A short tour of the universe.

If you want a cheap but out-of-this-world vacation, a short tour of the universe may be just what you are looking for. This video was posted by Adam Frank last January on a National Public Radio blog called 13.7: Cosmos and Culture.

In this animation, every satellite, moon, planet, star and galaxy is represented to scale and in the correct, measured location according the best scientific research to-date. The video was developed from data maintained by astrophysicists at American Museum of Natural History and was made in collaboration with the Rubin Museum of Art.

Adam Frank is a professor of astrophysics at the University of Rochester in New York. The blog, written by 5 scientists, is intended to engage readers in the public debate of what science can and cannot do.

Oh, and by the way, the estimated age of the universe is 13.7 billion years.

If that knocked your socks off, take a look at our next cool topic, So, How Cold Was It? And if you want to peruse all of the previous sock-knocking blog entries, visit the Knocked My Socks Off archive. (links to another blog site)