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dburkhead wrote:
The one's I know are right, pretty much.
It's reasonable.
Spinning 900 miles an hour that's 21,600 miles a day. That sounds right.
The 900 miles an hour would depend on whatever reference latitude you're using. At the equator the circumference of the Earth is about 25,000 miles so it's 1100 MPH. More accurately, that's 24902 miles for 1032 MPH. 900 MPH is what you'd get at a latitude of about 30 degrees.
I said reasonable, not "absolutely correct for this specific latitude but incorrect for that latitude."
dburkhead wrote:
The Galaxy is not called the Milky Way though. The band of stars we see in a dark sky is.
You'll have to tell that to my astronomy instructors then. Seriously, that band of stars we see in a dark sky _is_ what we see of the local galaxy. "Galaxy" is a generic term. The Milky Way, The Andromeda Galaxy, The greater and lesser Magellanic clouds are all galaxies.
I would be happy to reference your instructors to the IAU, which is the governing body tasked with naming astronomical objects. Regardless of what you think, the name of the Galaxy is simply, the Galaxy.
Crossfire: "Thank you! That explains it very nicely, and in a language that someone other than a physicist can understand..."
Denial is not falsification. You can't avoid a fact just because you don't like it.
"Data" is not the plural of "anecdote"
Spinning 900 miles an hour that's 21,600 miles a day. That sounds right.
The 900 miles an hour would depend on whatever reference latitude you're using. At the equator the circumference of the Earth is about 25,000 miles so it's 1100 MPH. More accurately, that's 24902 miles for 1032 MPH. 900 MPH is what you'd get at a latitude of about 30 degrees.
I said reasonable, not "absolutely correct for this specific latitude but incorrect for that latitude."
And I wasn't contradicting that. I was simply providing a bit more information.
dburkhead wrote:
The Galaxy is not called the Milky Way though. The band of stars we see in a dark sky is.
You'll have to tell that to my astronomy instructors then. Seriously, that band of stars we see in a dark sky _is_ what we see of the local galaxy. "Galaxy" is a generic term. The Milky Way, The Andromeda Galaxy, The greater and lesser Magellanic clouds are all galaxies.
I would be happy to reference your instructors to the IAU, which is the governing body tasked with naming astronomical objects. Regardless of what you think, the name of the Galaxy is simply, the Galaxy.
Then I refer you to IAU Commission 46 (October 2005) (First official IAU pub I could find that referenced the Milky Way). Note particularly the line "Milky Way and other Galaxies." "Milky Way" is a member of the set "Galaxies."
If, in one of their own publications, they got it wrong, I'd kind of like to see a reference to that effect.
David L. Burkhead
Mercenary Scientist
Updates Wednesdays
dburkhead wrote:
You'll have to tell that to my astronomy instructors then. Seriously, that band of stars we see in a dark sky _is_ what we see of the local galaxy. "Galaxy" is a generic term. The Milky Way, The Andromeda Galaxy, The greater and lesser Magellanic clouds are all galaxies.
I would be happy to reference your instructors to the IAU, which is the governing body tasked with naming astronomical objects. Regardless of what you think, the name of the Galaxy is simply, the Galaxy.
Then I refer you to IAU Commission 46 (October 2005) (First official IAU pub I could find that referenced the Milky Way). Note particularly the line "Milky Way and other Galaxies." "Milky Way" is a member of the set "Galaxies."
If, in one of their own publications, they got it wrong, I'd kind of like to see a reference to that effect.
Hm. The resource you cite is giving the name of a class. I wouldn't count that as valid.
I went to the IAU and found no reference that they have ever voted on a name for our galaxy. However, their naming conventions specifically state that any existing name used in publications should not be altered or changed.
So... I withdrawl my comment. I suspect that, much like the mis-application of the name "moon" to every body that orbits a planet (the moons of Jupiter, etcetera) even by experts in the field who actually know better, the name has simply stuck in common language.
Noise Monkey wrote:
Don't blow me up.
Blow you up? Never crossed my mind. Accelerate you to the escape velocity of <strike>The Galaxy</strike> The Milky Way now... that's an idea.
Crossfire: "Thank you! That explains it very nicely, and in a language that someone other than a physicist can understand..."
Denial is not falsification. You can't avoid a fact just because you don't like it.
"Data" is not the plural of "anecdote"
I have that song in MP3 format and was actually listening to it recently. Current play count for it reads as 462. It's a 2 minutes, 37 seconds recording. Somebody else can do the multiplication and let me know if I've listened to it too many times.
And I'm going to have to try to remember about Mr.Bob's corner. Looks like a delightful place to weaken the floor of.
Haughty spirit and pride make for a wild roller coaster ride!
I mean, as long as you like fairly final endings.
Just kidding guys. 
