this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2024
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There's about 4.6*10^46 molecules in the ocean. There are about 8.5*10^47 cubic meters in a cubic light-year
Surprisingly close orders of magnitude
For reference, the closest next star system is 4.25 light years away. The diameter of our Galaxy is about 105 700 light years, with a thickness of about 1000 light years (much less than the diameter, since our Galaxy lies on a plane)
Huh. That’s crazy. And that’s just one cubic light year.
Now if we multiply that cubic light year to match the volume of space we have a similar comparison. Infinite oceans to sift through for a single molecule.
"Space" as a volume is probably infinite, but even just talking our local stellar neighborhood or even just the solar system and space is already ridiculously more empty and big than anything you could compare to on earth. With I guess the possible exception of high-precision vacuums in laboratories.
Thus the infinite oceans to sift through. 😉