The Size of Space is an interactive visualization to compare the scale of the universe. This interactive visualization is made with Three.js that shows the full scale of the observable universe in the browser. It lists the big human-made objects to giant space objects covering known asteroids, planets, stars, nebulas, black holes, galaxies, clusters and more.
The space scale visualization starts with an astronaut and compares it to the next known space objects arranged in an order of increasing size. You can cycle through the visualization back and forth using the arrow key. It shows the name of each object and shows you a scale of its size compared to the next bigger objects. Let’s check it out.
Also read: 5 Free Websites to Learn About the Universe
Interactive Visualization to Compare the Scale of the Universe
The Size of Space is a fun and educational visualization that you can run in any modern web browser i.e. Chrome, Firefox, Opera, etc. It also works with most mobile browsers so you can use it on mobile devices as well. When you open the website, it immediately runs the visualizations starting with an intro page. You can navigate the visualization either using the Left and Right arrow keys or by dragging the mouse cursor left and right. In the case of mobile devices, you can swipe left and right to navigate the illustration.
The illustration starts with an astronaut and then bring the next bigger space object in the focus as you interact. It shows the scale of the object compared to the next bigger object and the previous smaller object. As you move further to bigger objects, it stacks the previous smaller objects to the left. The size of the smaller objects gets small and small as you move further. This gives you an idea of the actual size of the object.
Wrap Up
This interactive space scale illustration offers a graphical representation of various types of objects in the space. There are bigger objects in the space whose size is hard to imagine. So having a side by side comparison helps you imagine the actual scale of the space objects, planets, stars, nebulas, and the observable universe itself. It is good for educational purpose or you can explore it to calm your curiosity about the scale of the universe and the objects in it.
