Here's How Big The Universe Actually Is

"Space," as it was expertly described by Douglas Adams, according to BookRiot, "is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space." 

Still, when it comes to space, "big" just doesn't cut it. After all, Montana could be reasonably described as "big," but it doesn't compare to the great expansiveness of All That Is unless you're trying to drive through it. Humans like definitions to be concrete, preferably with quotable figures attached. It's normal to want to get a handle on the scale of existence using solid, measurable quantities, but one should also understand the fact that the astonishingly large numbers involved with outer space can make a person feel overwhelmed. It's helpful, therefore, to have a basis of comparison. Something relatable, comforting, and not unpleasant to think about. Dwayne Johnson, for instance, is roughly two meters tall.

If Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson is two meters tall, that means that a giraffe is three Rocks high. A redwood tree can grow fifty Rocks tall, and the Hoover Dam is about 110 Rocks from top to bottom. If you laid 37,500 Rocks end to end, they would be able to reach from one side of Rhode Island to the other. Do the same thing with 2.45 x 10 to the 7th Rocks, and they'll stretch the length of Neptune. All of which pales in comparison to the size of the observable universe, to say nothing of all the things floating in it. 

The fraction of the universe that we're capable of reasonably assuming exists? It's at least 93 billion light-years across, per Futurism. Written long form, that's 4.65 x 10 to the 28th Rocks. If each one of them made their own hour and a half long Jumanji sequel, it would take longer than the universe has existed to watch them all. And that's just the observable universe. According to Live Science, researchers theorize that the sheer amount of existence outside humanity's field of vision could be incalculable, if not potentially infinite. At that point, comparing it to the size of a former professional wrestler would just be silly.

Space is big.