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Fractal Parsecs Multi-Cache

Hidden : 11/8/2003
Difficulty:
3.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Research skills and computing power are the keys to this seaside cache.

The soundtrack to this cache can be found at the circle of willis MP3 Site

My wife convinced me that our first cache was too easy, so let’s try something a bit trickier. Research is an essential part of this cache, but with mobile technology it is possible to do it all in one visit. In fact it’s even possible to work out the location of the cache without visiting WP1 or WP2 at all! The terrain is mostly paved footpath but the access to waypoint 2 and the final cache could be awkward for young children.

In all the coordinates given you can assume that the degrees and minutes are unchanged.

At WP1 step up to the central plaque and learn some history. Take note of the date. On January 7 of the year mentioned an English astronomer celebrated his 41st birthday. This astronomer died precisely 36 years after the date on the plaque.

Take the astronomer’s surname and subtract 2 from the year of his death and you will have the name of one of the fastest stars in the night sky (in terms of proper motion). Find the distance of this star from the Earth in whole light years (rounded up) then convert to parsecs using the conversion formula of 1 parsec = 3.26 lightyears.

Round off to two decimal places. You should have a number in the form a.bc

For WP2, the decimal portion of the latitude is the square root of a, followed by a-b, followed by b.

The decimal portion of the longitude is cac

At WP2, infiltrate the derelict defense installation and look for the “weight-i” female who is a bit “chicken”. Calculate her weight in pounds. It is important to note that this female is British. You should now have a 4-digit number. Split this number into two 2-digit numbers which we shall call X and Y.

***UPDATE*** It appears this large lass may have gone missing under the weight of untold tags. For the time being I've put her name in the encrypted clue. Unfortunately this means that you can skip WP2 altogether, but it's still worth the visit ***

The girl in the defense installation has a friend called Julia. She is a very well balanced person, devoting herself equally to what is real and what is imaginary. When she is being realistic her favourite number is Y. When she is being more imaginative her favourite number is X. Because she often finds integers extremely boring she often likes to divide these number by 100. She calls these numbers FRACTured INTegers and at night, in bed, she likes to perform complicated mathematical calculations with them that allow her to imagine marvellous shapes. Some of these shapes are in the form of pinwheels, and her absolute favourite number is the same as the number of arms that are on these pinwheels. We’ll call this number Z. Then if she squints a bit the shapes all join together to look vaguely like another number that we shall call Z1.

For WP3, the decimal portion of the latitude is Z1+1, Z+Z1, Z+1

The decimal portion of the longitude is Z1-1, Z+Z1, Z+Z1

The cache is in an area popular with fisherfolk and cone-smoking troglodytes so use stealth. The container is not large so no big swaps. Congrats to The Odlids who claimed the First Finder's trophy pictured below.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Gbav

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)