Useful Tables

SI Prefixes

by Eric Max Francis (modifed by me)

Name	Symbol	Base 10	Decimal	Short Scale	Long Scale
quecca	Q	10³⁰	1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000	nonillion	sextillion
ronna (hella)	R (H)	10²⁷	1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000	octillion	quintillion
yotta	Y	10²⁴	1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000	septillion	quadrillion
zetta	Z	10²¹	1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000	sextillion	trilliard
exa	E	10¹⁸	1 000 000 000 000 000 000	quintillion	trillion
peta	P	10¹⁵	1 000 000 000 000 000	quadrillion	billiard
tera	T	10¹²	1 000 000 000 000	trillion	billion
giga	G	10⁹	1 000 000 000	billion	milliard
mega	M	10⁶	1 000 000	million
kilo	k	10³	1 000	thousand
hecto	h	10²	100	hundred
deca	da	10¹	10	ten
		10⁰	1	one
deci	d	10^-1	0.1	tenth
centi	c	10^-2	0.01	hundredth
milli	m	10^-3	0.001	thousandth
micro	μ	10^-6	0.000 001	millionth
nano	n	10^-9	0.000 000 001	billionth	milliardth
pico	p	10^-12	0.000 000 000 001	trillionth	billionth
femto	f	10^-15	0.000 000 000 000 001	quadrillionth	billiardth
atto	a	10^-18	0.000 000 000 000 000 001	quintillionth	trillionth
zepto	z	10^-21	0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001	sextillionth	trilliardth
yocto	y	10^-24	0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001	septillionth	quadrillionth
ronto	r	10^-27	0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001	octillionth	quintillionth
quecca	q	10^-30	0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001	nonillionth	sextillionth

Legend

prefix

The name of the prefix, which is prepended directly before a unit name with no spaces. For instance, prepending the prefix mega to the SI unit joule gives the word megajoule.

symbol

The symbol of the prefix, to be used in conjunction with the symbol for a unit, following the rules above. For instance, one would write MJ for megajoule.

value, expanded value

The value of the prefix, written in an abbreviated matter and then expanded.

Short Scale

used by most English-speaking countries. Also by the United Kingdom after to 1974

Long Scale

used by most countries in continental Europe; and most that are French, Spanish, and Portuguese speaking. Also by the United Kingdom prior to 1974

Footnotes

The deca prefix is sometimes written deka and is abbreviated dk. Spellings may vary, but its official symbol is always da, not dk.
Ronna and quecca are unofficial prefixes proposed by Richard J.C. Brown for 10²⁷ and 10³⁰ respectively
Hella is a tongue-in-cheek unofficial prefix proposed by Austin Sendek for 10²⁷
Millimicro or mμ is an obsolete term for nano (10^-9)
Kilomega is an obsolete term for giga (10⁹), commonly found in kilomegatons for nuclear weapons. Modern term is gigaton
Micromicro is an obsolete term for pico (10^-12), commonly found in micromicrofarads or μμF. Modern term is picofarads pF
Hebdo is an obsolete prefix meaning 10⁷
Myria or Myrio is an obsolete prefix meaning 10⁴ (ten thousand)
Decimilli or Dimi is an obsolete prefix meaning 10^-4
Hectokilo is an obsolete prefix meaning 10^-5, commonly found in hectokilometers
Micri is an obsolete prefix meaning 10^-14. Its symbol is mc.

Additional Information

The Boom Table

Once you've calculated such-and-such has so many joules of energy, this table will give you various energetic events to compare it to.

Note in the table below, there is some controversy over the exact values of some of these figures. Note also that the largest SI prefix is "yotta-" which is 1 × 10²⁴. For TNT equivalent, the energy of one gram of TNT was arbitrarily standardized by scientists to exactly 4184 joules (1000 thermochemical calories).

