# And you think our Sun is big? HAH! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 24, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954 "2006-06-24T04:43:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/41 "2006-06-25T14:03:42Z")
Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space. -Douglas Adams, _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/42 "2006-06-25T14:39:24Z")
**Question for scot:** If the Sun was 3.66m (12’) in diameter (the size of the Daily News Globe), how big would Antares be and how far away? They have lots of those blank glass panels around the globe, and the next time I’m in town I could easily write it in in magic marker. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/43 "2006-06-25T15:35:50Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > **Question for scot:** If the Sun was 3.66m (12’) in diameter (the size of the Daily News Globe), how big would Antares be and how far away? They have lots of those blank glass panels around the globe, and the next time I’m in town I could easily write it in in magic marker. 1 light-year = 9,460,528,400,000,000 m = 63,239 AU = 6,757,520 Solar diameters = 741,635,772 Earth diameters Distance to Antares = 600 light-years = 5,676,317,040,000,000,000 m = 37,943,802 AU = 4,054,512,171 Solar diameters = 444,981,463,276 Earth Diameters So if the 12’ globe you describe is meant to be the sun, a scale model would put Antares at 4,872 feet (a little over 9/10 mile) across and 9,214,800 miles away. If, as it seems by your use of the term “globe”, that it represents the Earth, then Antares would be 101.28 miles across and be 1,011,321,507 miles away, which would make it roughly the size and distance of the comet Chiron, that orbits between Saturn and Uranus. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/44 "2006-06-25T16:25:01Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > And of these, about 80% (or 72% of all stars) are class “M” red dwarfs – very small, very dim. Tell that to the Chirpsithra. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/45 "2006-06-25T20:40:44Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#): > > […] if the 12’ globe you describe is meant to be the sun, a scale model would put Antares at 4,872 feet (a little over 9/10 mile) across and 9,214,800 miles away. > > If, as it seems by your use of the term “globe”, that it represents the Earth, then Antares would be 101.28 miles across and be 1,011,321,507 miles away, which would make it roughly the size and distance of the comet Chiron, that orbits between Saturn and Uranus. Hot ziggity doughnuts! Now I get to write on _two_ new glass panels when I sneak into the News Building after hours and overpower the desk guards: \*\* If the SUN were the Size of This GLOBE and Placed Here Then Comparatively; ANTARES, in the Constellation SCORPIUS, would Be Another GLOBE 9/10 mile in Diameter Placed 9,214,800 miles Away. If the EARTH were the Size of This GLOBE and Placed Here Then Comparatively; The Comet CHIRON, Orbiting the SUN, would Be Another GLOBE 101 1/4 miles in Diameter Placed One Billion miles Away. \*\* Thank you very very much. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/46 "2006-06-26T02:25:32Z")
The Sun? The Sun is a mass of incandescent gas A gigantic nuclear furnace Where hydrogen is built into helium At a temperature of millions of degrees. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/47 "2006-06-26T04:05:18Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > If the EARTH were the Size of This GLOBE > and Placed Here Then Comparatively; > The Comet CHIRON, Orbiting the SUN, > would Be Another GLOBE 101 1/4 miles > in Diameter Placed One Billion miles Away. Sorry, need to clarify here. **If the EARTH were the Size of This GLOBE and placed here Then Comparatively; ANTARES, in the Constellation SCORPIUS, would Be Another GLOBE 101 1/4 miles in Diameter Placed One Billion miles Away.** is how it should read. As a comparison, I tossed in the fact that there is an actual comet/asteroid in a more or less circular orbit around the sun that corresponds fairly closely to those specification. IOW, if you shrunk the Earth to 12’, the supergiant star Antares would STILL be the size and distance of a small asteroid in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/48 "2006-06-26T04:12:38Z")
Damn, now I can’t write two panels. :dubious: Ah, well. And if you think Antares takes up room, The News installation already mentions the mysterious [Struve’s Star](http://www-us.flickr.com/photos/carljohnson/94042086/). If their numbers are to be believed, Struve’s is to Antares as [this sucker](http://cellar.org/iotd.php?threadid=6486) is to a White Castle. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/49 "2006-06-26T04:18:00Z")
Only now do I realize the significance of William Windom’s alarm about the _Doomsday Machine_: “That thing’s headed for Rigel!” ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/50 "2006-06-26T14:07:26Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > I should have known you’d find a way to get Mars bragging rights! 🆒 No need for false modesty. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/51 "2006-06-26T14:42:33Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Oh my Og…he’s Yanni’s grandfather! Mommy, why is John Stossel wearing Bea Arthur’s hair? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/52 "2006-06-26T15:49:26Z")
It’s time you learned the truth about John, dear…He likes to, uh, put on women’s hair and hang around in bars with men who idolize strong, outspoken older women. Like Bea Arthur. That’s also why he has that big mustache. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/53 "2006-06-26T17:28:08Z")
For the record, there are stars are larger even than Antares. For many years the record holder in diameter was µ Cephei, sometimes known as “Herschel’s Garnet Star” from its obvious garnet-red color. It remains the largest star (in terms of distention/radius) visible to the naked eye. However, there are three supergiants with radii of 7 A.U., about 1,500 times the diameter of the Sun: KW Sagitarii, V354 Cephei, and KY Cygni. These are stars so big that the edge of the photosphere is halfway between Jupiter’s and Saturn’s orbits. ([Cite](http://www.universetoday.com/am/exec/view.cgi/1/1971).) Antares, by comparison, has a radius of about 5.3 A.U. I was intrigued to find that the supergiant we refer to as Antares is actually a double star, with a “blue giant” type B star as companion which would be naked-eye visible (5th magnitude) even at its distance (600 light years) but which is almost never observable because it’s lost in the glare from the supergiant. The largest and brightest known star is on nearly the exact opposite side of the galaxy from us, [, LBV 1806-20](http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/brightest_star_040106-1.html), at 150 solar masses and a variable luminosity that gets up to 40 million times that of the Sun. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/54 "2006-06-26T17:53:12Z")
\*\* If the SUN were the Size of This GLOBE and Placed Here Then Comparatively; KW SAGITTARII, One of the Three LARGEST STARS Known, would Be Another GLOBE 3 4/10 miles in Diameter and Placed 57 Quadrillion (57,000,000,000,000,000) miles Away. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/55 "2006-06-26T18:04:58Z")
:smack: Numbers do not like **Doug.** 57 quadrillion miles is the ACTUAL distance from here to KW Sagittarii (= 9,800 lightyears). Got some figgerin’ to do. Back in a sec. (or possibly a parsec. \) ---
**Author:** ![Chouinard\_Fan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@Chouinard\_Fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chouinard_Fan)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/56 "2006-06-26T18:14:56Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > And the next pic in the series shows Antares looking really small, next to David Hasselhoff’s ego. For anyone who has been forced (in high school german class) to see one of his vid’s this is a must lol. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/57 "2006-06-26T18:17:45Z")
**[/font=times new roman]Placed 15 Million miles Away.**[/font] I think. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/58 "2006-06-27T02:50:03Z")
I’ve bookmarked this cause it’s cool. But the [home page](http://www.rense.com/) looks like this guy is nuttier than a fruitcake. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/59 "2006-06-27T18:18:12Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > **[/font=times new roman]Placed 15 Million miles Away.**[/font] > > I think. :rolleyes: Feel free to stop digging any time 😃 ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954/60 "2006-06-27T23:57:23Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Great…yet another reason for me to feel insignificant. ☹ And what of the stupid crap we waste our time on day in and day out?!?! :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-think-our-sun-is-big-hah/361954.md?page=4)