Universe Size Comparison | Solar System To Observable Universe | True Scale

Описание: A journey of cosmic scale through famous and interesting objects and structures in the Universe.

As a Planetary Scientist and science communicator, I've wanted to make this video for years: a true sense of scale, the way I picture it. Every size, axial tilt, rotation speed and oblateness is accurate where data exist (estimated values are marked). Rotation speed: 1 second = 1 hour.

Textures are as accurate as possible. The Sun is ever so slightly off-white in reality, but that wavelength shows little detail, so I blended other wavelengths to reveal granulation and solar flares. You can see real, live Sun images in those wavelengths here if you're interested: https://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/rea...

Phoenix A is not included as its size isn't well confirmed. Stephenson 2-18 may be over-estimated, but is included — the largest stars and black holes in the literature always carry uncertainties of tens of percent, and the biggest stars are likely heavily deformed by convection too, rendering most scale videos highly uncertain for these objects!

Galaxy and cluster positions are accurate in 3D supergalactic coordinates. Beyond that, a simulated cosmic web was used, as we haven't charted those regions (more than 2 billion light years away).

Real magnetic field models were used for Earth/Jupiter, but note that the solar wind causes these fields to drape into a tear-drop shape, especially for Jupiter's magnetosphere, which has a magneto-tail that extends to Saturn(!). The model: https://github.com/mattkjames7/Jupite...

CREDITS

MUSIC
"The Final Charge" - Dian Shuai
"Battle of the Crown" - Dian Shuai
"On the Brink of Glory" - Dian Shuai
"One Step Away" - Dian Shuai
"Tempest Rondo" - Dian Shuai
Via Epidemic Sound paid subscription (epidemicsound.com)

Textures/Shape files
Solar System Scope (CC BY 4.0) - Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune textures
Bjorn Jonsson - Ganymede, Callisto textures
Oleg Pluton - Deimos texture
Askaniy - Triton texture (CC BY 3.0)
NASA/ESA/A. Simon/J. Schmidt - Jupiter texture
NASA/JPL-Caltech - Phobos, Mimas, Enceladus, Iapetus
NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI - Pluto, Charon (New Horizons)
NASA/DLR/USGS - Ceres (Dawn)
NASA/USGS - Europa, Io
NASA PDS / Gaskell / Thomas - shape models (Phobos, Deimos, Pan, Mimas, Hyperion, Ceres, Charon)
JAXA/Hayabusa2 - Ryugu shape model, Watanabe et al. (2019) Science 364(6437). ISAS/JAXA data policy.
BlenderKit - Eiffel Tower model
All other objects (stars, nebulae, black holes, galaxies) are procedural work.


ABOUT
Dr James O'Donoghue - associate professor and planetary scientist at the University of Reading formerly at JAXA, NASA Goddard, Boston University, University of Leicester.
@interplanetary

(c) 2026 Interplanetary / Dr James O'Donoghue - CC BY-NC 4.0
Non-commercial use with attribution permitted. Commercial use requires written permission.

This visual journey takes us from the familiar Eiffel Tower to the vastness of the cosmos, providing a detailed size comparison of celestial bodies. We explore objects within our solar system, including planets like Earth and Venus, before scaling up to massive stars and distant galaxies. Prepare to be amazed by the sheer scale of the universe!