by neufer » Sun May 10, 2009 4:33 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Galaxy wrote:
<<The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest spiral galaxy to our own, the Milky Way. Andromeda is the largest galaxy of the Local Group. The 2006 observations by the Spitzer Space Telescope revealed that M31 contains
one trillion stars, greatly exceeding the number of stars in our own galaxy. [However,] a study released by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics on January 5, 2009 concluded that Andromeda and the Milky Way are
about equal in size and mass.
The earliest recorded observation of the Andromeda Galaxy was in 964 CE by the Persian astronomer, Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (Azophi), who described it as a "small cloud" in his Book of Fixed Stars. The first description of the object based on telescopic observation was given by Simon Marius in 1612.
Charles Messier catalogued it as object M31 in 1764 and incorrectly credited Marius as the discoverer, unaware of Al Sufi's earlier work:
![Image](http://www.seds.org/messier/Pics/History/m31m.jpg)
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090510.html
- Jules Verne » All Around the Moon » Chapter 5
"Ether, friend Michael, is an elastic gas consisting of imponderable
atoms, which, as we are told by works on molecular physics, are, in
proportion to their size, as far apart as the celestial bodies are from
each other in space. This distance is less than the 1/3000000 x 1/1000',
or the one trillionth of a foot. The vibrations of the molecules of this
ether produce the sensations of light and heat, by making 430 trillions
of undulations per second, each undulation being hardly more than the
one ten-millionth of an inch in width."
"trillions per second! ten-millionths of an inch in width!" cried Ardan.
"These oscillations have been very neatly counted and ticketed, and
checked off! Ah, friend Barbican," continued the Frenchman, shaking his
head, "these numbers are just tremendous guesses, frightening the ear
but revealing nothing to the intelligence."
"To get ideas, however, we must calculate--"
"No, no!" interrupted Ardan: "not calculate, but compare. A trillion
tells you nothing--Comparison, everything. For instance, you say, the
volume of _Uranus_ is 76 times greater than the Earth's; _Saturn's_ 900
times greater; _Jupiter's_ 1300 times greater; the Sun's 1300 thousand
times greater--You may tell me all that till I'm tired hearing it, and I
shall still be almost as ignorant as ever. For my part I prefer to be
told one of those simple comparisons that I find in the old almanacs:
The Sun is a globe two feet in diameter; _Jupiter_, a good sized orange;
_Saturn_, a smaller orange; _Neptune_, a plum; _Uranus_, a good sized
cherry; the Earth, a pea; _Venus_, also a pea but somewhat smaller;
_Mars_, a large pin's head; _Mercury_, a mustard seed; _Juno_,
_Ceres_, _Vesta_, _Pallas_, and the other asteroids so many grains
of sand. Be told something like that, and you have got at least the tail
of an idea!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_trillion_(basketball)#O wrote:
one trillion: <<Used to denote a basketball player who has played one minute without recording any other statistic. The term takes its name from its appearance in a box score, as it reads as one followed by twelve zeros – the conventional American rendering of "one trillion." Notable "trillionaires" include Mark Titus at Ohio State.
[quote=" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Galaxy"]
<<The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest spiral galaxy to our own, the Milky Way. Andromeda is the largest galaxy of the Local Group. The 2006 observations by the Spitzer Space Telescope revealed that M31 contains [b][color=#FF0000]one trillion stars[/color][/b], greatly exceeding the number of stars in our own galaxy. [However,] a study released by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics on January 5, 2009 concluded that Andromeda and the Milky Way are [b]about equal in size and mass[/b].
The earliest recorded observation of the Andromeda Galaxy was in 964 CE by the Persian astronomer, Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (Azophi), who described it as a "small cloud" in his Book of Fixed Stars. The first description of the object based on telescopic observation was given by Simon Marius in 1612.
Charles Messier catalogued it as object M31 in 1764 and incorrectly credited Marius as the discoverer, unaware of Al Sufi's earlier work:
[img]http://www.seds.org/messier/Pics/History/m31m.jpg[/img][/quote]
[b] http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090510.html[/b]
[list]Jules Verne » All Around the Moon » Chapter 5
"Ether, friend Michael, is an elastic gas consisting of imponderable
atoms, which, as we are told by works on molecular physics, are, in
proportion to their size, as far apart as the celestial bodies are from
each other in space. This distance is less than the 1/3000000 x 1/1000',
or the [b][color=#FF0000]one trillionth[/color][/b] of a foot. The vibrations of the molecules of this
ether produce the sensations of light and heat, by making 430 [b][color=#FF0000]trillions[/color][/b]
of undulations per second, each undulation being hardly more than the
one ten-millionth of an inch in width."
"[b][color=#FF0000]trillions[/color][/b] per second! ten-millionths of an inch in width!" cried Ardan.
"These oscillations have been very neatly counted and ticketed, and
checked off! Ah, friend Barbican," continued the Frenchman, shaking his
head, "these numbers are just tremendous guesses, frightening the ear
but revealing nothing to the intelligence."
"To get ideas, however, we must calculate--"
"No, no!" interrupted Ardan: "not calculate, but compare. [b][color=#FF0000]A trillion[/color][/b]
tells you nothing--Comparison, everything. For instance, you say, the
volume of _Uranus_ is 76 times greater than the Earth's; _Saturn's_ 900
times greater; _Jupiter's_ 1300 times greater; the Sun's 1300 thousand
times greater--You may tell me all that till I'm tired hearing it, and I
shall still be almost as ignorant as ever. For my part I prefer to be
told one of those simple comparisons that I find in the old almanacs:
The Sun is a globe two feet in diameter; _Jupiter_, a good sized orange;
_Saturn_, a smaller orange; _Neptune_, a plum; _Uranus_, a good sized
cherry; the Earth, a pea; _Venus_, also a pea but somewhat smaller;
_Mars_, a large pin's head; _Mercury_, a mustard seed; _Juno_,
_Ceres_, _Vesta_, _Pallas_, and the other asteroids so many grains
of sand. Be told something like that, and you have got at least the tail
of an idea!"[/list]-------------------------------------------------------------------
[quote=" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_trillion_(basketball)#O"]
[b][color=#FF0000]one trillion[/color][/b]: <<Used to denote a basketball player who has played one minute without recording any other statistic. The term takes its name from its appearance in a box score, as it reads as one followed by twelve zeros – the conventional American rendering of "one trillion." Notable "trillionaires" include Mark Titus at Ohio State. [/quote]