). Hey Kurzgesagt! Hello from Scale of the Universe's Creator. YouTube. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  11. VanderBorght, Mieke. "Universe in a Nutshell App Review". Common Sense Media. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

External links

Orders of magnitude
Quantity
See also
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