Experience Just How Big the Universe is, in One Mind-Blowing Interactive

Recently, NASA scientists combined data from the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes to discover the most distant galaxy known to date. The galaxy, named Abell2744 Y1, was formed around 13.2 billion years ago when the universe was extremely young. As the universe is expanding, Abell2744 Y1 is currently closer to 40 billion light years away from us, an astounding distance.

Image: Galaxy cluster Abell2744 obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope (Credit: NASA)

But what does that really mean?

Most of us have trouble visualizing the height of buildings, or the distance it takes to get home from work, let alone things on an intergalactic scale. The above interactive graphic made by 14-year-old Cary Huang may be the best tool to help us understand our place in our vast universe. The interactive piece allows the viewer to zoom through scale and space, from quarks to galactic clusters. The real genius of the interface is the ability to scroll back to a familiar object like a car — the time spent scrolling helps to convey a sense of size and distance.

Even cooler are the tidbits of information that are provided when you click on an object. Below are some highlights from this fantastic hitchhiker’s guide.