Joules (J)	TNT Equivalent	Notes
0.0 × 10⁰⁰		Big Bang (interpretation one)
2.0 × 10^-22		1 far infrared photon (1,000,000 nanometers)
6.6 × 10^-21		1 mid infrared photon (30,000 nanometers)
4.0 × 10^-20		1 near infrared photon (5,000 nanometers)
1.6 × 10^-19		1 electron volt
2.8 × 10^-19		1 red photon (710 nanometers)
3.3 × 10^-19		1 orange photon (600 nanometers)
3.5 × 10^-19		1 yellow photon (570 nanometers)
3.6 × 10^-19		1 green photon (550 nanometers)
4.2 × 10^-19		1 blue photon (475 nanometers)
4.6 × 10^-19		1 indigo photon (430 nanometers)
5.2 × 10^-19		1 violet photon (380 nanometers)
6.2 × 10^-19		1 ultraviolet A photon (320 nanometers)
6.9 × 10^-19		1 ultraviolet B photon (290 nanometers)
9.9 × 10^-19		1 ultraviolet C photon (200 nanometers)
2.0 × 10^-17		1 extreme ultraviolet photon (10 nanometers)
2.0 × 10^-14		1 x-ray photon (0.01 nanometers)
1.6 × 10^-13		1 megaelectronvolt (MeV)
2.0 × 10^-11		1 gamma-ray photon (1 × 10^-5 nanometers)
2.0 × 10^-08		1 cosmic-ray photon (1 × 10^-8 nanometers)
1.0 × 10^-07		1 erg
4.184 × 10⁰⁰		1 calorie
7.0 × 10⁰¹		Professionally served tennis ball
8.0 × 10⁰¹	0.019 gram	.22 short round 13mm Gyrojet round at 2 meters from muzzle (too close, little damage)
1.0 × 10⁰²	0.024 gram	Firecracker (50 mg of black powder)
4.75 × 10⁰²	0.114 gram	9mm Luger Parabellum round
5.2 × 10⁰²	0.124 gram	.38 Special round
5.4 × 10⁰²	0.129 gram	.45 ACP round (Colt M1911)
6.3 × 10⁰²	0.151 gram	energy to crush an average 76x76x76 cm cardboard box
9.4 × 10⁰²	0.225 gram	.357 Magnum round
9.5 × 10⁰²	0.227 gram	13mm Gyrojet round at 18 meters from muzzle (rocket at full speed and maximum damage)
1.0 × 10⁰³	0.239 gram	1 kilowatt-second, heat 1 kg of rock 1° C, cooking a 9 oz New York Strip steak to medium-rare
1.009 × 10⁰³	0.241 gram	.22 Centerfire Hornet round
1.2 × 10⁰³	0.287 gram	Laser bolt from a Luke Campbell light laser pistol (60 pulses of 20 J each, spaced 4 microseconds apart)
1.308 × 10⁰³	0.313 gram	M1 Carbine round
1.4 × 10⁰³	0.335 gram	3.5 g AK-74 bullet fired at 900 m/s
1.56 × 10⁰³	0.373 gram	.44 Magnum round (AutoMag)
1.6 × 10⁰³	0.382 gram	Laser bolt from a Luke Campbell medium laser pistol
1.822 × 10⁰³	0.435 gram	5.56mm Remington NATO round
2.045 × 10⁰³	0.489 gram	7.62mm Soviet AK-47 round
2.56 × 10⁰³	0.612 gram	.30-30 Winchester round
3.2 × 10⁰³	0.765 gram	Laser bolt from a Luke Campbell heavy laser pistol
3.3 × 10⁰³	0.789 gram	9.33 g NATO rifle cartridge fired at 838 m/s
3.469 × 10⁰³	0.829 gram	.303 Lee-Enfield round
3.744 × 10⁰³	0.895 gram	.308 Winchester round 7.62x51mm NATO round
4.184 × 10⁰³	1 gram	= 1 microton
4.8 × 10⁰³	1.2 grams	Laser bolt from a Luke Campbell assault laser
6.822 × 10⁰³	1.6 grams	.458 Magnum Winchester "Africa" round
9.04 × 10⁰³	2.2 grams	.450 Magnum Dakota round
1.0 × 10⁰⁴	2.39 grams	Laser bolt from a Luke Campbell battle laser (50 pulses of 200 J each, spaced 10 microseconds apart)
1.0187 × 10⁰⁴	2.44 grams	.460 Magnum Wetherby "elephant gun" round
1.7149 × 10⁰⁴	4.1 grams	.50 Browning machine gun round
3.0 × 10⁰⁴	7 grams	power pack magazine of Luke Campbell light laser pistol (25 full power bolts)
4.0 × 10⁰⁴	9.6 grams	power pack magazine of Luke Campbell medium laser pistol (25 full power bolts)
4.8 × 10⁰⁴	11.5 grams	power pack magazine of Luke Campbell heavy laser pistol (15 full power bolts)
5.4 × 10⁰⁴	12.9 grams	20 mm autocannon round
1.3 × 10⁰⁵	31 grams	Anti-personnel land mine
2.1 × 10⁰⁵	50 grams	Single round of depleted uranium from an A-10 Warthog's GAU-8 rotating cannon (1,800 rpm)
8.4 × 10⁰⁵	200 grams	1 stick TNT
9.5 × 10⁰⁵	226 grams	Hand grenade
1.0 × 10⁰⁶	239 grams	power pack magazine of Luke Campbell battle laser (100 full power bolts)
1.2 × 10⁰⁶	287 grams	power pack magazine of Luke Campbell assault laser (250 full power bolts)
3.0 × 10⁰⁶		1 kg gunpowder
3.6 × 10⁰⁶	860 grams	1 kilowatt hour
3.8 × 10⁰⁶		M112 demolition block (0.57 kg C-4 plastic explosive)
4.184 × 10⁰⁶	1 kilogram	= 1 milliton, 1 kg TNT (obviously)
6.1 × 10⁰⁶	1.4 kg	120mm Tank Gun KE Ammunition (KEW-A1)
6.7 × 10⁰⁶		1 kg C-4 plastic explosive
7.4 × 10⁰⁶		1 kg dynamite
2.1 × 10⁰⁷	5 kg	Anti-tank mine
3.9 × 10⁰⁷	9.3 kg	Impact energy of proposed Navy 64 megajoule railgun
4.7 × 10⁰⁷		1 kg gasoline
6.0 × 10⁰⁷		M183 demolition charge assembly (9 kg C-4 plastic explosive, x16 M112 demolition blocks)
1.2 × 10⁰⁸	28 kg	1 gallon of gasoline
1.42 × 10⁰⁸	28 kg	Vaporize a human body, leaving skeleton (turn all water into steam)
1.8 × 10⁰⁸	43 kg	1 microgram of antimatter + 1 microgram of matter
2.016 × 10⁰⁸	48 kg	Jedi Knight light sabre
3.0 × 10⁰⁸	72 kg	Thor's hammer redirecting a lighting bolt
5.3 × 10⁰⁸	127 kg	Battleship Iowa 16 inch shell with 54 kg high explosive charge
8.5 × 10⁰⁸	203 kg	1 second of output from an average commercial nuclear power reactor (850 MW)
1.21 × 10⁰⁹		1 second power usage of the De Lorean time machine from the movie Back to the Future
1.9 × 10⁰⁹	454 kg	Tomahawk cruise missile (TLAM-C)
3.0 × 10⁰⁹	717 kg	Totally vaporize a human body, including skeleton (break all atomic bonds)
3.0 × 10⁰⁹	717 kg	1 second of output of Iron Man's first arc reactor
4.184 × 10⁰⁹	1 ton
8.4 × 10⁰⁹	2 t	= 0.002 kiloton, Oklahoma City bombing
2.0 × 10¹⁰	4.8 t	Average lightning bolt
3.6 × 10¹⁰	8.6t	Average tornado
4.2 × 10¹⁰	10 t	= 0.01 kiloton, Davy Crockett tactical nuclear weapon
4.8 × 10¹⁰	11.5 t	1 Project Thor "Rod from God"
5.0 × 10¹⁰	12 t	yield energy of a MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Blast) bomb, the second most powerful non-nuclear weapon ever designed
1.8 × 10¹¹	43 t	1 milligram of antimatter + 1 milligram of matter
1.8 × 10¹¹	44 t	yield energy of a ATBIP (Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power) bomb, the most powerful non-nuclear weapon ever designed
3.6 × 10¹²	860 t	1 gigawatt-hour
4.184 × 10¹²	1 kiloton	= 1000 tons
6.276 × 10¹²	1.5 kt	Casaba Howitzer bolt
1.08 × 10¹³		Laser energy to launch 80 metric tons into orbit (3000 megawatt-hours)
1.5 × 10¹³		1 second of the total power consumption of the human world in the year 2004
2.0 × 10¹³		1 second of power generated between the surfaces of Jupiter and its moon Io due to Jupiter's magnetic field
3.6 × 10¹³	7 kt	energy released by an average thunderstorm
4.4 × 10¹³		1 second of total heat flux from earth's interior
4.6 × 10¹³	11 kt	Relativistic weapon: 1 gram at 75% c
6.3 × 10¹³	15 kt	1 Hiroshima "Little Boy"
6.997 × 10¹³	17 kt	Nuclear fusion of 1 kilogram of Hydrogen + Boron fuel
8.8 × 10¹³	21 kt	Nagasaki "Fat Man"
8.8068 × 10¹³	21 kt	Nuclear fusion of 1 kilogram of Deuterium + Deuterium fuel (average)
1.2 × 10¹⁴	29 kt	Relativistic weapon: 1 gram at 90% c
1.8 × 10¹⁴	43 kt	1 gram of antimatter + 1 gram of matter
2.075 × 10¹⁴	49 kt	Nuclear fusion of 1 kilogram of Helium-3 + Helium-3 fuel
3.3972 × 10¹⁴	81 kt	Nuclear fusion of 1 kilogram of Deuterium + Tritium fuel
3.5323 × 10¹⁴	84 kt	Nuclear fusion of 1 kilogram of Deuterium + Helium-3 fuel
4.2 × 10¹⁴	100 kt	W76 warhead
5.5 × 10¹⁴	132 kt	Relativistic weapon: 1 gram at 99% c
6.0 × 10¹⁴	143 kt	energy released by an average hurricane in one second
6.4493 × 10¹⁴	154 kt	Nuclear fusion of 1 kilogram of proton-proton fuel
1.3 × 10¹⁵	300 kt	W87 warhead
1.4 × 10¹⁵	338 kt	Earthquake 6.9 on the Richter scale
1.4 × 10¹⁵		1 second of total heat flux transported by the Gulf Stream
1.8 × 10¹⁵	430 kt	10 grams of antimatter + 10 grams of matter
