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A Logarithmic Map of the Entire Observable Universe

by Carmen Ang
This post is by Carmen Ang from Visual Capitalist

Logarithmic map of the Observable Universe

For a full-size option or to inquire about posters, please visit Pablo Carlos Budassi’s website.

A Logarithmic Map of the Entire Observable Universe

Among the scientific community, it’s widely believed that so far humans have only discovered about 5% of the universe.

Yet, despite knowing about just a fraction of what’s out there, we’ve still managed to discover galaxies billions of light-years away from Earth.

This graphic by Pablo Carlos Budassi provides a logarithmic map of the entire known universe, using data by researchers at Princeton University and updated as of May 2022.

How Does the Map Work?

Before diving in, it’s worth touching on a few key details about the map.

First off, it’s important to note that the celestial objects shown on this map are not shown to scale. If it was made to scale with sizes relative to how we see them from Earth, nearly all of the objects would be miniscule dots (except the Moon, the Sun, and some nebulae and galaxies).

Secondly, each object’s distance from the Earth is measured on a logarithmic scale, which increases exponentially, in order to fit in all the data.

Within our Solar System, the map’s scale spans astronomical units (AU), roughly the distance from the Earth to the Sun. Beyond, it grows to measure millions of parsecs, with each one of those equal to 3.26 light-years, or 206,000 AU.

Exploring the Map

The map highlights a number of different celestial objects, including:

Nature Timespiral: The Evolution of Earth from the Big Bang

by Anshool Deshmukh
This post is by Anshool Deshmukh from Visual Capitalist

Nature Timespiral The Evolution of Earth

Click to view a larger version of the graphic. For a full-size option or to inquire about posters, please visit Pablo Carlos Budassi’s website.

Nature Timespiral: The Evolution of Earth from the Big Bang

Since the dawn of humanity, we have looked questioningly to the heavens with great interest and awe. We’ve called on the stars to guide us, and have made some of humanity’s most interesting discoveries based on those observations. This also led us to question our existence and how we came to be in this moment in time.

That journey began some 14 billion years ago, when the Big Bang led to the universe emerging from a hot, dense sea of matter and energy. As the cosmos expanded and cooled, they spawned galaxies, stars, planets, and eventually, life.

In the above visualization, Pablo Carlos Buddassi illustrates this journey of epic proportions in the intricately designed Nature Timespiral, depicting the various eras that the Earth has gone through since the inception of the universe itself.

Evolutionary Timeline of the World

Not much is known about what came before the Big Bang, but we do know that it launched a sequence of events that gave rise to the universal laws of physics and the chemical elements that make up matter. How the Earth came about, and life subsequently followed, is a wondrous story of time and change.

Let’s look at what transpired after the Big Bang to trace our journey through the cosmos.

The Big Bang (Read more...)

Comparing Objects in Our Solar System by Rotation, Size, and More

by Anshool Deshmukh
This post is by Anshool Deshmukh from Visual Capitalist

Comparison of Selected Objects in our Solar System

Our solar system is home to various celestial objects, including planets, moons, asteroids, and even dwarf planets.

All of these objects differ in many ways, yet work in perfect unison. A comparative study of the various features of these celestial bodies gives us some fascinating results.

The above animation from planetary scientist Dr. James O’Donoghue helps put in perspective the different objects in the solar system in terms of size, rotational speed, and the axial tilt at which they rotate.

Selected Solar System Objects to Scale

With such a diverse solar system of planets and other celestial objects, there is no shortage of questions to think about. Like what is the exact diameter of Jupiter, or how fast does Pluto rotate?

To answer them, here is a comparison of some select celestial bodies in our solar system, going from the biggest to smallest objects:

Celestial BodyDiameter (km)Rotational Period (Hours)Axial Tilt
Sun1.4M6487.2°
Jupiter140,9829.93.1°
Saturn120,53610.726.7°
Uranus51,118-17.297.8°
Neptune49,52816.128.3°
Earth12,75623.923.5°
Venus12,104-5832177.4°
Mars6,79224.625.2°
Mercury4,8791407.60.03°
Moon3,475655.76.7°
Pluto2,376-153.3122.5°
Ceres94694°

Planets like Venus or Pluto rotate in the opposite direction to Earth, or in retrograde, and thus are denoted with a negative symbol before their values.

Another interesting observation is that the Sun rotates on its axis only once in (Read more...)