Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.

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why don't people say mega meters (self.showerthoughts)

submitted 8 months ago by joel_feila to c/showerthoughts

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How come people say 5,000 km and not 5 Mm?
why not just say millions of meters or Mega meters?

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago (2 children)

On Earth it’s just not needed. In nearby space it could make sense — distance to the Moon is 369 Mm. Distance to the Sun 149 Gm. But people aren’t good at visualizing the difference between kilo-, mega-, and giga-. It isn’t obvious from those numbers just how much further away the Sun is.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

For interplanetary space and beyond the time it takes for light to cross the distance makes more sense, I'd say. The moon is about half a second away, the sun about eight minutes, Voyager I a bit less than twenty hours, Alpha Centauri or Barnard's about four years, and so on...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Would it surprise you to know that there is a unit of length that is specifically the distance between the earth and the sun?

It's called Astronomical Unit.