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appendicies
ADVANCED DRUGS & MEDICINE

The Milky Way Galaxy
Ten billion years ago galaxies began to form. Our own galaxy is considered average among other spiral galaxies. The Milky Way is an estimated 100,000 light years across and 2000 light years thick. 140 billion to one trillion stars burn within the galactic halo. The estimated number of life-bearing planets are in the millions - and even with a small percentage of those containing sentient life, the sheer amount of alien life is staggering. Of course, only a very small number of sentients have been contacted. Known Space is a considerably small portion of the galaxy covering parts of the Saggitarius, Local, and Perseus Arms. Hindered by current Hyperspace technology, it would take centuries to explore even a small portion of the galaxy. Although expeditions to the Galactic Core have been planned, none have been carried out. One can only dream of the dense aggregation of billions of stars approximately 0.1 light years apart.

Our nearest large galactic neighbors are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (52,000 and 63,000 parsecs1 respectively), the Andromeda Galaxy (670,000 parsecs distant), and the Triangulum Galaxy (or M33), 730,000 parsecs distant.

Quadrants

Sectors
The term "sector" is a much confused word used to designate a given area of space. Sector can refer to a large are of galactic space (but smaller than a quadrant) or the local space of a system or even the system itself. When used on a system-wide scale, the sector is usually mapped in relation to an orbiting object of importance.

1 one parsec = 3.24 light years

[SOURCE: ]

Voltayre's Encyclopedia Xenobiologica
a guide to the Babylon 5 universe