An Ant's Everest Exploration

What shall we call ourselves?
“Man is the measure of all things.”
—Protagoras the Sophist—

Are we truly the measure of all things, as he claimed?

Here, we have captured what can be seen between one meter above the ground and a space one billion light years away. Let us humbly reflect on the size of the “we” we speak of now, and on what the existence of “we” truly means.

Just as an ant takes a step to climb Mount Everest, let us too set off into the vast universe with the small power of science.
  

A man lies on his side with eyes closed on a striped blanket bathed in sunlight. He wears a white shirt and light beige pants, with one hand resting on his chest and the other loosely holding a magazine. Surrounding him are items like fruit, bread, a wine glass, a plate of flowers, a lunchbox, and a science magazine, evoking a peaceful, sunlit picnic scene where he appears to have drifted into a quiet nap.

1 m

A space of size that humans can see, touch, and feel. A man lies asleep on a warm October day. Around him are the things that feed body and soul, and give joy. What he can see, touch, and feel…


A view from 10 meters above the ground shows a striped picnic blanket spread across a wide green lawn. A man lies relaxed on the blanket, while his wife, beside his right leg, is stretched out reading a book. Picnic items and food are neatly arranged around them, capturing a peaceful and sunlit moment of leisure.

10 m

His beloved wife is reading a magazine beside him, and the two of them are now at the very center of this unimaginable ascent into space.



An aerial view from 100 meters above ground reveals an urban landscape. At the center of a vast green field, two people having a picnic appear as a tiny dot. To the left, a multi-lane road with moving cars; to the right, a marina lined with docked yachts. The scene highlights the smallness of human presence within the vastness of nature and the city.

100 m

Roads and a wharf come into view. To own even this much land would be considered success. Which city could this place be a part of?



A view from 1 kilometer above the ground reveals central Chicago. At the center is a grassy area and a marina filled with docked yachts. To the left stands Soldiers' Field, a large football stadium, with a museum building just above it. On the right, parking lots and roads stretch along the lakeshore, while cars move steadily along Lake Shore Drive. The image clearly displays the city's layout and the balance between urban design and natural elements.

1 km

We can now see Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive, Soldiers’ Field, and its museums.



A view from 10 kilometers above ground reveals the full expanse of Chicago, nestled at the edge of Lake Michigan. The city grid appears tightly woven, with downtown structures, port facilities, and road networks clearly visible. This area encompasses a population of about one million people, illustrating a stark contrast between dense urban life and the vast surrounding waters from a broad aerial perspective.

10 km

The heart of Chicago at the edge of Lake Michigan. From this height, we can see the area in which about a million people live.



From 100 kilometers above the ground, Chicago and its surrounding areas are visible in a wide satellite view. Lake Michigan dominates the right side of the image, while the city and suburban sprawl extend across the left in a grid-like network. The details of urban life blur into clusters of lines and dots, and the contrast between vast water and land becomes more pronounced—marking the diminishing scale of human presence.

100 km

Chicago, where square roads intersect in orderly patterns. Someone might be looking up from the lakeshore and exclaiming how clear the sky is.



From 1,000 kilometers above Earth, the central region of North America is visible. Lake Michigan dominates the center with its dark blue form, and the city of Chicago appears as a mere dot near its southwestern tip. Parts of the Great Lakes, vast forests, and scattered clouds stretch across the image, while human presence fades to near invisibility. At this height, Earth’s curvature and atmospheric texture begin to subtly emerge.

1,000 km

The grandeur of the great lake is revealed. Lake Michigan covers an area of 58,020 km² and is one of North America’s five Great Lakes. The others are Lake Superior (82,360 km²), Lake Huron (59,570 km²), Lake Erie (26,720 km²), and Lake Ontario (19,680 km²). Considering that the total area of Korea is about 221,000 km² (South: ~99,000 + North: ~122,000), we can grasp just how vast these lakes are.



From 10,000 kilometers above the Earth, the North American continent is visible beneath swirling bands of clouds. Vast weather systems dominate the atmosphere, while land and ocean blend into the living surface of the planet. All traces of human activity, including Chicago, have vanished from view—Earth now appears as a single, breathing organism. The round, blue planet gently floats in the darkness of space, radiant with life.

10,000 km

Blue sky and massive clouds. Outlines of North and South America, the Pacific, and the Atlantic become visible. It took 300 years to make maps like this, and it was only in 1967—just 38 years ago—that we could see actual images of the continents.



From 100,000 kilometers above, Earth appears as a small, pearl-like sphere at the center of the frame, its surface adorned with swirling patterns of clouds. Surrounding it is the vast, silent darkness of space, speckled with countless stars. At this scale, not even continents are visible—Earth is simply a solitary, shining dot among the infinite stars, a quiet reminder of the fragility and wonder of life in the cosmos.

100,000 km

The Earth, now small and frail-looking. The square that once held part of a man’s body now holds the entire Earth.



From 1,000,000 kilometers above, the vast emptiness of space surrounds a tiny dot at the center—Earth. A faint elliptical line encircles it, representing the orbit of the Moon. The background is filled with countless stars, revealing the immense distance and scale between celestial bodies. Earth no longer appears central or dominant, but rather as one among countless points in the infinite cosmos.

1,000,000 (1 M) km

The Earth is no longer distinguishable; instead, the Moon’s orbit becomes visible.



From 10 million kilometers above, deep space unfolds as a dark expanse speckled with countless stars. A bright green diagonal band crosses the frame, representing Earth’s orbital path around the Sun. Near the center, a faint elliptical orbit is outlined, barely containing a tiny dot that once was Earth. At this distance, planetary motion takes precedence over human presence, which has diminished into near invisibility within the cosmic scale.