1.9 × 10¹⁵	454 kt	Relativistic weapon: 1 gram at 99.9% c
2.0 × 10¹⁵	475 kt	W88 warhead
2.0 × 10¹⁵	477 kt	Earthquake 7.0 on the Richter scale
2.1 × 10¹⁵	500 kt	Ivy King device (largest pure fission device ever made)
4.0 × 10¹⁵		1 second of total heat flux transported by earth's atmosphere and oceans away from the equator towards the poles
4.184 × 10¹⁵	1 megaton	67 Hiroshimas
5.0 × 10¹⁵	1.2 Mt	Maximum yield of B83 nuclear bomb (most powerful U.S. weapon in active service)
6.3 × 10¹⁵	1.5 Mt	Relativistic weapon: 1 gram at 99.99% c
1.5 × 10¹⁶	3.5 Mt	1 Barringer Meteor Crater
3.8 × 10¹⁶	9 Mt	B53 nuclear bomb (most powerful US warhead; no longer in active service)
4.4 × 10¹⁶	10.4 Mt	Eniwetok
4.6 × 10¹⁶	11 Mt	Relativistic weapon: 1 kilogram at 75% c
6.3 × 10¹⁶	15 Mt	Castle Bravo device (Bikini Atoll) (most powerful US test)
6.3 × 10¹⁶	15 Mt	1 Tunguska event = 4.3 Barringer Meteor Craters
6.3 × 10¹⁶	15 Mt	Earthquake 8.0 on the Richter scale
1.0 × 10¹⁷	24 Mt	total energy output of a Type-I civilization (Kardashev scale) each second
1.1 × 10¹⁷	25 Mt	1 "city killer" nuclear warhead
1.1 × 10¹⁷	25 Mt	Maximum yield of B41 bomb (most powerful US bomb; no longer in active service)
1.1 × 10¹⁷	25 Mt	Mount St. Helens = 1.6 Tunguskas
1.2 × 10¹⁷	29 Mt	Relativistic weapon: 1 kilogram at 90% c
1.3 × 10¹⁷	31 Mt	energy released by an average hurricane in one day
1.7 × 10¹⁷	42 Mt	total energy from the Sun that strikes the face of the Earth each second
1.8 × 10¹⁷	43 Mt	1 kilogram of antimatter + 1 kilogram of matter
2.1 × 10¹⁷	50 Mt	Tsar Bomba device (USSR, most powerful nuclear test ever)
2.7 × 10¹⁷	64.3 Mt	Star Trek photon torpedo = 1.5 kg antimatter + 1.5 kg matter
3.6 × 10¹⁷	85 Mt	Earthquake 8.5 on the Richter scale
5.0 × 10¹⁷	120 Mt	Earthquake 8.6 on the Richter scale
5.5 × 10¹⁷	132 Mt	Relativistic weapon: 1 kilogram at 99% c
6.3 × 10¹⁷	150 Mt	1 Krakatoa = 6 Mount St. Helens
7.1 × 10¹⁷	161 Mt	Earthquake 8.7 on the Richter scale
1.0 × 10¹⁸	239 Mt	Earthquake 8.8 on the Richter scale
1.9 × 10¹⁸	454 Mt	Relativistic weapon: 1 kilogram at 99.9% c
2.0 × 10¹⁸	477 Mt	Earthquake 9.0 on the Richter scale
2.5 × 10¹⁸	600 Mt	1 Thera = 6 Krakatoas
2.8 × 10¹⁸	674 Mt	Earthquake 9.1 on the Richter scale
4.0 × 10¹⁸	952 Mt	Earthquake 9.2 on the Richter scale
4.0 × 10¹⁸		energy released by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake (between 9.1 and 9.3 on the Richter scale)
4.184 × 10¹⁸	1 gigaton	= 1000 megatons
6.06 × 10¹⁸	1.5 Gt	Global nuclear arsenal
6.3 × 10¹⁸	1.5 Gt	Relativistic weapon: 1 kilogram at 99.99% c
1.1 × 10¹⁹	3 Gt	Earthquake 9.5 on the Richter scale
1.25 × 10¹⁹	3 Gt	Theoretical impact of asteroid Apophis
3.45 × 10¹⁹	8.25 Gt	Estimated yield of Doomsday Orion nuclear device
7.2 × 10¹⁹	17.2 Gt	Converting the Voyager One probe's mass into energy, energy required by Alcubierre warp drive with doughnut shaped ring
1.8 × 10²⁰	43 Gt	1 metric ton of antimatter + 1 metric ton of matter
3.63 × 10²¹	868 Gt	Last eruption of Yellowstone Supervolcano
4.184 × 10²¹	1 teraton	= 1000 gigatons = 1e6 megatons
1.5 × 10²²	4 Tt	total energy from the Sun that strikes the face of the Earth each day
2.5 × 10²²	6 Tt	1 Shoemaker-Levy = 10,000 Theras
3.87 × 10²²	9.2 Tt	Tōhoku Earthquake, 9.1 on the Moment magnitude scale
1.4 × 10²³	33 Tt	total energy output of Wolf 359 each second (bolometric luminosity)
2.0 × 10²³	48 Tt	Solar flare
5.43 × 10²³	120 Tt	1 Chicxulub Crater = 1 Dinosaur Killer = 20 Shoemaker-Levys
3.0 × 10²⁴	720 Tt	1 Wilkes Land crater = 6 Chicxulub Craters
4.184 × 10²⁴	1 petaton	= 1000 teratons
5.5 × 10²⁴	1 Pt	total energy from the Sun that strikes the face of the Earth each year
3.2 × 10²⁶	77 Pt	Energy required blow off Terra's atmosphere into space
3.9 × 10²⁶	92 Pt	total energy output of the Sun each second (bolometric luminosity)
4.0 × 10²⁶	96 Pt	total energy output of a Type-II civilization (Kardashev scale) each second
6.6 × 10²⁶	158 Pt	Energy required to heat all the oceans of Terra to boiling
4.184 × 10²⁷	1 exaton	= 1000 petatons
4.5 × 10²⁷	1 Et	Energy required to vaporize all the oceans of Terra into the atmosphere
7.0 × 10²⁷	2 Et	Energy required to vaporize all the oceans of Terra and dehydrate the crust
2.9 × 10²⁸	7 Et	Energy required to melt the (dry) crust of Terra
1.0 × 10²⁹	24 Et	Energy required blow off Terra's oceans into space
2.1 × 10²⁹	50 Et	Earth's rotational energy
1.5 × 10³⁰	359 Et	Energy required blow off Terra's crust into space
4.184 × 10³⁰	1 zettaton	= 1000 exatons
2.9 × 10³¹	7 Zt	Energy required to blow up Terra (reduce to gravel orbiting the sun)
3 × 10³¹	8 Zt	Theia Impact which formed Luna
3.3 × 10³¹	8 Zt	total energy output of the Sun each day
3.3 × 10³¹	8 Zt	total energy output of Beta Centauri each second (bolometric luminosity). 41,700 × luminosity of the Sun.
5.9 × 10³¹	14 Zt	Energy required to blow up Terra (reduce to gravel flying out of former orbit)
1.2 × 10³²	29 Zt	total energy output of Deneb each second (bolometric luminosity)
2.9 × 10³²	69 Zt	Energy required to blow up Terra (reduce to gravel and move pieces to infinity)
4.184 × 10³³	1 yottaton	= 1000 zettatons
1.2 × 10³⁴	3 Yt	total energy output of the Sun each year
4.184 × 10³⁶	1 ronnaton	= 1,000 yottatons
5.0 × 10³⁶	1.2 Rt	total energy output of the Milky Way galaxy each second (bolometric luminosity)
4.0 × 10³⁷	9.6 Rt	total energy output of a Type-III civilization (Kardashev scale) each second
6.0 × 10³⁷	14 Rt	Nova Persei
1.0 × 10³⁸	24 Rt	Max output of Death Star's super laser
1.2 × 10³⁸	29 Rt	total energy output of the Sun in ten thousand years
4.184 × 10³⁹	1 queccaton	= 1,000 ronnatons
1.0 × 10⁴⁰	2.0 Qt	one second's worth of output from a quasar
1.0 × 10⁴²	270 Qt	Energy in photons from a type I supernova = 0.01 foe
1.0 × 10⁴²	270 Qt	total energy output of the Local Supercluster each second (bolometric luminosity)
4.184 × 10⁴²	1 × 10³³ tons	= 1,000,000,000 yottatons
3.0 × 10⁴³	7.0 × 10³³ tons	Energy needed to make the local superbubble (Supernova Geminga) = 0.3 foe
1.0 × 10⁴⁴		1 Foe (ten to the Fifty-One Ergs, unit of supernova strength)
1.0 × 10⁴⁴	2.4 × 10³⁴ tons	Energy in neutrinos from a type I supernova = 1 foe = 2.4 × 10³⁴ tons
1.3 × 10⁴⁴	3.1 × 10³⁴ tons	Total radiant energy from the Sun (approximately ten billion years worth)
3.0 × 10⁴⁴	7.2 × 10³⁴ tons	Energy in photons from a type II supernova = 1.3 foes
1.0 × 10⁴⁵	2.4 × 10³⁵ tons	Gamma-ray burster = 10 foes
4.184 × 10⁴⁵	1 × 10³⁶ tons	= 1,000,000,000,000 yottatons = 41.84 foes
1.0 × 10⁴⁶	2.0 × 10³⁶ tons	Energy in photons from a hypernova = 100 foes
3.0 × 10⁴⁶	7.0 × 10³⁶ tons	Energy in neutrinos from a type II supernova = 300 foes
5.3 × 10⁴⁷	1.3 × 10³⁸ tons	Gravitational energy of binary black hole merger detected as GW150914. Each black hole about 30 solar masses. 3 solar masses converted into energy. x50 power output of entire universe.
5.39 × 10⁴⁷	1.3 × 10³⁸ tons	Gravitational energy of binary black hole merger detected as GW170814. A pair of merging black holes with 31 and 25 solar masses. 3 solar masses converted into energy
1.0 × 10⁴⁸	2.4 × 10³⁸ tons	Energy in neutrinos from a hypernova = 10,000 foes
4.184 × 10⁴⁸	1 × 10³⁹ tons	= 1,000,000,000,000,000 yottatons = 41,840 foes
2.0 × 10⁴⁹	4.8 × 10³⁹ tons	total energy output of all the stars in the observable universe each second (bolometric luminosity)
3.0 × 10⁶⁹		Big Bang (interpretation two)

