Scale in the Iron Empires
The graphic novel I’m working on is centered on space travel, strategy and tactics in the Iron Empires. As a result, scale becomes an issue. From my notebook:
Interstellar Scales
Parsec (pc)
– 1,000 parsecs is 1 kpc (kiloparsec).
– one parsec is approximately 3.262 light years.
– the center of the Milky Way is 8 kpc (26,000 ly) from the Earth, and the Milky Way is about 30 kpc (97,800 ly) across.
– the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), the most distant object visible to the naked eye, is a little under 800 kpc (2,600,000 ly) away from the Earth.
Lightyear (ly)
– (9.4×1012 km)
– 9,460,730,472,581 km
– 63,240 astronomical units
– 0.3 parsecs
Distortus Vicis (DV)
– roughly two light years
– 1.9×1013 km
Astronomical Unit (au)
– The currently accepted value of the AU is 149 ,597 ,871 Kilometers (about 150 million)
– (1.5×108 km)
Sublumina Hora (SH)
– 75,000,000 km
– roughly half an astronomical unit
Particle Density
– HEx shuts down at ~5 particles/cm3.
– Sublight Drives shut down at ~25 particles/cm3
– Q-beam fire grows increasingly inaccurate (but more powerful) as the target point approaches 25 ppc. It shuts down altogether at ~30 ppc.
– Interstellar Medium (ISM) = average of 1 particle per cm3
– Zodiacal Cloud (out to 5 au from the sun) = Varies by system and closeness to the sun.
– Molecular Clouds (a variety: Giant, Small, Dwarf and High Latitude) =
– High Latitude (“above and below” the galactic disk) = 30 particles per cm3
Iron Empires Geography
– Dimensions of the Iron Empires, c. 587 HE = 4000 ly (n/w) x 3200 ly (e/w)
– The Iron Empires’ most distant frontier (from Earth) = 1600 ly (North)
– Area of the Darikahn Empire = roughly 2000 ly (not counting x/y axis)
– The Human Federation’s most distant frontier (from Earth) = 10,000 ly (North), 18,000 ly (to the easternmost sectors in Veil Prefecture)
Galactic Distances
– Diameter of the milky way = 100,000 ly
– Thickness (Outside the core) = roughly 1000 ly
– Earth to the Galactic Core = 26,000 ly
– Orion Arm = arm containing Earth
– Perseus Arm = arm 6,400 ly to galactic south of Earth
– Sagittarius Arm = arm 7-8,000 ly to galactic north of Earth
Stellar Neighborhood: Including the sun, there are currently 66 stars comprising 50 systems known to lie within 16 ly (8DV) of Earth.
– Proxima Centauri = 4.2 ly (2.1 DV) away from Earth.
Nebulae (distance from earth)
Sagittarius Arm:
– Lagoon Nebula (4100 ly) – this is 2500 ly north of the Urfan border
– Trifid Nebula (5400 ly)
– Eagle Nebula (7000 ly)
Orion Arm:
– Eta Carina Nebula (~8000 ly)
– Orion Nebula (1500 ly) – this is 1100 ly inside Vaylen space
– Rosette Nebula (5200 ly)
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