So the big news today is that they’ve named the supercluster we live in:
Scientists previously placed the Milky Way in the Virgo Supercluster, but under Tully and colleagues’ definition, this region becomes just an appendage of the much larger Laniakea, which is 160 million parsecs (520 million light years) across and contains the mass of 100 million billion Suns.
Which kicked off this Twitter exchange between me and Lee Billings.
Your cosmic address: Earth, Sol System, Orion Arm, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group, and now, the Laniakea Supercluster. http://t.co/eKbFMzJC8r
— Lee Billings (@LeeBillings) September 3, 2014
@LeeBillings Does this mean we need more numbers for our zip codes? Also, "Local" Group doesn't seem very descriptive. Everyone has one.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) September 3, 2014
@Rand_Simberg Given that we'd have to travel a few megaparsecs to shift our perspective to another "Local Group," I think the name is okay!
— Lee Billings (@LeeBillings) September 3, 2014
@LeeBillings Not consistent. Why does every other level get a name? Why not "Local Star System," "Local Galaxy," "Local Supercluster," etc.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) September 3, 2014
@Rand_Simberg You'd need to ask Edwin Hubble, who coined the term. Or maybe other mid-20th-century astronomers who adopted it?
— Lee Billings (@LeeBillings) September 3, 2014
Accordingly, I propose that we rename the Local Group the Hubble Group, in honor of its namer, and making it consistent with the other names. I will henceforth call it that. If anyone asks, I’ll explain.