Live data from Hacker News

If the moon were only 1 pixel: A tediously accurate solar system model (2014)

joshworth.com

31–40 of 273 posts

Re: If the moon were only 1 pixel: A tediously accurate solar system model (2014)

#32
post #3

Make sure you press the "c" button in the bottom right. Light is incredibly slow, and everything seems out of reach. I think we'll have a holodeck before we reach another star. And maybe that'll be enough.

> Lightly is incredibly slow

Its relative! Sitting on a couch and watching the pixel move from the sun to the earth for 8 minutes feels incredibly slow but if you are actually traveling in a light speed aircraft then it won’t feel that slow.

Re: If the moon were only 1 pixel: A tediously accurate solar system model (2014)

#33
I remember back in elementary school, way before we had such things on computer, we had a vinyl roll for the age of the planet. You'd roll it out in the hallway, starting with present day and watch as the different time periods came into view. You were just a few feet at the origin of man, at the end of the hallway by the time you got to the beginning of Cambrian era, and out the door and across the huge athletic field before you got to the formation of the planet.

Re: If the moon were only 1 pixel: A tediously accurate solar system model (2014)

#34
post #3

Make sure you press the "c" button in the bottom right. Light is incredibly slow, and everything seems out of reach. I think we'll have a holodeck before we reach another star. And maybe that'll be enough.

I really thought hitting "light speed" would just zoom it all in a minute, but nope... So much for my physics preconceptions.

Well, if you were traveling at light speed you could move anywhere in the universe instantly. If you are an observer on earth, watching an object move away from you at the speed of light, then it will take a very long time to traverse the tiniest regions of the universe.

Re: If the moon were only 1 pixel: A tediously accurate solar system model (2014)

#35
post #3

Make sure you press the "c" button in the bottom right. Light is incredibly slow, and everything seems out of reach. I think we'll have a holodeck before we reach another star. And maybe that'll be enough.

> Light is incredibly slow, and everything seems out of reach. Yes, agreed. I find it a little depressing. An unimaginably huge universe, tantalisingly there, but completely out of reach.

It’s not the destination, it’s the journey :)

Re: If the moon were only 1 pixel: A tediously accurate solar system model (2014)

#36
post #23
post #3

Make sure you press the "c" button in the bottom right. Light is incredibly slow, and everything seems out of reach. I think we'll have a holodeck before we reach another star. And maybe that'll be enough.

If you travel at relativistic speeds, your trip will appear far shorter to you than to those that stayed on Earth. With a ship able to accelerate at 1G continuously, you can be at the edge of the observable universe in [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/s4tbry/oc_...

Naive question: is accelerating at 1G continuously within the range of what we consider possible?

Re: If the moon were only 1 pixel: A tediously accurate solar system model (2014)

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Light is incredibly slow, and everything seems out of reach. Yes, agreed. I find it a little depressing. An unimaginably huge universe, tantalisingly there, but completely out of reach.

It’s not the destination, it’s the journey :)

10,000 years of empty space to get to the next solar system. Exciting.

Re: If the moon were only 1 pixel: A tediously accurate solar system model (2014)

#38
post #3

Make sure you press the "c" button in the bottom right. Light is incredibly slow, and everything seems out of reach. I think we'll have a holodeck before we reach another star. And maybe that'll be enough.

Me scrolling is faster than the speed of light!

Nice.

Re: If the moon were only 1 pixel: A tediously accurate solar system model (2014)

#40
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really thought hitting "light speed" would just zoom it all in a minute, but nope... So much for my physics preconceptions.

> would just zoom it all in a minute, The Earth is about 8 light-minutes away from the Sun :)

I am not liking this fact.
Post reply on HN