Today’s NASA’s image of the day is this stunning photography of the Galaxy M81 in Ursa Major.

If M81 were the Milky Way, our own sun would be approximately where the little red circle is. A bit on the outside of one of the arms, far away from the center.
However, here comes the stunner: If this were the Milky Way, and our sun would be in the middle of the little red circle I drew, then all the stars we see with our naked eyes in our night sky would be within the little red circle. The farthest stars we can see are just a few thousand light years away.
And that is our little world.
“…then all the stars we see with our naked eyes in our night sky would be within the little red circle.” —– BOOF!! as the French-Canadians would say.
I love star stories. Tell me more!