Quote:
Originally Posted by Hack&Lube
Telling somebody that Mars is 0.00000596 ly away often doesn't make people realize just how faraway Mars actually is. You'd have to tell them something fun like...Mars is 2,675,840,318,660 Hot Dogs from Earth!
That's what's missing in astronomy, units people can relate to.  |
Mmmm Hot dogs. Which ones? Schneiders or fat franks? Please say fat franks, please say fat franks!
There are two issues here:
1) Understanding what a light year is. As we agree it is a difficult distance to understand. You will likely lose most of your audience with these units.
2) Comprehending the distance of said planet. The original article stated that it was a distance of 20 light years away. Comparing this distance with that of Mars, in the same units (hot dogs), is a useful comparison.
Radley