A star for every grain of sand.

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In summary, the conversation discusses the size and distance of stars and the universe. It is mentioned that stars are not randomly spread out, but grouped into galaxies. The average distance between stars can vary, with the closest being 5-10 light years apart and galaxies being 2-5 million light years apart. When considering the size of the universe, the comparison of a grain of sand to the size of an average star is used. If the Sun is an average sized star, then a model of the galaxy with each star the size of a grain of sand would be about 769,231 km across. The conversation also touches on the possibility of scaling down the universe and the sun to the size of an atom, and whether it would
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nicodopolis
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If this is true, could someone please tell me, if a grain of sand represented the size of an average star what would be the average distance between every grain of sand to give a approx size to the universe.
 
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  • #2
Stars aren't spread randomly throughout the universe - they are grouped together into galaxies.
In the centre of the galaxy stars can be very close together, near us they are around 5-10light years apart, galaxies are about 2-5million light years apart.

A star like the sun is around 1.3million km in diameter, a grain of sand is perhaps 1mm, a light year is around 10million million km
 
  • #3
So, if the Sun is an average sized star, then a model of our galaxy with each sun the size of a grain of sand would be about 769,231 km across. Or the size of the moon's orbit around the Earth. Alpha Centauri, the closest star to our own would be 33 km from our Sun.
 
  • #4
Thank you, though is it still possible to know the size of the universe and how many stars(grains of sand) fill it and then if they were equally distant from each other, what that distance would be? *** for a guess, would i be right in saying that the scaled down universe would be size of our galaxy for instance and if every grain of sand were equally distant from each other, that distance would be 500miles.
Also scaling down the sun to the size of an atom that makes up silver, would we be able to see the scaled down universe in a real sense.
 

1. What is the meaning of "A star for every grain of sand"?

"A star for every grain of sand" is a phrase used to describe the vastness and abundance of stars in the universe. It suggests that there are countless stars in the universe, just like there are countless grains of sand on a beach.

2. Is there really a star for every grain of sand on Earth?

No, this phrase is meant to be figurative and not meant to be taken literally. While there are estimated to be trillions of grains of sand on Earth, there are even more stars in the universe. However, the exact number of stars is still unknown and constantly changing as new stars are being formed.

3. How many stars are there in the universe?

It is impossible to determine the exact number of stars in the universe. However, scientists estimate that there are at least 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe, and each galaxy contains an average of 100 billion stars. This means that there could be trillions upon trillions of stars in the universe.

4. Are all stars the same size?

No, stars come in a variety of sizes. The smallest stars are called red dwarfs, which can be as small as one-tenth the size of our sun. The largest stars are called supergiants, which can be hundreds of times larger than our sun. Most stars, including our sun, fall somewhere in between these two sizes.

5. How are stars formed?

Stars are formed when a large cloud of gas and dust, called a nebula, collapses under its own gravity. As the cloud becomes denser and hotter, it begins to spin and form a disk. In the center of the disk, the temperature and pressure become high enough to trigger nuclear fusion, which ignites the star and causes it to shine. This process can take millions of years to complete.

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