Time Duration

8:15 a.m., August 6, 1945

Seconds	Equivalent	Notes
5.39 × 10^-44	Planck time unit	Smallest possible unit of time
1.0 × 10^-24	1 yoctosecond	One septillionth of a second
1.0 × 10^-21	1 zeptosecond	One sextillionth of a second
1.0 × 10^-18	1 attosecond	One quintillionth of a second
1.0 × 10^-15	1 femtosecond	One quadrillionth of a second
1.0 × 10^-12	1 picosecond	One trillionth of a second
1.0 × 10^-09	1 nanosecond	One billionth of a second Time to execute 1 machine cycle by a 1 GHz microprocessor Light travels 30 centimeters
1.0 × 10^-06	1 microsecond	One millionth of a second
1.0 × 10^-03	1 millisecond	One thousandth of a second Time for a neuron in human brain to fire one impulse and return to rest
2.0 × 10^-01	150 milliseconds	Human reflex response to visual stimuli
2.0 × 10^-01	200 milliseconds	Blink of an eye
1.0 × 10⁰	1 second
1.0 × 10⁰¹	10 seconds
6.0 × 10⁰¹	1 minute
1.0 × 10⁰²	100 seconds
1.0 × 10⁰³	16.7 minutes	1 kilosecond
3.6 × 10⁰³	1 hour
8.64 × 10⁰⁴	1 day
6.048 × 10⁰⁵	1 week	7 days
1.0 × 10⁰⁶	11.6 days	1 megasecond
2.592 × 10⁰⁶	1 month	30 days
3.1536 × 10⁰⁷	1 year
6.3072 × 10⁰⁷	2 years
9.4608 × 10⁰⁷	3 years
1.26144 × 10⁰⁸	4 years
1.5768 × 10⁰⁸	5 years
1.89216 × 10⁰⁸	6 years
2.20752 × 10⁰⁸	7 years
2.52288 × 10⁰⁸	8 years
2.83824 × 10⁰⁸	9 years
3.1536 × 10⁰⁸	10 years	1 decade
6.3072 × 10⁰⁸	20 years
7.884 × 10⁰⁸	25 years	1 generation
9.4608 × 10⁰⁸	30 years
1.0 × 10⁰⁹	32 years	1 gigasecond
1.26144 × 10⁰⁹	40 years
1.5768 × 10⁰⁹	50 years
1.89216 × 10⁰⁹	60 years
2.20752 × 10⁰⁹	70 years
2.52288 × 10⁰⁹	80 years
2.83824 × 10⁰⁹	90 years
3.1536 × 10⁰⁹	100 years	1 century
3.1536 × 10¹⁰	1000 years	1 millennium
3.1536 × 10¹¹	10,000 years
4.09968 × 10¹¹	13,000 years	The Time Elapsed Since the Invention of Beer (coined by James Nicoll)
8.51472 × 10¹¹	27,000 years	Light travels from Terra to Galactic Center
1.0 × 10¹²	32,000 years	1 terasecond
3.1536 × 10¹²	100,000 years	Light crosses diameter of galaxy
1.5768 × 10¹³	500,000 years	Average interval between gamma-ray bursts in average galaxy (100,000 to 1,000,000 years)
3.1536 × 10¹³	1 million years	1 epoch The Average Lifespan of a Vertebrate Species (coined by James Nicoll)
8.0038368 × 10¹³	2.538 million years	Light travels from Terra to Andromeda Galaxy
1.5768 × 10¹⁴	5 million years	Average interval between gamma-ray bursts angled and close enough to affect Terra Lower estimate to colonize entire galaxy
3.1536 × 10¹⁴	10 million years
1.0 × 10¹⁵	32 million years	1 petasecond
1.5768 × 10¹⁵	50 million years	Upper estimate to colonize entire galaxy
3.1536 × 10¹⁵	100 million years
7.9 × 10¹⁵	255 million years	One galactic year (revolution of sol around galactic center)
3.1536 × 10¹⁶	1 billion years	1 aeon
1.43 × 10¹⁷	4.54 billion years	Age of Terra
1.44 × 10¹⁷	4.568 billion years	Age of Solar System and Sol
3.1536 × 10¹⁷	10 billion years
4.30 × 10¹⁷	13.798 billion years	Age of the Universe

Historical Time Line

Note radioactive layer of glassy rock at top layer.
Artwork by Ed Emshmiller for Galaxy magazine June 1951

