Less than an ant

As you may surmise by my earlier post regarding Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot" and his eloquent comments, I am fascinated by the size of the Universe.  It is simultaneously humbling, yet gratifying, attempting to comprehend the vastness. We are physically less than an ant pondering a continent, were the insect cognizant to do so, yet our minds are almost vast enough to encompass the whole.

A galaxy is an enormous, yet small part, of the entire Universe. Here are a few representations of a smidgen from our part of the seemingly infinite whole.

(click on each image if you wish to see a larger version)

There are a number of videos on YouTube illustrating this as well. This is a good one, but feel free to search. The term "star size comparison" will get you several hits.  I personally never grow tired of watching them.

"Stand under the stars and say what you like to them.  Praise or blame them, question them, pray to them, wish upon them.  The universe will not answer.  But it will have spoken."

-- Timothy Ferris