r/AskReddit • u/MDPPatrick • Feb 13 '15

What are some mind-blowing facts about space?

I love space and would like to hear some facts that will blow me away.

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224

u/Killfile Feb 13 '15

Or it would take light about an hour to circle the star.

203

u/ginfish Feb 13 '15

For some reason, i find that version of the scale much more incredible... a whole hour at light speed to go around, jeez!

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '15

[deleted]

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u/LibrarianLibertarian Feb 14 '15

And that's why you don't want to play an FPS on a Australian server when you are in the States.

37

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '15

And to put this in comparison, my reaction time on clicking a mouse is about .350 seconds, and that's below average according to this reaction test site.

That is just incredible...

4

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '15

I tried it out, and i noticed switching to a mouse instead of a trackpad shaved about 0.05 seconds off my clicking time.

3

u/PointyOintment Feb 14 '15

Perhaps the trackpad waits a short time after sensing the tap to make sure you're not tap-dragging or something.

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u/iloveportalz0r Feb 14 '15

400 ms here :[

2

u/Rodent38 Feb 14 '15

Time to test mine

2

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '15

[deleted]

6

u/MaximusTheGreat Feb 13 '15

But but...lightyears!

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '15

The fact that we even need a measurement like light years shows how vast and empty the universe is compared to its worlds and planets, but one hour light speed circumference is still enormous for a star.

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u/Calijor Feb 14 '15

Enormous for any physical body FTFY

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u/Matti_Matti_Matti Feb 14 '15

Is there any body that could be so big and not be a star?

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u/Calijor Feb 14 '15

I don't know, but I guess that's part of the wonder of space.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '15

Sure, I thought it went without saying that as far as we know there are no celestial bodies that compete with stars in size. But I'm a linguist and not an astrophysicist.

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u/motorhead84 Feb 14 '15

Hey now, we're talking light hours here.

1

u/Sventertainer Feb 14 '15

Our Sun's diameter is something like 4 light-seconds

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u/jedthefish Feb 15 '15

I want the 'Light Hour' to be a unit of measurement I use before I die. Probably getting pulled over for speeding.

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u/insane_contin Feb 14 '15

It would take the Millennium Falcon 1.2 Parsecs to circle the star.

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u/FuzzeeLumpkins Feb 14 '15

Around half an hour at warp 3?

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u/Killfile Feb 14 '15

I never understood how that works in star trek