From "Now" (Jan 1, 2000 CE)	Date	Notes
-13.798 billion years		Birth of the universe in the Big Bang
-13.6 billion years		First stars begin to shine
-13.1 billion years		Galaxies form
-12.7 billion years		Age of quasar CFHQS 1641+3755
-9.0 billion years		Earliest Population I stars
-4.57 billion years		A supernova seeds our galactic neighborhood with heavy elements that will be incorporated into Terra
-4.567 billion years		Birth of Sol
-4.566 billion years		Sol in T Tauri stage, emits protoplanetary disc
-4.550 billion years		Proto-Terra forms
-4.533 billion years		Collision between proto-Terra and Theia forms Terra-Luna system
-4.250 billion years		Earliest evidence of life on Terra
-4.1 billion years		Late Heavy Bombardment (Lunar Cataclysm)
-3.6 billion years		Simple cells (prokaryotes)
-3.4 billion years		Cyanobacteria performing photosynthesis
-2.4 billion years		Oxygen Catastrophe extinction event
-2.0 billion years		Complex cells (eukaryotes)
-1.2 billion years		Eukaryotes which sexually reproduce
-1.0 billion years		Multicellular life
-600 million years		Simple animals, ozone layer
-550 million years		Bilaterians
-500 million years		Fish and proto-amphibians
-475 million years		Land plants
-443.4 million years		Ordovician–Silurian mass extinction events (two extinctions separated by 1 million years) Terra's second largest extinction. Possible gamma-ray burst
-400 million years		Insects and seeds
-374 million years		Late Devonian extinction event (Kellwasser Event)
-358.9 million years		Late Devonian extinction event (Hangenberg Event)
-360 million years		Amphibians
-300 million years		Reptiles
-252 million years		Permian-Triassic extinction event (Terra's largest extinction) Possible impact event Formation of Siberian Traps
-225 million years		Earliest dinosaurs
-222 million years		Recovery from Permian-Triassic extinction event
-200 million years		Mammals Triassic-Jurassic extinction event
-195 million years		First sauropod dinosaurs
-176 million years		Stegosauria dinosaurs
-163 million years		Pterodactyls
-150 million years		Birds
-130 million years		Flowers
-120 million years		Ontong Java Plateau formed Early Aptian anoxic extinction event
-92 million years		Cenomanian-Turonian extinction event
-68 million years		Tyrannosaurus rex, triceratops
-66 million years		Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event (the Dinosaur Killer Asteroid)
-60 million years		Primates
-20 million years		the family Hominidae (great apes)
-7.6 million years		Older supernovae that created the Local Bubble
-3.4 million years		Earliest known stone tool
-3 million years		Black monoliths create first proto-humans
-2.5 million years		the genus Homo (including humans and their predecessors) Eltanin impact Start of Lower Paleolithic Pliocene-Pleistocene marine extinction Newer supernovae that created the Local Bubble
-2.3 million years		Homo Habilis
-1.8 million years		Homo Erectus
-1.2 million years		Oldest known tool
-800,000 years		Controlled use of fire
-490,000 years		Oldest known symbolic marking
-300,000 years		End of Lower Paleolithic Start of Middle Paleolithic Star Geminga goes supernova, possibly creating the Local Bubble
-250,000 years		Neanderthal Man
-200,000 years		Anatomically Modern Humans
-110,000 years		Start of Last Glacial Period (the "Ice Age")
-75,000 years		Toba supereruption almost makes human species extinct
-70,000 years		Scholz's star passes within 0.82 light-years (52,000 AU) of Sol
-50,000 years		End of Middle Paleolithic Start of Upper Paleolithic
-30,000 years		Extinction of Neanderthals
-25,600 years	23,600 BCE	Polaris is the Pole Star
-16,000 years	14,000 BCE	Domestication of dogs
-15,000 years	13,000 BCE	Start of Holocene extinction event Earliest evidence of warfare
-12,000 years	10,000 BCE	End of Last Glacial Period (the "Ice Age")
-11,700 years	9700 BCE	Bering land bridge from Siberia to North America disappears
-11,500 years	9500 BCE	Start of Quaternary extinction event
-11,000 years	9000 BCE	Approximately the sinking of Atlantis, according to Plato
-10,800 years	8800 BCE	Closest approach of Kapteyn's Star to solar system
-10,000 years	8000 BCE	End of Upper Paleolithic Start of Mesolithic domestication of animals Start of Neolithic Revolution (agriculture) End of Quaternary extinction event Invention of scratch plough allows inventors to be supported
-9,500 years	7500 BCE	Domestication of cats
-8,440 years	6440 BCE	Kurile volcano on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula has VEI 7 eruption
-8,194 years	6194 BCE	Supernova SN 1006 explodes Will not be seen on Terra until 1006 CE
-7,500 years	5500 BCE	Formation of Sahara desert pushes people into Nile delta
-7,446 years	5446 BCE	Supernova SN 1054 (Crab Nebula) explodes Will not be seen on Terra until 1054 CE
-7,000 years	5000 BCE	Invention of the wheel Invention of metallurgy
-6,000 years	4000 BCE	End of Mesolithic Start of Neolithic Start of Uruk period in Mesopotamia
-5,900 years	3900 BCE	Intense aridification (5.9 kiloyear event) triggers worldwide migration to river valleys Rise of patriarchy Rise of institutionalized warfare Rise of anthropomorphic gods Myth of the "fall of man"
-5,100 years	3100 BCE	First dynasty of Egypt
-5,000 years	3000 BCE	Sumerian cuneiform writing system Construction of Stonehenge begins Thuban is the Pole Star
-4,800 years	2800 BCE	Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period in China Impact event creates Burkle Crater causing flood myths
-4,700 years	2700 BCE	Old Kingdom begins in Egypt
-4,600 years	2600 BCE	Mature Harappan phase of Indus Valley civilization Maya culture of Yucatán Peninsula
-4,560 years	2560 BCE	King Khufu completes Great Pyramid of Giza
-4,500 years	2500 BCE	Mammoth goes extinct
-4,200 years	2200 BCE	Completion of Stonehenge
-4,070 years	2070 BCE	Yu the Great established the Xia Dynasty in China
-4,000 years	2000 BCE	Domestication of the horse Construction of the Ziggurat of Ur
-3,800 years	1800 BCE	Invention of alphabetic writing Epic of Gilgamesh
-3,600 years	1600 BCE	Approximately the Minoan eruption (destruction of Thera, possibly Atlantis) Destrution of Minoan civilzation on Crete. Mycenaean Greece Shang Dynasty in China Hittites
-3,400 years	1400 BCE	Olmec civilzation in Mexico
-3,300 years	1300 BCE	End of Neolithic Start of Bronze Age
-3,200 years	1200 BCE	End of Bronze Age Start of Iron Age
-3,190 years	1190 BCE	Trojan War Historical period of Homer's The Odyssey
-3,180 years	1180 BCE	end of Hittite Empire
-3,100 years	1100 BCE	Start of Greek Dark Ages
-3,046 years	1046 BCE	Zhou Dynaty in China
-3,000 years	1000 BCE	β Ursae Minoris is the Pole Star
-2,900 years	900 BCE	Start of Iron Age Cold Epoch
-2,850 years	850 BCE	Approximately the historical period of Homer's Iliad
-2,800 years	800 BCE	Rise of Greek city-states
-2,753 years	753 BCE	Founding of Rome
-2,750 years	750 BCE	End of Greek Dark Ages
-2,500 years	500 BCE	End of Iron Age Invention of "zero" and binary numbering system by Pingala
-2,480 years	480 BCE	Battle of Thermopylae (The 300)
-2,450 years	450 BCE	Height of Iron Age Cold Epoch
-2,300 years	300 BCE	End of Iron Age Cold Epoch
-2,250 years	250 BCE	Start of Roman Warm Period
-2,044 years	44 BCE	End of Roman Republic Start of Roman Empire
-1,921 years	79 CE	Destruction of Pompeii by volcanic eruption
-1,715 years	285 CE	Roman Empire splits into Eastern and Western Empires
-1,600 years	400 CE	α Ursae Minoris is the Pole Star End of Roman Warm Period
-1,524 years	476 CE	Fall of Roman Empire Start of the Middle Ages Start of the "Dark Ages" (term not used anymore)
-1,300 years	700 CE	Horse stirrup spreads to Europe and helps start the feudal system
-1,226 years	774 CE	Gamma-ray burst causes high levels of Carbon 14 in Japanese tree rings
-1,020 years	920 CE	Horse collar harness spreads from China to Europe helps end the feudal system
-1,050 years	950 CE	Start of Medieval Warm Period
-1,000 years	1000 CE	End of the "Dark Ages" (term not used anymore)
-994 years	1006 CE	Supernova SN 1006 observed on Terra Actually exploded in 6194 BCE
-946 years	1054 CE	Supernova SN 1054 (Crab Nebula) observed on Terra Actually exploded in 5446 BCE
-750 years	1250 CE	End of Medieval Warm Period
-700 years	1300 CE	Start of the Renaissance
-685 years	1315 CE	Start of Great Famine of 1315-17
-654 years	1346 CE	Start of the Black Death (second bubonic plague pandemic)
-647 years	1353 CE	End of the Black Death (second bubonic plague pandemic)
-650 years	1350 CE	Start of the Little Ice Age
-550 years	1450 CE	Johannes Gutenberg invents movable type mechanical printing
-547 years	1453 CE	Eruption of Kuwae in Pacific contributes to fall of Constantinople
-500 years	1500 CE	End of the Middle Ages
-350 years	1650 CE	Start of Age of Enlightenment
-300 years	1700 CE	End of the Renaissance
-240 years	1760 CE	Start of Industrial Revolution
-224 years	1776 CE	End of Age of Enlightenment
-170 years	1830 CE	End of Industrial Revolution
-150 years	1850 CE	End of the Little Ice Age
-92 years	1908 CE	Tunguska Explosion decimates a remote part of Siberia
-90 years	1910 CE	Hot buzz-word is "Electric"
-86 years	1914 CE	Start of World War I
-85 years	1915 CE	The Sin of the Scientist
-82 years	1918 CE	End of World War I
-80 years	1920 CE	Hot buzz-word is "Radio"
-63 years	1937 CE	Start of World War II
-55 years	1945 CE	Start of World War II Nuclear weapons used on Japan Start of Atomic Age Hot buzz-word is "Atomic"
-50 years	1950 CE	Hot buzz-word is "Transistorized"
-43 years	1957 CE	Launch of Sputnik Start of the Space Age
-42 years	1958 CE	Start of the Nuclear Age
-40 years	1960 CE	Hot buzz-word is "Laser"
-39 years	1961 CE	Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space
-37 years	1963 CE	Partial Test Ban Treaty outlaws Project Orion
-31 years	1969 CE	Neil Armstrong becomes first man on Luna
-30 years	1970 CE	Hot buzz word is "Computerized"
-10 years	1990 CE	Hot buzz word is "Nanotechnology"
-5 years	1995 CE	Start of the Information Age
0	Jan 1, 2000 CE	Now
+170 years	2170 CE	Polaris is the Pole Star
+10,000 years		Pioneer 10 passes within 3.8 light years of Barnard's Star
+25,000 years		The Arecibo message reaches globular cluster Messier 13
+25,800 years		Polaris is the Pole Star
+32,000 years		Pioneer 10 passes within 3 light years of Ross 248
+36,000 years		Red dwarf star Ross 248 passes within 3.024 light years of Earth, becoming the closest star to the Sun.
+40,000 years		Voyager 1 passes within 1.6 light years of AC+79 3888
+100,000 years		Proper motion of stars in Terra's sky will render many constellations unrecognisable
+296,000 years		Voyager 2 passes within 4.3 light years of Sirius
+350,000 years		HIP 85605 closest approach to solar system.
+950,000 years		Meteor Crater in Arizona, considered the "freshest" of its kind, will be eroded away by this time.
+1 million years		Great Pyramid of Giza eroded away On Luna Neil Armstrong's footpring eroded away.
+1.4 million years		Gliese 710 closest approach to solar system.
+1.93 million years		Comet barrage caused by Scholz's Star enters the inner Solar System
+2 million years		Pioneer 10 passes near Aldebaran
+2.35 million years		Comet barrage caused by HIP 85605 enters the inner Solar System
+3.4 million years		Comet barrage caused by Gliese 710 enters the inner Solar System
+5 million years		Lower estimate for mankind to colonize every star in the Milky Way galaxy
+7.2 million years		Mount Rushmore eroded away
+10 million years		Planet WASP-12b fully devoured by its mother star
+50 million years		Upper estimate for mankind to colonize every star in the Milky Way galaxy The Californian coast begins to be subducted into the Aleutian Trench Africa's collision with Eurasia closes the Mediterranean Basin
+100 million years		Upper estimate for lifespan of the rings of Saturn in their current state
+250 million years		All the continents on Earth may fuse into a supercontinent Amasia, Novopangaea, or Pangaea Ultima
+255 million years		From its present position, the Solar System completes one full orbit of the Galactic center
+400 million years		Supercontinent of Terra splits and drifts apart
+600 million years		Tidal acceleration moves the Moon far enough from Earth that total solar eclipses are no longer possible.
+2.8 billion years		Terra's surface temperature, even at the poles, reaches an average of 147 °C
+3.5 billion years		Surface conditions on Terra are comparable to those on Venus today
+4 billion years		Andromeda—Milky Way galactic collision starts
+5 billion years		Sol's hydrogen core exhausted Sol leaves main sequence and evolves into a red giant
+7.5 billion years		Terra and Mars become tidally locked to expanding Sol
+7.9 billion years		Sol reaches tip of red-giant branch of Hertsprung-Russel diagram is at maximum radius of 256 times present day value Mercury, Venus, and probably Terra have been consumed
+8 billion years		Sol becomes a carbon-oxygen white dwarf with about 54.05 percent its present mass.

