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Re: Thoughts On The Halo Network
Posted By: OldNick <nmascall@btinternet.com>Date: 5/17/06 11:50 a.m.

In Response To: Re: Thoughts On The Halo Network (PsycoJoe)

: Something that most fail to take into account, or are even aware of, is the
: environment at the center of the galaxy. Remember, there's a super massive
: black hole there, spewing lethal radiation in such great amounts that it's
: highly unlikely any life would survive the exposure. Also, the 'bulge' at
: the center is actually an enormous supercluster of stars, each adding
: their particular spice to the rad-soup. So for all effective purposes we
: should consider that section of the galaxy uninhabitable and exclude it
: from any calculations.

Good point, but there are other factors at work which mean that the Halo system as described cannot achieve 100% coverage. All figures given for the galactic radius are (unavoidably) pretty loose estimates. Quite apart from the difficulty of making observations in the galactic plane, where gas and dust clouds are thickest, the whole concept of 'the edge of the galaxy' is mainly a matter of definition.

There's no hard edge - the density of stars just drops off gradually towards zero. The density also changes over time at any given point, since most stars' galactic orbits (round the core) are fairly eccentric and somewhat inclined.

And it's not just the disc edge that's fuzzy. There's a population of what are called (funnily enough) 'halo stars' with orbits radically inclined relative to the galactic plane. A bounding volume enclosing ALL stars in the galaxy is probably more like a sphere than the flying-saucer (or fried-egg) shape normally used for illustrations.

So what does this mean for the story? I don't think it really changes anything. The Forerunners presumably did the best they could with the time and resources available, knowing full well that they couldn't cover every star in the galaxy. Also, since their ships were presumably fast enough to span the galaxy, they'd be capable of flying far enough out of the galactic plane to escape, given warning or preparation. The holes in the coverage open up some interesting possible storylines. Think of this as an opportunity, not a problem.

If the Forerunners couldn't be certain that they'd wipe out the Flood, they'd have a powerful incentive to do some serious contingency planning...

(My favourite image of the Milky Way is the one you can find here:

http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/2mass/gallery/showcase/allsky_stars/fullres.html

which is a whole-sky synthetic image in the near-infrared, letting us see through a lot of the gas and dust. If you can't figure out what exactly you're looking at, imagine this image texturing the whole inside surface of a sphere, with your viewpoint at the centre, looking out. The image is public-domain, but please don't forget to credit the source if you use it.)


Message Index




Replies:

Thoughts On The Halo NetworkBronzite 5/16/06 3:09 p.m.
     Re: Thoughts On The Halo NetworkCaptain Milk 5/16/06 3:11 p.m.
     Re: Thoughts On The Halo NetworkCaptain Milk 5/16/06 3:12 p.m.
     Re: Thoughts On The Halo NetworkCaptain Milk 5/16/06 3:12 p.m.
     FantasticJillybean 5/16/06 3:24 p.m.
           Re: FantasticBronzite 5/16/06 3:26 p.m.
                 Re: FantasticJillybean 5/16/06 3:31 p.m.
     Re: Thoughts On The Halo NetworkSep7imus [subnova] 5/16/06 3:28 p.m.
           Re: Thoughts On The Halo NetworkJillybean 5/16/06 3:32 p.m.
           Re: Thoughts On The Halo NetworkBronzite 5/16/06 3:34 p.m.
                 Never mind 91%, the Hub & Spokes could cover 100%!Coldstream 5/16/06 4:03 p.m.
                       Re: Never mind 91%, the Hub & Spokes could cover 1Bronzite 5/16/06 4:12 p.m.
                             Effective radius.........Schedonnardus 5/16/06 4:42 p.m.
                                   Re: Effective radius.........Sep7imus [subnova] 5/16/06 4:52 p.m.
                                         Re: Effective radius.........Schedonnardus 5/16/06 4:56 p.m.
                                   Re: Effective radius.........Bronzite 5/16/06 4:59 p.m.
                                   Re: Effective radius.........lukey125 5/16/06 7:25 p.m.
                             Re: Never mind 91%, the Hub & Spokes could cover 1 *NM*Mordrorru 5/17/06 11:09 p.m.
     Width of the Milky WaySchedonnardus 5/16/06 5:14 p.m.
           InsuranceInsurance 6/23/06 4:46 a.m.
     Re: Thoughts On The Halo NetworkPsycoJoe 5/17/06 5:52 a.m.
           Tremendous workdipanjan 5/17/06 9:53 a.m.
           HehPratch™ 5/17/06 10:51 a.m.
           Re: Thoughts On The Halo NetworkOldNick 5/17/06 11:50 a.m.
     Re: Thoughts On The Halo NetworkStephen L. (SoundEffect) 5/17/06 10:31 a.m.
     old Delta Halo is Near Earth theoryreplay 5/17/06 12:37 p.m.
     Dr Device perhaps?steven 5/17/06 4:53 p.m.
     I think I know howglovguy 5/17/06 5:06 p.m.
     Not Quite Right I thinkSpecialNewb 5/17/06 6:38 p.m.
           Re: Not Quite Right I thinkmrbananas 5/17/06 6:52 p.m.
           Re: Not Quite Right I thinkPrivate Idaho 5/18/06 7:21 a.m.
     Re: Thoughts On The Halo NetworkTerminus 5/21/06 1:07 p.m.
           Re: Thoughts On The Halo NetworkPhoenix alpha 1 5/21/06 2:58 p.m.
                 HmmPhoenix alpha 1 5/21/06 3:13 p.m.
                       Re: Hmmspartanhalo117 6/1/06 9:23 p.m.
     Re: Thoughts On The Halo Networkw00tles 6/11/06 9:52 a.m.



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