3 ms·
> a person that understands the topic should immediately understand we are talking about relatively close galaxy. Sure, but a person who doesn't would receive
by tome 5y ago
> a person that understands the topic should immediately understand we are talking about relatively close galaxy.
Sure, but a person who doesn't would receive the message more clearly if it were stated as "Supermassive black hole eruption near milky way". Otherwise I could write "Supermassive black hole eruption near New York" and be equally correct.
I suspect the potential for misunderstanding was the reason the headline was chosen in this form, however ...
- rbanffy 5y ago12 million light years is around the corner in cosmic terms. Andromeda is our neighbour is about two million or so light years.
- feoren 5y agoI fully agree that "near the White House", "near Washington", "near Earth", "near the solar system", and "near the Milky Way" all convey strongly different ideas of what "near" actually means. However, I think in this case they were basically going for "surprisingly near", or "near us". I think it's reasonable to say that this is unusually close to us.
- eitland 5y agoWell, the headline as it currently stands includes both the earth and the moon which definitely primes the thoughts. I know research on priming has got some well deserved criticism, but there is no doubt basic framing works and this article either plays this effect for purpose or is scarily unaware of it.
- sliken 5y agoSure, but the nearest planets, stars, and galaxies to earth also gives an idea of the scale they are talking about. Sure you could say nearest the milky way, but sadly I suspect that a decent fraction of folks wouldn't not respond with "Milky Way" when asking for what galaxy the earth is in.