.") ▁The ▁ten ▁" M ingo es " ▁are : ▁T ales ▁( T al .) ▁Calcul ated ▁( Cal .) ▁To ▁( To ) ▁Drive ▁( D ri .) ▁You ▁( You ) ▁Hum or ▁( H um .) ▁In ▁( In ) ▁A ▁( A ) ▁Jug ular ▁( J ug .) ▁Ve in ▁( V ei .) ▁ ▁Quant ity ▁ ▁S agan ▁ ▁As ▁a ▁hum orous ▁t ribute ▁to ▁Carl ▁S agan ▁and ▁his ▁association ▁with ▁the ▁catch phr ase ▁" b ill ions ▁and ▁bill ions ", ▁a ▁sag an ▁has ▁been ▁defined ▁as ▁a ▁large ▁quantity ▁– ▁techn ically ▁at ▁least ▁four ▁billion ▁( two ▁billion ▁plus ▁two ▁billion ) ▁– ▁of ▁anything . ▁ ▁L ength ▁ ▁Al tu ve ▁In ▁the ▁sport ▁of ▁baseball , ▁the ▁Al tu ve ▁is ▁an ▁inform al ▁measurement ▁of ▁distance ▁equal ▁to ▁ 5 ▁feet ▁ 5 ▁inches ▁or ▁ 1 . 6 5 ▁m . ▁ ▁This ▁is ▁a ▁reference ▁to ▁Houston ▁Ast ros ▁player ▁José ▁Al tu ve , ▁who ▁stands ▁ 5 ▁feet ▁ 5 ▁inches ▁tall , ▁making ▁him ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁short est ▁players ▁in ▁Major ▁League ▁Baseball . ▁ ▁Att op ar sec ▁Parse cs ▁are ▁used ▁in ▁astronom y ▁to ▁measure ▁inter stell ar ▁distances . ▁A ▁par sec ▁is ▁approximately ▁ 3 . 2 6 ▁light - year s ▁or ▁about ▁ 3 . 0 8 6 × 1 0 1 6 ▁m ▁( 1 . 9 1 7 ×