“Space is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is. I mean you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist, but that’s just peanuts to space.” Douglas Adams, the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy.

We all know the universe is big, the trouble is the human mind is not designed to appreciate the huge numbers involved. It’s why millions of people pay money to the National Lottery, despite the odds of winning a jackpot being 14 million to 1.

To appreciate how unlikely winning this is, try and visualise 700 football stadiums all standing side by side with 20,000 people in each. You are sitting in the crowd, in one of the stadiums. A pigeon flies over the entire length of the 700 stadiums and will defecate once.
 
You are paying £1 every week to the National Lottery because you think the pigeon MIGHT crap on YOUR head? This is 14 million to 1. Sorry, but it just won’t happen!

Similarly the universe involves very big numbers and is described in Light Years. The distance light travels in one year, which is, wait for it……..5,878,625,373,184 miles. You must multiply this number 94 BILLION times to get the diameter of the known universe!

The human mind just cannot grasp something so huge, but have a look at this fascinating video it might help!

John McNally