The space freighter ‘Mako’ trades out of Antares. It travels at constant speed through hyperspace and its route is as follows:

ITINERARY
Antares-Alniyat ...........7 days
Alniyat- β Normae .......4 days
β Normae-1 Scorpii .....8 days
1 Scorpii-Antares ........5 days
Antares- π Scorpii .......7 days
π Scorpii-1 Scorpii.......3 days
1 Scorpii-Alniyat .........5 days
Alniyat-Dschubba ........3 days
Dschubba-Akrab .........6 days
Akrab-π Scorpii ..........4 days
π Scorpii- β Normae .....6 days
(Parts of days ignored throughout)

How many days would it take the ‘Mako’ to travel back home from β Normae to Antares?

My prior analysis was based upon a fictional stellar arrangement of stars. I eventually decided that only the 'Mako' and its hypertravel were fictional to the problem. Researching, I found a list of the stars, with their right ascension, declination, and approximate distance (in light years) from Earth:

Dschubba    16h 00m 20.01s  -22° 37' 17.8"   401
Akrab       16h 05m 26.23s  -19° 48' 19.4"   530
Antares     16h 29m 24.47s  -26° 25' 55.0"   604
Al Niyat    16h 35m 52.96s  -28° 12' 57.5"   430
Beta Normae 16h 36m 22.46s  -35° 15' 19.3"   339
Pi Scorpii  15h 38m 51.12s  -26° 06' 50.6"   459
1 Scorpii   15h 50m 58.75s  -25° 45' 04.4"   522

From calculating the approximate distance of lightyears between Antares and Al Niyat and figuring it took 7 days to travel between the two star systems, I calculated the approximate travel time from Beta Normae to Antares as taking 11 days.

All the stars given are or were at some time considered part of the constellation of Scorpio. 
Antares       = Alpha Scorpii
Akrab         = Beta Scorpii
Dschubba      = Delta Scorpii
Al Niyat      = Tau Scorpii
Beta Norma(e) = H Scorpii

Edited on April 8, 2011, 12:34 pm

Posted by Dej Mar on 2011-04-08 12:18:36