Comments on: Multiverses http://whatever.scalzi.com/2008/04/03/multiverses/ I FORGET WHAT EIGHT WAS FOR Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:43:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Mike http://whatever.scalzi.com/2008/04/03/multiverses/#comment-23028 Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:16:09 +0000 http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=583#comment-23028 Christopher @14: Since William Herschel, discoverer of Uranus was Hanoverian, may have pronounced it exactly that way. Of course he did really want to call it “George”.

]]> By: Tripp http://whatever.scalzi.com/2008/04/03/multiverses/#comment-23025 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:36:54 +0000 http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=583#comment-23025 Blaine and Alison,

Thanks for the chuckles. Nerd that I am I love me some childish astronomical humor.

]]> By: Mike http://whatever.scalzi.com/2008/04/03/multiverses/#comment-23027 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:38:02 +0000 http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=583#comment-23027 I’m sure John’s squid verses are even more entertaining.

]]> By: John Lenahan http://whatever.scalzi.com/2008/04/03/multiverses/#comment-23026 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:05:40 +0000 http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=583#comment-23026 The god of book covers seems to like you.

]]> By: John Mark Ockerbloom http://whatever.scalzi.com/2008/04/03/multiverses/#comment-23024 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:35:08 +0000 http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=583#comment-23024 Oops– misread one figure. Neptune would be about 700m away, not 280m. It’d still fit in my neighborhood, but be a bit more spread out. Still, much easier to walk there than to Krakow.

]]> By: John Mark Ockerbloom http://whatever.scalzi.com/2008/04/03/multiverses/#comment-23023 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:28:59 +0000 http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=583#comment-23023 @23: True, any Earth-based multi-star model that’s to scale will involve both very large distances and very small planets. (According to http://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html
having the earth be the size of a peppercorn — 2 mm across– makes the sun the size of a soccer ball about 25m away, Neptune about 280m away, and Alpha Centauri over 6000km away.)

If I centered this model at my home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I could fit all 8 major planets in my neighborhood, with the inner planets all in short-distance line of sight, and the longest human space flight to date, to the Moon, involving a trip of less than 10 cm. Meanwhile, the nearest star would be out somewhere near Krakow, Poland.

It does give one some appreciation for the immenseness of interstellar space.

]]> By: The Pathetic Earthling http://whatever.scalzi.com/2008/04/03/multiverses/#comment-23022 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:09:59 +0000 http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=583#comment-23022 @15: The 2 billion to 1 solar system model in Sonoma County, CA is very cool, but it puts Alpha Centauri – at that scale – in Madagascar.

]]> By: Alison B. http://whatever.scalzi.com/2008/04/03/multiverses/#comment-23000 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:01:13 +0000 http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=583#comment-23000 Is that a universe in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?

See, no jokes about Uranus!

]]> By: MWT http://whatever.scalzi.com/2008/04/03/multiverses/#comment-23002 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:13:44 +0000 http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=583#comment-23002 I usually go with “OOO-roo-nose.” No idea where I got that from though.

]]> By: Blaine http://whatever.scalzi.com/2008/04/03/multiverses/#comment-23001 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 22:48:11 +0000 http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=583#comment-23001 John, get with the program already; astronomers renamed Uranus in 2620 to end that stupid joke forever.

Long Live Urectum!

tehehetehe

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