The Scale of the Planets and the Universe

I've often wondered - and written - about how big the planets are or how far apart they are from each other, or from other stars in the night sky and how big they must be shine ...

I can easily find out the technical terms of how many light years and how many KM across, but that doesn't mean anything to me. I mean, what can I compare 45 light years away to? How can I put it into perspective in human terms?
If you compare it to a football field, or the distance from your house to end of the block, maybe then you can get a sense of scale.


So here I am trying to fit the grandness of the universe in terms I can understand.

I tried to put that in perspective of something recognizable - something I can relate to as a person living on earth which measures 12,756,320 meters wide at the equator...
Below are some interesting comparisons.

Antares is the 16th brightest star in the nighttime sky

Below is a shot of space from the Hubble Telescope showing dozens of galaxies.

Below is a detail of one of the darkest parts of the above picture.


There is also a great talk by a rather funny German Physicist which puts all of this in perspective

Renate Loll on the Quantum Origins of Space and Time