Large Objects in Penny System Model of Universe

Penny System

The Penny System helps us to see the sizes of the main objects in the universe relative to the size of the Solar System by imagining we have shrunk the Solar System down to the size of a penny (or any other coin 2 cm in diameter). More details on the main Penny System page, where you can also see objects in the universe which are not too large and not too small, and we showed them on a map of the Earth.

On this page you will find objects where were too big to show on the main page. For small objects, see this page.

Large Objects

We saw on the main page that, if we could shrink the whole Solar System down to the size of a penny, it would look like this:

Image of penny by *ade under a Creative Commons Licence

Large Void

The galaxies are arranged in clusters which form walls around almost empty voids. The largest voids would be about half the size of the Earth in the Penny System model.

Click image for larger view.

Observable Universe

In the Penny System, the distance to the furthest things we can ever observe in the universe would be about 1.5 times as far away as the Moon from the Earth.

Click image for larger view.

For middle-sized objects in the universe, see the main Penny System page

For small objects in the universe, see the small objects page