Quote:
Originally Posted by Turtle
Looks cool! I don't own this machine however, and not allowed to download software.  Any chance you could grab a screenshot of that Polaris view & post it? For that matter, any view you think would clarify the questions of our Solar Systems orientations? Dank.   |
Absolutely.
Polaris (the north star) doesn't show up well in a screen shot because it's pretty close to the sun (relatively speaking). You have to zoom in pretty far to look at it which looses (in a single frame) the galactic perspective. But, right next to Polaris (in the sky) is
Pal 1—a globular cluster which does much better in a screen cap because it's relatively far away.
In this image the sun is directly left of the galactic center. It is the orange dot. The galaxy is rotating clockwise in the top image and the near part of the galaxy in the bottom image is moving to the left.
So, our (earthly) north pole is pointed roughly at Pal 1 in these images. Our south pole would be pointed in exactly the opposite direction. Our north pole is then pointed above the galactic plane (approximatly 26.5 degrees above it according to the slightly inaccurate reasoning that Polaris has a galactic latitude of 26.5).
Our north pole is also pointed to the outside of the galaxy (as viewed from above or below the galaxy). The galactic longitude of Polaris is 123.2 degrees, so our north pole is about 57 degrees from being pointed directly away from the galactic center.
I can also definitely say (because the software gives this info) that these images are oriented according to the galactic coordinate system. In other words: galactic north is pointed up in the bottom pic as defined by the GCS while the rotational (or physical) galactic north pole would be pointed down.
It also looks as if (and zooming in more makes it even more apparent) that the sun is slightly above the galactic ecliptic. This would mean we are above the galactic plane according to the GCS and not the other way around.
~modest
