Power of Data Visualization

Using the Discover supercomputer — which is capable of 67 trillion calculations per second — astronomers at NASA Goddard have created a series of images of what our solar system would look like to an alien astronomer at various points in time. Their simulations track the interactions of 75,000 dust grains in the Kuiper Belt, and show that while the planets would be too dim to detect directly, aliens could deduce the presence of Neptune from its effects on the icy region. Strikingly, the images resemble one taken by Hubble of the star Fomalhaut. NASA has put out a cute video to go with the announcement as well.

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VY Canis Majoris is a red hypergiant star located in the constellation Canis Major. At between 1800 and 2100 solar radii (approx 2.7 billion km), it is currently the largest known star in terms of relative size to our own sun (although not in terms of mass).

The size is beyond comprehension.

If you Canis replaced our own star, it would engulf everything up until Saturn.

It's width, as compared here, is just short of all the planets to Uranus.

It's BIG!