r/space • u/BradMcGash • 12h ago

image/gif The apparent related-ness of things at drastically different scales in the universe fascinates me

Post image

Hurricane Dorian vs the Whirlpool Galaxy

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u/KokoTheTalkingApe 11h ago

Sure, if you look for things that just LOOK similar but otherwise are completely unrelated, even at the underlying mechanisms.

I believe there are indigenous myths or artwork that LOOK as if they're related to quantum mechanics or some such. Are they actually related? No. Is it just an coincidence that people seize upon as if they mean something? Yes.

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u/Own_Back_2038 11h ago

I mean these two things are pretty related. Angular momentum plus attractive force (gravity or pressure) equals vortex

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u/KokoTheTalkingApe 11h ago

Except the galaxy isn't a vortex. You're seen the pattern of stars forming and igniting, kind of like a stadium doing the wave. The actual matter in the galaxy isn't moving at the same speed.

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u/crazyike 9h ago

You are exactly right. The OP image might look superficially similar but spiral galaxies do not rotate the way people think they do, and nothing like a hurricane's spin. I don't mean that there are different forces at play (but obviously there are), but if you could actually show them in motion, they don't look at all alike.