This is one of those facts I just can’t get my mind around no matter how much I think about it. Not only is the universe really really big, but atoms are really really tiny. Not to mention the fact that atoms are massive when compared to subatomic particles like neutrinos.

Fun Fact: A single speck of dust is halfway in size between a neutrino and the entire solar system… think about that for a second.

Also anyone who hasn’t tried the Scale of the Universe flash game, I seriously recommend you check it out right now. It will hurt your brain. In a good way.

Gotta’ prepare for your future career.

Obviously they do gerbil science, like testing how many of your young you can eat in microgravity.

Maybe this should be the ‘plane-eating-tree’ like the kite-eating-tree in Peanuts.

Okay, so I did a bit of research for this one and basically Betelgeuse is too far away to effect Earth when it goes kablooie unless it emits a gamma ray burst (basically a short, dramatic flash of death possibly coming from the star’s poles – a bit like when big things explode in Star Wars, only a million times worse). However Betelgeuse probably isn’t the right kind of star to produce a gamma ray burst; and even if it did, in the star’s current inclination it would miss the Earth.

So yeah, it’s really really unlikely, so stop worrying about it. Seriously, stop worrying.

If you know any constellations you probably already knew about this one. Orion is by far the easiest constellation to find, and is also good at pointing at things. (which we’ll get to later).

By the way, if you’re wondering why Sedna’s hand is coming from the top of the first panel, it’s because she lives in the Southern Hemisphere – which, as everyone knows, is the part of the Earth where everything is the right way up. However, since you Northern Hemisphere people are so used to seeing them wrong, I’ve flipped the constellations upside down for you. You’re welcome. :P

Alright! It’s vaguely-educational-story-arc time! That’s right fellas, we’re going to tour the entire night sky, one constellation or other interesting feature at a time, for about the next 300 years (so try not to die before we finish).