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I have trouble visualizing how the view of the Milky Way as seen from Earth reconciles with pictures showing whole galaxies. Are we seeing it edge on? Is there
by bemmu 9y ago
I have trouble visualizing how the view of the Milky Way as seen from Earth reconciles with pictures showing whole galaxies. Are we seeing it edge on? Is there any cool animation showing it first from the outside, then rotated to match how we see it in the sky from Earth?
- pc86 9y agoMy understanding is that based on the position of the Earth, most of the time what we see is the next band over, from our position on the edge of a neighboring band. But like you I've had trouble finding a detailed explanation of our exact POV within the galaxy.
- mutagen 9y agoSome quick digging found
- herodotus 9y agoImagine a vinyl record, and that you are sitting on the record, near, but not at, the outer edge of the record. South of you, but close to the horizon, is the centre of the record - containing a massive black hole. North of you are all the stars in the galaxy between you and the edge of the galaxy. Most of the stars in the galaxy are scattered along the disc, but with a fairly large variation. The closer you get to the centre, the greater the number of stars - that is the brightest part of our night sky. Some ancient clusters of stars have drifted a fair bit away from the disc, but are still gravitationally bound to it, and its dark matter. If you were on another galaxy looking from above, our galaxy would look like a spiral with arms. If you looked edge on, it would look more like a cigar.