Loved this.



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Sit back and take a ride from the Sun to Jupiter, at the speed of light.
Animator Alphonse Swinehart made this video to illustrate the sheer mind-boggling scale of the solar system.
It isn't completely accurate, as Swinehart admits. "I've taken liberties with certain things like the alignment of planets and asteroids," he says, "but overall I've kept the size and distances of all the objects as accurate as possible."

He has also purposely ignored some counter-intuitive physical effects that come into play as you approach light speed. For instance, subjective time slows down, and your vision would also be weirdly distorted.

What the video does capture, with a simple clarity, is the sheer size of space. Even at the fastest possible speed, simply getting to Jupiter takes the better part of an hour.
You may want to get a drink and something to eat, because this is going to take a while.
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Whack up to full screen and enjoy. Then contemplate just how frickin tiny and alone we really are.