Distance Table

Parallax rangefinder

Meters	Measure	Notes
3.1 × 10^-8 m	1 yoctoparsec (ypc)	10^-24 parsec 0.000031 mm length of 160 bacterial laid end to end
3.1 × 10^-5 m	1 zeptoparsec (zpc)	10^-21 parsec 0.031 mm 0.06 the diameter of a grain of salt
0.031 m	1 attoparsec (apc)	10^-18 parsec 3.1 cm 2/3 the length of your finger
0.3 m	1 light-nanosecond	Distance a photon travels in 1 nanosecond. Popularized by Grace Hopper. Roughly 1 foot.
1 m	1.09361 yards
1.77 m	5' 10"	White male height in 50th percentile
1.9 m		Approximate height of man wearing NASA space suit
2 m		Average range of a confrontation with a handgun
4 m		Average length of an automobile. One "car-length".
6 m		Height of a giraffe
7.6 m		Maximum effective range of Taser X-26
9 m		Upper range of most confrontations with a handgun
12 m		Length of US city bus
18 m		Gyrojet round has accelerated to maximum velocity and maximum damage
23 m		General rule range, beyond which it would make more sense to use a slugthrower long-arm instead of slugthrower handgun
27 m		Length of Millennium Falcon from Star Wars
30 m		Length of Pilgrim Observer with spine retracted Effective focus range for a Luke Campbell light laser pistol
31 m	1 femtoparsec (fpc)	10^-15 parsec Length of a Blue Whale
43 m		Height of Polaris spacecraft from Tom Corbett Space Cadet
49 m		Height of Arc de Triomphe, Paris
50 m		General rule maximum effective range of slugthower handgun Effective focus range for a Luke Campbell medium laser pistol
52 m		Height of UK Nelson's Column
56 m		Height of Space Shuttle Stack
72 m		Length of a Boeing 747
80 m		Length of north-south city block in Manhattan
84 m		Height of Ferry Rocket from Collier's
91 m	100 yards	Length of US NFL football field (excluding end zones)
93 m		Height of Statue of Liberty
93 m		Length of US DE-51 Destroyer Buckley
96 m		Height of UK Big Ben
100 m		Range for full damage of bolt from a Luke Campbell heavy laser pistol Length of a Canadian football field (including end zones). US City Block (100 to 200 m)
102 m		Height of NASA Saturn V
102 m		Length of Al Rafik from Attack Vector: Tactical
105 m		UK UEFA Champions League football pitch
108.5 m		Length of International Space Station
109.728 m	120 yards	Length of US NFL football field (including end zones)
112 m		Height of California Redwood Tree
113 m		Length of Discovery from 2001 A Space Odyssey
140 m		Height of Great Pyramid of Cheops
150 m		Maximum effective range of AK-47 grenade launcher
154 m		Length of Russian Oscar class submarine
158 m		Height of UK Blackpool Tower
170 m		Height of Washington Monument
184 m		Height of Seattle Space Needle
228 m		Length of Klingon D7 battlecruiser from Star Trek
245 m		Length of LZ-129 Passenger airship Hindenburg
250 m		Effective focus range for a Luke Campbell assault laser
270 m		Maximum effective combat range of M1 carbine Length of US BB-62 battleship New Jersey
289 m		Length of NCC-1701 Starship Enterprise from Star Trek
300 m		Maximum average range of infantry engagement
324 m		Height of Eiffel Tower
336 m		Length of US CVN-65 aircraft carrier Enterprise
350 m		Effective range of AK-47 rifle Range for full damage of bolt from a Luke Campbell battle laser
365 m		Range at which 13mm Gyrojet rounds loses effective velocity
449 m		Height of Empire State building
460 m		Effective range of M16A1 rifle
519 m		Height of Sears Tower building
600 m		Maximum effective range of M4 carbine Maximum effective range of M16 rifle (point target)
800 m		Maximum effective range of M16 rifle (area target)
31,000 m	1 picoparsec(ppc)	10^-12 parsec Diameter of Baltimore, Maryland USA 31 kilometers
160,000 m	160 km	Lower altitude limit of LEO
431,000 m	431 km	Average altitude of International Space Station above Terra's surface
975,000 m	975 km	Long diameter of asteroid Ceres
2,000,000 m	2,000 km	Upper altitude limit of LEO Lower altitude limit of MEO
1.2742 × 10⁷ m		Mean diameter of Terra
3.0857 × 10⁷ m	1 nanoparsec (npc)	10^-9 parsec 2.5 times the diameter of Terra 1/13th the distance between Terra and Luna 30,857 km
3.5786 × 10⁷ m		Geosynchronous orbit altitude Upper altitude limit of MEO Lower altitude limit of HEO
4.0 × 10⁷ m		Approximate circumference of Terra
1.3982 × 10⁸ m		Mean diameter of Jupiter
2.9979 × 10⁸ m	1 light-second
3.844 × 10⁸ m		Distance between Terra and Luna 1 LD = "Lunar Distance" 0.003 AU
2.9979 × 10⁸ m	10 light-seconds
9.6600 × 10⁸ m		Diameter of Saturn's ring system
1.3920 × 10⁹ m		Mean diameter of Sol
1.7988 × 10¹⁰ m	1 light-minute
3.0857 × 10¹⁰ m	1 microparsec (μpc)	10^-6 parsec A bit less than the Sol-Mercury semi-major axis 0.206 AU
1.4960 × 10¹¹ m	1 AU	Distance between Terra and Sol Approximate radius of a Dyson sphere or Ringworld
1.7988 × 10¹¹ m	10 light-minutes
1.0793 × 10¹² m	1 light-hour
1.1880 × 10¹² m	1.1 light-hours	Estimated radius of UY Scuti current and leading candidate for being the largest known star by radius.
2.3760 × 10¹² m	2.2 light-hours	Estimated diameter of UY Scuti
5.9064 × 10¹² m	39.482 AU	Distance between Pluto and Sol 5.4 light hours
1.0793 × 10¹³ m	10 light-hours
2.5902 × 10¹³ m	1 light-day
3.0857 × 10¹³ m	1 milliparsec (mpc)	10^-3 parsec Approximately four times the Sol-Pluto aphelion 206 AU
8.108 × 10¹³ m	542 AU	Focus point distance of Solar Gravitational Lens
2.5902 × 10¹⁴ m	10 light-days
3.0857 × 10¹⁴ m	1 centiparsec (cpc)	10^-2 parsec Sol to inner boundary of Hills section of the Oort Cloud 2,063 AU
3.0857 × 10¹⁵ m	1 deciparsec (dpc)	10^-1 parsec Sol to outer boundary of Hills section of the Oort Cloud 20,627 AU
9.4605 × 10¹⁵ m	1 light-year	63241.1 AU
1.6971 × 10¹⁶ m	1.8 light-years	Distance from Sol where it would have the apparent magnitude of Sirius
3.0857 × 10¹⁶ m	1 parsec (pc)	10⁰ parsec 74% of the distance between Sol and Proxima Centauri 3.26 light years
4.0132 × 10¹⁶ m	4.2421 light-years	Distance between Sol and Proxima Centauri
4.1295 × 10¹⁶ m	4.3650 light-years	Distance between Sol and Rigil Kentaurus (α Centauri A and B)
5.6413 × 10¹⁶ m	5.9630 light-years	Distance between Sol and Barnard's Star Medusae Homeworld
6.2345 × 10¹⁶ m	6.59 light-years	Distance between Sol and Luhman 16 (brown dwarf)
6.8116 × 10¹⁶ m	7.2 light-years	Distance between Sol and WISE 0855-0714 (brown dwarf)
7.3626 × 10¹⁶ m	7.8 light-years	Distance between Sol and Wolf 359
7.8432 × 10¹⁶ m	8.3 light-years	Distance between Sol and Lalande 21185
8.1198 × 10¹⁶ m	8.6 light-years	Distance between Sol and Sirius
9.4605 × 10¹⁶ m	1 light-decade	10 light-years 3.07 parsecs
9.9099 × 10¹⁶ m	10.457 light-years	Distance between Sol and Epsilon Eridani Babylon 5
1.0794 × 10¹⁷ m	11.41 light-years	Distance between Sol and 61 Cygni Mesklin
1.0842 × 10¹⁷ m	11.46 light-years	Distance between Sol and Procyon
1.1263 × 10¹⁷ m	11.905 light-years	Distance between Sol and Tau Ceti Downbelow Station
1.2072 × 10¹⁷ m	12.76 light-years	Distance between Sol and Kapteyn's Star
1.5 × 10¹⁷ m	1 million AU	1 Siriometer 15.8 light-years 4.8 parsecs
1.5232 × 10¹⁷ m	16.1 light-years	Distance between Sol and HIP 85605
1.5563 × 10¹⁷ m	16.45 light-years	Distance between Sol and 40 Eridani Vulcan homeworld
1.5686 × 10¹⁷ m	16.58 light-years	Distance between Sol and 70 Ophiuchi
1.6083 × 10¹⁷ m	17 light-years	Distance between Sol and Altair Forbidden Planet
1.7757 × 10¹⁷ m	18.77 light-years	Distance between Sol and Sigma Draconis
1.8647 × 10¹⁷ m	19.71 light-years	Distance between Sol and 82 Eridani
1.8845 × 10¹⁷ m	19.92 light-years	Distance between Sol and Delta Pavonis
1.8921 × 10¹⁷ m	20.00 light-years	Distance between Sol and Scholz's star
2.3017 × 10¹⁷ m	24.33 light-years	Distance between Sol and Beta Hydri
2.3689 × 10¹⁷ m	25.04 light-years	Distance between Sol and Vega
2.9422 × 10¹⁷ m	31.1 light-years	Distance between Sol and 61 Ursae Majoris Kzinti Homeworld
3.0857 × 10¹⁷ m	1 decaparsec (dapc)	10 parsecs 32.6 light-years
3.7047 × 10¹⁷ m	39.24 light-years	Distance between Sol and Zeta Reticuli binary system
5.2765 × 10¹⁷ m	55.7 light-years	Max distance where Sol is naked-eye visible (apparent magnitude of 6.0)
6.0547 × 10¹⁷ m	64 light-years	Distance between Sol and Gliese 710
6.1493 × 10¹⁷ m	65 light-years	Distance between Sol and Aldebaran
8.7983 × 10¹⁷ m	93 light-years	Distance between Sol and Algol
9.4605 × 10¹⁷ m	1 light-century	100 light-years 30.67 parsecs
1.4191 × 10¹⁸ m	150 light-years	Distance between Sol and IK Pegasi Nearest known supernova candidate
1.4285 × 10¹⁸ m	151 light-years	Distance between Sol and Nu Ophiuchi Tékumel
1.4475 × 10¹⁸ m	153 light-years	Distance between Sol and Hyades star cluster
1.7218 × 10¹⁸ m	182 light-years	Distance between Sol and Alpha Sagittarii Pern
1.7984 × 10¹⁸ m	190.1 light-years	Distance between Sol and HD 140283
2.3651 × 10¹⁸ m	250 light-years	Distance between Sol and Spica
2.5673 × 10¹⁸ m	271 light-years	Maximum distance where Sirus is naked-eye visible (apparent magnitude 6.0)
2.9328 × 10¹⁸ m	310 light-years	Distance between Sol and Canopus Dune
3.0857 × 10¹⁸ m	1 hectoparsec (hpc)	100 parsecs 326 light-years
4.2005 × 10¹⁸ m	444 light-years	Distance between Sol and Pleiades star cluster
4.6356 × 10¹⁸ m	490 light-years	Widest diameter of Local Bubble
5.2033 × 10¹⁸ m	550 light-years	Distance between Sol and Antares
5.6763 × 10¹⁸ m	600 light-years	Distance between Sol and Coalsack Nebula
9.0821 × 10¹⁸ m	960 light-years	Distance between Sol and Beta Lyrae spiral
9.4605 × 10¹⁸ m	1 light-millennium	1,000 light-years 306.7 parsecs
1.2714 × 10¹⁹ m	1,344 light-years	Distance between Sol and Orion Nebula
2.1759 × 10¹⁹ m	2,300 light-years	Distance between Sol and WR 104 pre-supernova Distance between Sol and the Ring Nebula in Lyra
2.4730 × 10¹⁹ m	2,600 light-years	Distance between Sol and Deneb
3.0857 × 10¹⁹ m	1 kiloparsec (kpc)	1,000 parsecs 3,260 light-years
1.4948 × 10²⁰ m	15,800 light-years	Distance between Sol and Omega Centauri cluster
2.1002 × 10²⁰ m	22,200 light-years	Distance between Sol and Hercules Globular Cluster
2.5543 × 10²⁰ m	27,000 light-years	Distance between Sol and Galactic Center
9.4605 × 10²⁰ m	100,000 light-years	Diameter of Milky Way galaxy
1.5988 × 10²¹ m	169,000 light-years	Distance between Sol and S Doradus
2.4010 × 10²² m	2,538,000 light-years	Distance between Sol and Andromeda Galaxy
3.0857 × 10²² m	1 megaparsec (Mpc)	1,000,000 parsecs 3,260,000 light-years
1.8921 × 10²⁴ m	200 million light-years	Approximate distance to the Great Attractor
4.4464 × 10²⁶ m	47 billion light-years	Edge of Observable Universe

