• Pons_Aelius
    link
    fedilink
    301 year ago

    Interspace is empty on a level that is hard to imagine.

    There are 2.652×10^25 molecules in one m^3 of air.

    That is 26520000000000000000000000.

    In intellar space?

    The is 1.

    IE: the probe would hit more atoms in one second on earth moving at 1 m/s than it would travelling the entire age of the universe so far through interstellar space.

    Even the space between the planets is thick with matter by comparison.

    • chiisana
      link
      fedilink
      English
      81 year ago

      That is indeed mind boggling. Thank you for sharing this with me. I did not realize it is that thin out there!

    • @mustardman@discuss.tchncs.de
      link
      fedilink
      English
      01 year ago

      I don’t think this comparison is really valid. If you are going through the molecules of air at the speed voyager is currently going it would vaporize. If you’re comparing it to more terrestrial speeds, It also ignores the amount of energy imparted by that 1 atom due to the high velocity. The high velocity also means it encounters those singular atoms and a higher rate.