h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Milky Way Galaxy - A27527312
Author: Galaxy Babe - Carpe Diem - RIP Terri - U128652



GB

There's me thinking you were writing about a bar of

Nice, compact yet detailed piece GB. Not even a nitpick.


BMT Scout

Indeed, BMT is correct - a faultless Entry!

as always I find I am learning a little about astronomy each time I read one of your pieces GB.


Lanzababy

Thanks very much Lanzababy and BMT!

A Topic about the Milky Way and Galaxy - What about Mars?

Another article not to be Snicker'd at

The heavens are indeed bountiful, I'm already working on my next astronomy treat

Good oh!

"a thick stream of stars can be seen stretching from horizon to horizon" - I think this is confusing, because people will assume you are talking about things that look like stars. The Milky Way doesn't look anything like stars. It looks like a stream of light. It is only through a telescope that you can see that it is made up of stars.

The way you describe it, there is the central hub, then a spherical halo around that, then coming out of the halo there are the arms, forming the disc. In fact the halo is as big as the disc, so the arms lie within the galactic halo, like a hamburger made from a flat disc of meat (the arms) in a spherical bread bun (the halo).

I think it is confusing to mix light years and kiloparsecs in the same sentence. You should stick to light years, as they are easy to understand. Convert "around three kiloparsecs" to "around 10,000 light years".


You don't need to develop the fictional "warp drive" to leave the solar system - there are many other ways it could be done which are physically possible, although a bit slow.

I don't understand what you mean by >>You don't need to develop the fictional "warp drive" to leave the solar system<<

I wrote:

"Unless, of course, humans have developed warp drive and ventured out into the cosmos!"

I meant, far enough to witness the demise of the Milky Way from outside of it.

I have done some of your other suggestions but haven't time to finish as I have to run my son to his club

Is this <(in the UK))> really necessary? More than 100 countries have a postcode system.

Footnote 5 repeats the word 'which' - Do you think it would read better with the first 'which' changed to 'that'?

Thanks

I've changed "in the UK" to "or zipcode"

Changed the first "which" to "that" in footnote 5

To me, saying 'unless we invent warp drive' is like saying 'unless we discover magic'. They're both impossible by the laws of physics as we know them.

But there are perfectly possible ways of leaving the solar system to avoid the destruction of the earth - as you know, some spaceships have already left the solar system. So it is possible that there will be people around in 6 billion years time to witness the collision of the Milky Way Galaxy and M31, without invoking magic or the warp drive.

On a different topic, it has been speculated that the star Arcturus, a close neighbour of our sun, is actually part of the Galactic Halo rather than the spiral arm of the galaxy. It is travelling very quickly in a completely different direction to all the other stars around us, and is 'just passing'.

The reference to warp drive wasn't necessary for this article so I've removed it.

That's very interesting about Arcturus (that it is actually part of the Galactic Halo rather than the spiral arm of the galaxy), do you think it should be added to A757352?

It probably should.

Are you happy with this now GB?

BMT Scout

I am, yes thanks BMT

hopeful

*wonders at the delay*

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