# fractals in nature **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 21, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fractals-in-nature/564926 "2010-12-21T05:48:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fractals-in-nature/564926/21 "2010-12-23T13:01:45Z")
Ditto Kevbo and Francis Vaughan. I don’t think much about the universe is fractal in nature. There is a range over which the clumping of galaxies is somewhat scale symmetric, and likewise for the distribution of stars of varying brightness. A test of these is whether you could sketch a typical view and somebody else could deduce from the view what its scale is. Offhand I think galaxy distribution on the scale of 10^7 to 10^9 ly looks pretty similar, and star distribution on the scale of 10^2 to maybe 10^4 ly does also (if you except globular clusters). But that’s it, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fractals-in-nature/564926/22 "2010-12-23T15:39:02Z")
I think we need a word for “thing that is like a fractal but only for a few factors of magnification rather than infinitely in both directions.” ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fractals-in-nature/564926/23 "2010-12-24T04:45:09Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I think we need a word for “thing that is like a fractal but only for a few factors of magnification rather than infinitely in both directions.” A fractal, to a first order approximation. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fractals-in-nature/564926/24 "2010-12-24T15:34:28Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I think we need a word for “thing that is like a fractal but only for a few factors of magnification rather than infinitely in both directions.” Or maybe a word for “thing that is fractal infinitely in both directions”. The things that are discussed as fractals are, I think, usually only scale symmetric over a limited range. Certainly the geometry of physical objects must be so, because space and matter have scale limitations. The famous Mandelbrot (sp?) set has a limit at large scale. I only know of conjectural objects like Serpinski (sp?) gaskets that could be infinitely scale symmetric. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fractals-in-nature/564926.md?page=1)