Scale: 1024 meters = 1 Ym = 1 yottameter

Clusters of Galaxies

Moving down one power of ten we are now looking at an image that is 1 yottameter on a side. Light would require 100 million (108) years to cross this picture. Each successive image on the downward side of our journey is an enlargement of the small square from the previous page. You can use the buttons at the top or click inside the small square to continue your downward journey.

At the scale of this image, we see only the brightest or closest individual galaxies. With our 30° field of view we are about 200 000 000 light years from Earth. The largest galaxies in this picture are not inherently larger than the tiny, faint dots -- just much closer. Galaxies are gravitationally bound into clusters containing hundreds or thousands of members. We are moving inward toward the Virgo Cluster, the home of our own Milky Way galaxy, still invisible at the center of the image.


Copyright © 2016 by Bruce Bryson