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Well, they had to name it something...


Basil

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Re: Well, they had to name it something...

 

Any idea how far away it is?

 

I suddenly have the urge to place a Star Hero scenario there.

 

If I've done the cross-ID right' date=' it's about 150 pc away, and this could be called the Muscae 1 dark cloud. The cloud is probably 6 or 7 parsecs long.[/quote']Could someone please translate that into light-years for this scientific layman?
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Re: Well, they had to name it something...

 

If I've done the cross-ID right, it's about 150 pc away, and this could be called the Muscae 1 dark cloud. The cloud is probably 6 or 7 parsecs long.

 

Could someone please translate that into light-years for this scientific layman?

 

489 light years away.

From 19.6 to 22.8 light years long.

 

Here's what you do:

Go to Google. Type in "6 parsecs in light years" and hit return. Google will return the answer. Google can do this with all sorts of different measures.

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Re: Well, they had to name it something...

 

If the capacity to do non-computer-based calculation isn't dead yet' date=' it's definitely on life support. :rolleyes:[/quote']

Oh, it is everywhere. On the introduction page to my Atomic Rocket site, I did get irate enough to post a snarky comment to the effect that if all the equations confuse the reader, they can look at the pretty pictures.

 

On the other hand, have you ever read Isaac Asimov's short story "The Feeling of Power" ?

 

The Google calculator has the advantage that is already knows all the conversion constants, so you don't have to look them up.

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Re: Well, they had to name it something...

 

Oh, it is everywhere. On the introduction page to my Atomic Rocket site, I did get irate enough to post a snarky comment to the effect that if all the equations confuse the reader, they can look at the pretty pictures.

 

On the other hand, have you ever read Isaac Asimov's short story "The Feeling of Power" ?

 

The Google calculator has the advantage that is already knows all the conversion constants, so you don't have to look them up.

 

I did indeed read The Feeling of Power many years ago, and it left a great impression on me. I'd forgotten Asimov was the writer, though. Thanks for that -- I'll have to go look it up now.

 

Maybe you also know the source of this quotation, which has aggravatingly eluded me: "Knowledge is not power. Knowledge which other people don't have is power." :sneaky:

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