Mass Table

Representative masses of various items.

Mass
Mass	Item	Notes
2.3×10^-5 kg	Average housefly
68 kg	Average person
79 kg	Orion Pulse Unit	USAF 10 meter Orion, 2.0 × 10⁶ N
141 kg	Orion Pulse Unit	NASA 10 meter Orion, 3.0 × 10⁶ N
450 kg	Orion Pulse Unit	20 meter Orion, 1.4 × 10⁷ N
800 kg	GPS satellite
1,000 kg	Communication satellite
1,000 kg	Weather satellite
1,152 kg	Orion Pulse Unit	4000 ton Orion, 8.8 × 10⁷ N
3,693 kg	Polaris TransHab habitat module	scaled to 1 crew, 18 months endurance
5,700 kg	Standard TransHab habitat module	scaled to 1 crew, 18 months endurance
11,000 kg	Hubble Space Telescope
13,000 kg	KH-11 spy satellite
22,156 kg	Polaris TransHab habitat module	6 crew, 18 months endurance
24,000 kg	Standard cargo container	Modern-day international shipping. 2,200 kg of container and up to 21,800 kg of cargo
30,500 kg	Extra large cargo container	Modern-day international shipping. 3,800 kg of container and up to 26,700 kg of cargo
34,000 kg	Standard TransHab habitat module	6 crew, 18 months endurance
77,000 kg	Skylab
1.24 × 10⁵ kg	Space Station Mir
2.87 × 10⁵ kg	International Space Station
3.78 × 10⁵ kg	Polaris
1.9 × 10⁶ kg	Solar Power Satellite	1 gW
2.75 × 10⁶ kg	Lunar Mass Driver
1.39 × 10⁷ kg	Russian Oscar-II submarine
1.7 × 10⁷ kg	Lunar Base (150 crew)
1.9 × 10⁷ kg	Solar Power Satellite	10 gW
3.7 × 10⁷ kg	Solar Power Satellite	5 gW (Rockwell International estimate)
1.45 × 10⁸ kg	Station V	from 2001 Space Odyssey
1.9 × 10⁹ kg	Solar Power Satellite	1 tW
2.8 × 10⁹ kg	Solar Power Satellite	1.5 tW
1.0 × 10¹⁰ kg	L5 Colony
6.0 × 10¹⁵ kg	Approximate mass of Mount Everest
9.47 × 10²⁰ kg	Asteroid Ceres

Velocity Table

Alpha
Velocity	Item	Notes
0.008 m/s	Snail
3.25 m/s	Urinary flow velocity in little boys
8.9 m/s (20 mph)	Greater Roadrunner
19.2 m/s (43 mph)	Coyote
24.6 m/s (55 mph)	Speed Limit	for automobiles in the United States
33.5 m/s (75 mph)	Cheetah
47.0 m/s (105.1 mph)	Baseball	Cincinnati Reds left-handed relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman, September 25, 2010
260 m/s	.45 ACP	Colt M1911 slugthrower bullet
<273 m/s (<Mach 0.8)	Subsonic
273 to 409 m/s (Mach 0.8-1.2)	Transonic
320 m/s	.38 Special	slugthrower bullet
340 m/s	.22 Short	slugthrower bullet
341 m/s (760 mph)	Land Speed Record	October 15, 1997
343 m/s	Mach 1	Speed of sound
350 m/s	9 mm	Luger Parabellum slugthrower bullet
380 m/s	13 mm Std	Gyrojet round
410 to 1,702 m/s (Mach 1.2-5.0)	Supersonic
430 m/s	.357 Magnum	slugthrower bullet
450 m/s	13 mm Std Lng	Gyrojet round
450 m/s	.44 Magnum	AutoMag slugthrower bullet (almost a rifle bullet)
700 m/s	13 mm Hi Vel	Gyrojet round
1,000 m/s	Kuiper Collision	Mean collision speeds in the Kuiper belt (30 to 50 AU)
1,702 to 3,403 m/s (Mach 5.0-10.0)	Hypersonic
2,305 m/s (Mach 6.72)	NASA X-43
3,293 m/s (Mach 9.6)	NASA X-15
3,403 to 8,508 m/s (Mach 10.0-25.0)	High hypersonic	NASA X-43
5,000 m/s	Asteroid Collision	Mean collision speeds in the asteroid belt (1.78 to 3.5 AU)
5,748 m/s	Terra-Mars ΔV	ΔV required for Hohmann transfer from Terra orbit to Mars orbit
>8,508 m/s (>Mach 25.0)	Re-entry speeds
11,186 m/s	Terra escape velocity	relative to Terra's gravity
100,000 m/s	Runaway Star	Not fast enough to escape gravitational pull of the galaxy
492,000 to 594,000 m/s	Milky Way escape velocity	Escape from postion at solar system's galactic radius, relative to the Milky Way's gravity
1,000,000 m/s	Hypervelocity Star	Fast enough to escape gravitational pull of the galaxy
299,792,458 m/s	c	Speed of light in a vacuum. Ultimate speed limit according to Special Relativity Laser beam Escape velocity at a black hole's event horizon

Alpha (power-to-weight) Table

"Alpha" (α) is "kilograms per kilowatt" (kg/kW). Multiply by required kilowattage to find the total mass. For instance, a fuel cell that generates 15 kilowatts will have a mass of 9.8 × 15 = 147 kg.

kg/Wh is kilogram per watt-hour of electrical power stored
kg/kW_e is kilogram per kilowatt of electrical power generated
kg/kW_th is kilogram per kilowatt of (thermal) waste heat radiated away
kg/p is kilogram per person
kg/pd is kilogram per person-day
kg/Mt is kilogram per megaton of nuclear exlosion

Alpha
Alpha	Item	Notes
0.01 kg/Wh	Battery	Lithium-Ion rechargables
0.029 kg/Wh	Battery	Nickle-Cadmium and Nickle-Hydrogen rechargables
2.3 kg/pd	Food	One day's worth of food for one person
0.033 kg/Wh	Flywheel	NASA prototype
3.7×10^-4 kg/Wh	Flywheel	Theoretical maximum
9.8 kg/kW_e	Fuel cell
4,606 kg/p	Habitat Module	TransHab mass per person. not including food but including air and water
16.3 kg/kW_th	Heat radiator	Life support type (low temperature)
96 kg/p	Heat radiator	TransHab mass per person. Life support (low temperature)
934 kg/p	Life Support	TransHab mass per person. Air and water supply, plus air and water recycling. Environmental heat radiator.
0.493 kg/kW_e	Nuclear Reactor	Los Alamos heat pipe reactor
18 kg/kW_e	Nuclear reactor	Current state-of-the-art
500 kg/Mt	Nuclear Warhead	US W87 thermonuclear warhead
100 kg/kW_e	RTG	Possible next generation
200 kg/kW_e	RTG	Current state-of-the-art
10 kg/kW_e	Solar Cell Array	generated at Terra Orbit Flexible deployable array
16 kg/kW_e	Solar Cell Array	generated at Terra Orbit Rigid body mounted array

Rho (density) Table

"Rho" (ρ) is density or "kilograms per cubic meter" (kg/m³). Multiply it by the volume to find the total mass.

