How big our Universe Is?

From the ancient times, one of the biggest question that always attract and confuses the brilliant minds of mankind is that, How big our universe is? Journey of the universe always stupefy us. We discovered many beautiful as well as many devastating things in our universe. But the question about the size of the universe always remains a mystery for us till now. From the size of the sub-atomic  particles to the largest known super-cluster of galaxies, it seems that the  universe is infinite and unfathomable. So let's try to explore the size of the universe on the basis of our recent knowledge discoveries.

The size of our solar system: 

Our solar system is our solar family. The sun dominates here. Nothing in our solar system is bigger than the sun, and never will be.  In our solar system our beautiful blue planet shines like a pearl. Anything you saw ever, any person you know and meet in your life, from your love to your hate, from the greatest emperor to the greatest criminal and from your destination to your demise all your stories, efforts and success are present on this planet. So why not we start our "journey to the edge of the universe" from our small home, the Earth.

The size of Earth:

When you head up upto 12 km above from the ground the troposphere ends and stratosphere starts up. The troposphere contains about 80% of the total mass of our atmosphere. When you head up to the 50km above from the ground then the stratosphere ends and mesosphere starts up. The stratosphere contain the Ozone layer which protects us from harmful U.V. rays. When you head upto 80km above from the ground then mesosphere ends and thermosphere starts up. In the mesosphere, all the meteors are burn out when entering the earth. When you head up 700km above from the ground then the thermosphere ends and exosphere starts up. In the thermosphere, air is thin and the temperature is very high. When you head up 10,000km above the ground then exosphere as well as atmosphere also ends up with this. All the satellites that are orbiting the earth are present in the exosphere.

The distance between Earth and Moon: 

We have still covered a very small distance. After crossing the earth's atmosphere our next destination is our own moon. Our moon is upto 3,84,400km away from us. This is such a huge distance as that you can place upto 30 earths between the distance of earth and moon.

The distance between the Earth and Mars:

If we want to reach the Mars then we have to cover the distance of about 22.5 core Km. This is the average distance between the Earth and Mars. You can imagine this huge distance from this fact that " If you send a signal to the Mars at the speed of light then it would take upto 20 minutes to reach there".

The Voyager 1 spacecraft (the most distance object made by man ever):

Any object that is man made and most distant from us, is this, voyager 1 spacecraft.
Our Voyager 1 spacecraft is upto 138AU (Astronomical Unit) away from the Earth.

"An astronomical unit is distance measuring unit, used to measure the distances of celestial bodies. 1AU=15,0000000Km or the distance between the Earth and the Sun is called '1AU' ".
The Voyager 1 spacecraft is wandering in space at a speed of 17km/s.

Our interstellar space:

Our interstellar space is very big. Here we can't measure distances in astronomical units so we have to shift from AU to light year (ly).

"A light year is the total distance covered by light in one year".

        Speed of light (c) = 3,00,000 Km/s so,
         1 Light year = 95,00000000000Km

In deep interstellar space the proxima Centauri (a star) is our nearest neighbour here. It is about 4.24 light years away from us. It means that, It would take upto 4 and half years to reach proxima Centauri with the speed of light. And our voyager 1 will reach there in next 70,000 years. And if you are in a spaceship which is flying at a speed of 100Km/hr then it would take upto more that 6 times the age of universe to reach there. Imagine how big this distance is. But since, our interstellar space is a small part of our Milkyway galaxy.

Crossing our Milkyway: 

This galaxy is the home of many stars, planets, asteroids, meteorites, nebula, black holes and who knows, "aliens". It is called "The Milkyway galaxy". The size of this galaxy is about 1,00,000ly. It means that it would take upto 1 lakh years to cross the Milkyway with the speed of light. Our own galaxy Contains more than 100 billion stars and planets. But since our solar system is a small part of Milkyway galaxy.

The Local group:

The Local group is the home of 54 galaxies like Milkyway,  Andromeda, triangullum gakaxy, etc. It is expanded upto 10 million light years and is about 100 times bigger than the Milkyway. It would take upto 10 million years to cross the Local group with the speed of light. But since our Milkyway galaxy is the smallest part of this local group.

The Virgo Supercluster:

The Virgo Supercluster is the home of many local group of galaxies and our local group is a small part of this virgo supercluster. It is expanded upto 110 million light years which means it would takes upto 110 million years to pass this supercluster with the speed of light.

The Laniakea supecluster:

The Laniakea supercluster is the home for 1 lakh galaxies. It is expanded upto 520 million light years. It means that it would take 520 million years to cross the entire laniakea supercluster with the speed of light. Our virgo supercluster is a small part of Laniakea supercluster. There are many other small and big supercluster like Virgo in Laniakiakea supercluster.

Observable Universe:

93 billion light years! This unfathomable beast is our observeable universe. "The observeable universe is a part of universe which we can observe and see". The laniakea supercluster is a small part of our observeable universe. There are many other supercluster like Laniakea in our observeable universe. It is expanded upto 93 billion light years. It means that it would take upto 93 billion years to cross the observeable universe with the speed of light. It contains upto two trillion galaxies. And one of the most intresting fact about it is that, it is expanding at the speed of light.

The Whole universe:

If observeable universe is looking so huge and gigantic to you then you will become shock to know that "this observeable universe is a very very very very very small part of the whole universe". Yes, according to cosmic inflation theory of Dr. Allen guth, the observeable universe is a small part of the entire universe.
We still don't know the size of our universe and our universe is expanding at the speed of light (3,00,000Km/s). But somehow scientists have predicted the size of our universe. It is about 150 sextillion times bigger than our observeable universe. So if, "observeable universe is the size of a light bulb then the entire universe will be bigger than the pluto".

It seems from above that our entire universe is infinite we cannot predict it's size. If somehow humans become immortal, then also it will be impossible for us to know the entire universe. It was, it is and it will always remain bigger than the thinking of a human mind. So we should always feel proud that we are a small part of this infinity.