10⁷ (10 M) km

Earth, the Moon, and the Moon’s orbit all fit within this square. The green line marks Earth’s orbit.



From 100 million kilometers above, a portion of the solar system is visible. Against the dark backdrop of space, three curved orbital paths sweep across the frame. The green arc represents Earth’s orbit, while orange arcs signify the orbits of neighboring planets such as Venus and Mars. Stars fill the background like scattered dust, and even planets are now reduced to invisible points—emphasizing the vastness of cosmic distance.

10⁸ (100 M) km

Neither the Earth nor the Moon’s orbit is visible. Parts of the orbits of Venus, Earth, and Mars can be seen. Earth seems to exist in a space representing a 6-week period between September and October.



From 1 billion kilometers above, the solar system unfolds into view. At the center, the Sun appears as a small point of light, encircled by multiple elliptical paths representing the orbits of the inner planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Near the edge of the frame, a yellow arc partially traces the orbit of Jupiter, hinting at the system's outer reaches. Against a star-filled backdrop, the orderly structure of the solar system is clearly visible on a cosmic scale.

10⁹ (1 B) km

We can now see Sun and the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and part of Jupiter’s orbit. We are now 1 billion kilometers above Earth’s surface.



From 10 billion kilometers above, a full view of the solar system reveals itself. At the center, the Sun glows faintly as a tiny dot, surrounded by multiple elliptical orbits representing the paths of planets from Mercury through Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. At the edge, Pluto’s elongated and tilted orbit appears faintly arcing outward. Set against a densely speckled backdrop of stars, the solar system is no longer a dominating presence, but one of countless quiet patterns in the vast fabric of space.

10¹⁰ (10 B) km

From here, most of the planetary orbits in the solar system are visible. Even the massive Sun appears faint. We are now rising beyond imagination—faster than the speed of light.



From 100 billion kilometers above, the solar system appears as a tiny structure in the vastness of space. At the center, a faint dot represents the Sun, surrounded by a delicate web of elliptical orbits—extending out to Pluto. The orbits encircle an almost invisible core, and countless stars fill the surrounding darkness. At this distance, the solar system is no longer central or grand, but a subtle trace within the Milky Way's immensity.

10¹¹ (100 B) km

We’ve left the solar system. Looking back from even farther than its full span. The recently discovered tenth planet (Hankyeoreh, August 1, 2005) is also here. Jupiter, Saturn—even the Sun itself—are indistinguishable without the aid of orbit lines and squares.



From 1 trillion (10¹²) kilometers above, the solar system appears as a minuscule cluster of fine elliptical lines at the center of the frame, with the Sun barely discernible. The entire structure is compressed into a speck, surrounded by a dense field of stars. At this scale, the solar system is no longer distinct—it becomes just one of countless star systems, and all traces of human existence have vanished into cosmic silence.

10¹² (1 T) km

The solar system is no longer distinguishable from the stars. We are in a sea of stars.



From a distance of 10 trillion kilometers—approximately 1 light-year—space becomes an expansive field of stars. At the center of the image, a single bright dot glows quietly: the Sun. The solar system itself is no longer visible. Surrounded by countless other stars scattered across the frame, the Sun appears indistinguishable—just one among many. At this distance, our home star humbly takes its place in the vast stellar landscape.

10¹³ (10 T) km = 1 Light-year

A unit unfamiliar in daily life.
9.46 trillion kilometers equals 1 light-year, but for convenience, let's assume 10 trillion kilometers as 1 light-year.



10¹⁴(100 T) km = 10 Light-years

We're not talking about something graceful or poetic here—just pure numbers. One hundred trillion kilometers, to be precise. That’s the kind of scale we’re dealing with. And so, we call it 10 light-years—the distance light travels in ten years.

*From here, we switch to light-years, as kilometers can no longer express such distances.


100 Light-years

If you flew for 100 years, where would you be? The answer: still within Earth’s skies. We cannot escape the atmosphere. But here, we are in a place reached after 100 years of travel at the speed of light—amid a sea of stars. Somewhere in that square is our mighty Sun. Without the Sun, we—and the Earth—would be a dead world. That is how great the Sun is.


1,000 Light-years

If we’re seeing these stars from Earth, we are seeing them as they were 1,000 years ago. Imagine it: some stars may no longer exist, and others may have been born.


10,000 Light-years

Rather than a sea of stars, it is now a cloud of stars. Twinkling cosmic gas. The spiral shape of a galaxy begins to emerge. We are beyond imagination.


100,000 Light-years

How long since mammals first appeared? There was no civilization ten thousand years  ago, nor even one hundred thousand. The Milky Way, with over 100 billion stars. Our supposedly great Sun lies on the outskirts—so far we can’t even see it.


1,000,000 (1 M) Light-years

It’s not just the solar system that’s faint—the entire galaxy is now a blur. We dare not speak of distance.


10,000,000 (10 M) Light-years

A place reached only by traveling ten million years at the speed of light. Don’t you want to go? Touch those stars, galaxies, gas, and dust?


10⁸ (100 M) Light-years

Other clusters appear—like the Virgo Cluster. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, belongs to this vast cluster. It is our home—not just for humans, but for all life on Earth, all matter, the Moon, the planets of the solar system, countless stars, asteroids, gas, and dust. Here, “we” is a concept far grander than what humans normally use.
Even the clusters appear faint now. What words are needed? Within that tiny square is the man, the American continent, the Earth, the solar system, our galaxy, and even the other clusters.



Thanks to advances in science, humanity has gained sharper cosmic vision. Here is the view of the universe as seen from within one billion light-years of Earth. But where is Earth in all of this?

Are we the measure of all things?

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