HAVE you ever wondered how much bigger a mountain is than an atom? And what is the size of our Earth in the Milky Way? Or how big is the Universe?

But mere words just don’t satiate the queries of the mind. For that, you need to have answers in pictures or animations so that you could easily grasp the distance, the sizes and the scales with the things you see commonly in this world.

So here is a website, Magnifying the Universe — an interactive scale of the universe from Number Sleuth which will take you from a hydrogen atom to a cell to a human to a star to our galaxy, local superclusters and beyond — the most amazing interactive animations you’ve ever seen about this universe!

You start your space odyssey by choosing from any of the nine image categories: Atoms, Animals, Buildings, Mountains, Planets, Stars, Nebulae, Galaxies and the Observable Universe.

You can drag in and out or up and down, by clicking on the blue dot at the bottom of the infographic. To relocate to one of the nine entry points, click the corresponding yellow dot on the scroller.

This interactive infographic accurately illustrates the scale of over 100 items within the observable universe, ranging from galaxies to insects, nebulae and stars to molecules and atoms. The website claims to have used real photographs and 3D renderings unlike other websites.

Another site in the same category is by www.bbc.com; How big is space interactive — this site allows you to pilot your rocket ship up through the layers of the atmosphere of the planets, then out to the edge of the Solar System, passing the New Horizons and Voyager probes along the way. It is indeed an interesting one for kids who would love to see their rocket travelling through the atmosphere and universe and along the way passes satellites, the manned and unmanned missions, asteroids, etc. n

Embark the space journey on http://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/20140304-how-big-is-space-interactive/www.numbersleuth.org/universe/