OUR COSMIC ADDRESS Each of us has an address. Ours is: The Denver Museum of Nature and Science 2001 Colorado Blvd. Denver, Colorado But what is our cosmic address?

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS So Where Do We Live? On the Planet Earth!

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS The Earth is the third planet from a star we call our sun, or Sol. The sun, its planets, their moons, and other bodies constitute our solar system.

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS The nine planets of the solar system in order from the sun. The relative sizes are accurate, but relative distances from the sun are not. Sun Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS The Earth is one Astronomical Unit or 1 AU from the Sun. One AU equals about 93,000,000 miles, or 150,000,000 kilometers. 1 AU SUN EARTH

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS Distances of the Planets from the Sun Mercury.0387 AU / 35,419,000 miles Venus.7233 AU / 67,242,000 miles Earth 1.0 AU / 93,000,000 miles Mars1.524 AU / 141,600,000 miles Jupiter5.203 AU / 483,800,000 miles Saturn9.539 AU / 890,000,000 miles Uranus 19.9 AU / 1,783,169,440 miles Neptune30.06 AU / 2,790,000,000 miles Pluto39.53 AU / 3,647,200,000 miles

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS Our solar system extends to where the solar wind ceases to be of any significant influence. This boundary is called the Heliopause. Heliopause Voyager 1 Voyager 2

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS But where in the universe is the solar system?

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS It’s in the Milky Way Galaxy.

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS This is a Hubble Space Telescope view of a spiral galaxy similar to the Milky Way. The Milky Way Galaxy is about 586,000,000,00 0,000,000 (586 quadrillion) miles, or 6,300,000,000,0 00 (6.3 trillion) AU, or 97,800 light years in diameter.

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS NCG 6369, “The Little Ghost,” is a dying star that is between 2000 to 5000 light years from Earth. As we go further out from the Sun, the distances get so vast that we must use a larger unit of measurement -- light years.

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS Light travels at 186,291 miles per second! It takes light 8½ minutes to travel from the Sun to Earth. That’s a distance of 1 AU or 93,000,000 miles. 12 light year long jet emanating from a newborn star A light year is the distance light travels in one year. In one year, light travels 64,000 AU, or 6,000,000,000,000 (6 trillion) miles.

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS Our galaxy (the Milky Way) is about 100,000 light years in diameter. The nearest star is 4.3 light years away. The distance to the most distant object seen in the universe is about 14 billion light years (14 x 10 9 light years). Looking at light that reaches us from many light years away is also looking back in time because that light left its source long ago.

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS Where in the Universe is the Milky Way Galaxy? Faraway Galaxies, Hubble Ultra Deep Field Image: NASA

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS Our Galaxy is located in a small cluster of some 40 galaxies, including the Andromeda galaxy and the Magellanic clouds, called the Local Group. The Local Group is located in the Local Super Cluster.

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS The Local Group is part of the Local Super Cluster, which is moving towards an unseen and undetected mass, called the Great Attractor, at the approximate speed of 1,342,224 miles per hour. A view towards the Great Attractor

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS So, our cosmic address is:

OUR COSMIC ADDRESS THE DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE 2001 Colorado Blvd. Denver, Colorado United States of America Planet Earth Solar System Solar Neighborhood Milky Way Galaxy Local Group Local Super Cluster Near the Great Attractor Universe Outer Galactic Being Local Super Cluster Universe