Rho
Rho	Item	Notes
0.16 kg/m³	Aerographene	in vacuum
0.18 kg/m³	Aerographite	in vacuum
1 kg/m³	Silica aerogel	in vacuum
1.2 kg/m³	Terra's atmosphere	at 20 °C and 1 atm of pressure
1.9 kg/m³	Silica aerogel	in Terra's atmosphere
11 kg/m³	Space Shuttle External Tank	when full of vacuum, no fuel
70.85 kg/m³	Liquid Hydrogen
74 kg/m³	Space Station	Average for International Space Station
85 kg/m³	Inflatable Habitat	Bigelow Expandable Activity Module
88 kg/m³	Space Shuttle Orbiter
135 kg/m³	Space Station	Destiny lab at the International Space Station
175 kg/m³	Space Station	Mir
194 kg/m³	Space Station	Tranquility module at the International Space Station
206 kg/m³	Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster
250 kg/m³	Warship	Spacecraft from Attack Vector: Tactical
280 kg/m³	Jet Airliner
350 kg/m³	Fighter Aircraft
350 kg/m³	Average Cargo	Modern day international shipping
600 kg/m³	Warship	Wet Navy
681.9 kg/m³	Liquid Ammonia (NH₃)
700 kg/m³	Battleship	World War 2 wet navy
807 kg/m³	Liquid Nitrogen
900 kg/m³	Submarine	Wet Navy Has to be less dense than water
917 kg/m³	Ice (H₂O)
1,000 kg/m³	Water (H₂O)
1,141 kg/m³	Liquid Oxygen (LOX)
1,380 kg/m³	C class asteroid	Carbonaceous asteroids, including Tholen classes C, D, P, T, B, G, and F
1,738 kg/m³	Magnesium
2,000 kg/m³	Asteroid	An "average" asteroid
2,267 kg/m³	Graphite
2,700 kg/m³	Aluminum
2,710 kg/m³	S class asteroid	Stony asteroids, including Tholen classes S, K, Q, V, R, A, and E
3,515 kg/m³	Diamond
4,506 kg/m³	Titanium
5,320 kg/m³	M class asteroid	Metallic asteroids
11,340 kg/m³	Lead
11,340 kg/m³	Lead
19,100 kg/m³	Uranium
19,300 kg/m³	Gold
19,816 kg/m³	Plutonium
1 × 10⁹ kg/m³	Dwarf Star Matter	Electron-degenerate matter
4 × 10¹⁷ kg/m³	Neutronium	Neutron-degenerate matter

Surface Area Table

Surface Area
Area	Item	Notes
0.445 m²	Male cross section	Approximate radiation cross section of a male with surface area of 1.78 m² (1/4 surface area)
1.78 m²	Male skin	Skin surface area of male 68 kg in mass and 168 centimeters tall
232 m²	Helipad	standard 50' x 50'
250 m²	Oscar Submarine	Nose-on cross-section surface area of a Russian Oscar-II Submarine (154 meters long x beam of 18 meters)
1,510 m²	Oscar Submarine	Average cross-section surface area of a Russian Oscar-II Submarine
2,770 m²	Oscar Submarine	Broadside cross-section surface area of a Russian Oscar-II Submarine (154 meters long x beam of 18 meters)
1.6×10⁵ m²	Stanford torus	Habitable area
5.0×10⁵ m²	Deimos
1.6×10⁶ m²	Phobos
8.7×10⁷ m²	Manhattan island	Cities in Flight
3.3×10⁸ m²	O'Neill cylinder	Habitable area
7.9×10⁸ m²	New York City
3.0×10⁹ m²	Bishop Ring	Habitable area Approximately the size of Argentina or India.
3.2×10⁹ m²	Alpha Halo	Habitable area
8.67×10¹¹ m²	Vesta	(0.002 Terra)
2.77×10¹² m²	Ceres	(0.005 Terra)
3.96×10¹² m²	Dione	Saturn IV (0.008 Terra)
4.21×10¹² m²	Ariel	Uranus I (0.008 Terra)
4.3×10¹² m²	Umbriel	Uranus II (0.008 Terra)
4.58×10¹² m²	Charon	Pluto I (0.009 Terra)
6.7×10¹² m²	Iapetus	Saturn VIII (0.013 Terra)
6.8×10¹² m²	Haumea	(0.013 Terra)
6.9×10¹² m²	Makemake	(0.014 Terra)
7.29×10¹² m²	Oberon	Uranus IV (0.014 Terra)
7.82×10¹² m²	Titania	Uranus III (0.015 Terra)
1.7×10¹³ m²	Eris	(0.033 Terra)
2.3×10¹³ m²	Triton	Neptune I (0.045 Terra)
3.1×10¹³ m²	Europa	Jupiter II (0.061 Terra)
3.8×10¹³ m²	Luna	Terra I (0.074 Terra)
4.2×10¹³ m²	Io	Jupiter I (0.082 Terra)
7.3×10¹³ m²	Callisto	Jupiter IV (0.143 Terra)
7.5×10¹³ m²	Mercury	(0.147 Terra)
8.3×10¹³ m²	Titan	Saturn VIII (0.163 Terra)
8.7×10¹³ m²	Ganymede	Jupiter III (0.171 Terra)
1.45×10¹⁴ m²	Mars	(0.284 Terra)
4.6×10¹⁴ m²	Venus	(0.902 Terra)
1.49×10¹⁴ m²	Terra (land)	29.2% of total surface area
3.61×10¹⁴ m²	Terra (ocean)	70.8% of total surface area
5.1×10¹⁴ m²	Terra (total)	100% of total surface area
3.6×10¹³ m²	Culture Orbital	Approximately 70 times surface area of Terra. Orbital sizes vary from 20 to 120 Terra surface area.
1.6×10¹⁸ m²	Niven Ringworld	Approximately 3 million times the surface area of Terra Approximate surface area of interstellar empire with 3 million planets
2.8×10²⁰ m²	Dyson Shell	Approximately 550 million times the surface area of Terra Approximate surface area of interstellar empire with 550 million planets

Volume Table

Volume
Volume	Item	Notes
4×10^-5 m³	shot glass	Average US shot glass capacity. As in "gimmie a shot of whiskey." 44 milliliters
0.00075 m³	A metric fifth of whiskey	metric version of a fifth. 750 milliliters
0.000757 m³	A fifth of whiskey	one fifth of a US liquid gallon, a unit of volume formerly used for wine and distilled beverages in the United States. 757 milliliters, approximately 17 shots
0.0664 m³	Average human body	data based on sample of 521 people, age range 17-51 years
0.88 m³	Person envelope	Approximate Dimension Required to Accommodate the Body Motion Envelope of the 95th Percentile American Male 71 cm wide × 72 cm long × 172 cm high
2.7 m³	Capsule Hotel	Internal volume of unit of Japanese Capsule Hotel 2.04m long × 1.158m wide × 1.138m tall
13.5 m³	1 dton	1 Displacement Ton from the Traveller RPG. 1.5m wide × 3m long × 3m tall Volume of 1 metric ton of liquid hydrogen
17 m³	Habitat module vol/crew	Minimum habitat volume per crew member mission of 6 months or more
33 m³	Standard cargo container	Modern-day international shipping. Maximum mass of 24 metric tons (2.2 tons of container and up to 21.8 tons of cargo)
40 m³	Standard TransHab habitat module	scaled to 1 crew, 18 months endurance
67.5 m³	Extra large cargo container	Modern-day international shipping. Maximum mass of 30.5 metric tons (3.8 tons of container and up to 26.7 tons of cargo)
74.3 m³	Space Shuttle	pressurized volume
240.91 m³	Standard TransHab habitat module	6 crew, 18 months endurance
260 m³	Space Shuttle	cargo bay volume
504 m³	Polaris
553 m³	Space Shuttle External Tank	liquid oxygen tankage
931.57 m³	International Space Station	pressurized volume
1,160 m³	Space Shuttle Payload Bay	24,400 kg to LEO
1,497 m³	Space Shuttle External Tank	liquid hydrogen tankage
15,400 m³	Russian Oscar-II submarine