by neufer » Fri May 14, 2010 3:48 pm
Chris Peterson wrote:johnhami wrote:By the way, why do you guys refer to a target in light years as a "mere" 100-2000 or so from us? We would never see that firsthand at these distances. Travel of just one light year is pure science fiction
Things within a few thousand light years are in our corner of the galaxy. These are typically things we can see with the naked eye, or with very modest equipment. In a universe with edges that are tens of billions of light years away, "mere" isn't a bad way to talk about a few thousand.
- _______ Finnegans Wake
[page 583.12] And the twillingsons, ganymede, garrymore, turn in trot and trot. But old pairaMERE goes it a gallop, a gallop.
[page 627.5] Just a whisk brisk sly spry spink spank sprint of a thing theresoMERE, saultering.
[page 628.16] O bitter ending! I'll slip away before they're up. They'll never see. Nor know. Nor miss me. And it's old and old it's sad and old it's sad and weary I go back to you, my cold father, my cold mad father, my cold mad feary father, till the near sight of the MERE size of him, the moyles and moyles of it, moananoaning, makes me seasilt saltsick and I rush, my only, into your arms
[quote="Chris Peterson"][quote="johnhami"]By the way, why do you guys refer to a target in light years as a "mere" 100-2000 or so from us? We would never see that firsthand at these distances. Travel of just one light year is pure science fiction[/quote]
Things within a few thousand light years are in our corner of the galaxy. These are typically things we can see with the naked eye, or with very modest equipment. In a universe with edges that are tens of billions of light years away, "mere" isn't a bad way to talk about a few thousand.[/quote]
[list][size=150]_______ Finnegans Wake[/size]
[page 583.12] And the twillingsons, ganymede, garrymore, turn in trot and trot. But old paira[color=#0000FF][b]MERE[/b][/color] goes it a gallop, a gallop.
[page 627.5] Just a whisk brisk sly spry spink spank sprint of a thing thereso[color=#0000FF][b]MERE[/b][/color], saultering.
[page 628.16] O bitter ending! I'll slip away before they're up. They'll never see. Nor know. Nor miss me. And it's old and old it's sad and old it's sad and weary I go back to you, my cold father, my cold mad father, my cold mad feary father, till the near sight of the [color=#0000FF][b]MERE[/b][/color] size of him, the moyles and moyles of it, moananoaning, makes me seasilt saltsick and I rush, my only, into your arms[/list]