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Workshop Of The Telescopes - BÖC Mystery Cache

Hidden : 2/26/2014
Difficulty:
5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

This cache is one of a series of caches named after Blue Öyster Cult songs. The posted coordinates will bring you to the new Claymont Library.

The container is loaded with swag. Please trade items accordingly. BYOP. Ample parking is nearby the cache. Please obey all applicable rules.


The cache is at N 39 AB.CDE W 075 FG.HIJ.
The cache's unrevealed coordinates can be obtained from the following imaginary dialogue of two fictional characters. One is Norton, the astronomer. The other is Wesley, the late shift watchman, or early depending on how one views it. They both work at the fictional, but quite famous, BÖC Observatory where studies of deep space continue well into the wee hours, night after night. Their conversation is as follows:

Norton: Why, hello Wesley.

Wesley: Hi Norton. What's up? (snickers)

Norton: Yes, well, what is up is also down. As it so happens I am waiting for an exposure to complete of NGC 7331, a galaxy associated with a nearby cluster in the constellation of Pegasus. It should be finished in an hour or so. Then I'll work on Stephan's Quintet.

Wesley: Wow! It takes that long to get a picture?

Norton: Caldwell 30's photons of light traveled some 40 million years before striking the charge coupled device attached to the big reflector here.

Wesley: Man, that's some kind of event. It's hard to imagine that kind of distance and time.

Norton: Sir, that distance from us is as a grain of sand is to a beach when considering the vastness of the Cosmos. NGC 7331 is quite close to us.

Wesley: Norton, it may be close in your book but it seems pretty far away to me.

Norton: Woe unto me to dispel you of that in which you believe. It is as close as it is far.

Wesley: (After pausing) Norton, do you believe we are alone? Might there be other life out there?

Norton: Believe? My gut screams yes. Logically, either there is or there is not. Both options are rather profound. I often wonder which is more fantastic. Wesley, I find it ironic that we consider ourselves an intelligent species yet are unable as a society of concluding whether we are alone in this Universe. Frank Drake formulated an equation in 1961 in an attempt to discern approximate populations. I tell people to look in a mirror to see how an alien life form appears to a being from elsewhere in the Universe.
Hmmm...it looks as if Wesley's shift is near complete, eh? Enjoy the rest of the night.

Wesley: Thanks Norton. I also believe that there is life besides us. Hey, what's that CD you are playing?

Norton: It's Blue Öyster Cult, their self titled debut album.

Wesley: My son likes that band. See you tomorrow.

Norton: Later Wesley. And tell him I like his taste in music.
 

                                                                                 

 

Congratulations to crashdavis12 for making the First Time Find!

You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Chmmyr - Abeg(u)ba naq Jrf(g)yrl ner n uvag gb zrgubqbybtl. Arg vf bar. Fvar vf avar. Uvqr - Ybj

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)