Solar System
"Monthly Galactic Views of System"
Web Site Notes
bold type highlights main points for quick skimming
Solar System
"Monthly Galactic Views of System"
Web Site Notes
bold type highlights main points for quick skimming
About this site (see just below)
E-Mail info and link B Fenerty (sites by, who is)
Miscellaneous notes © and other Legal information
Done on this page
- ABOUT THIS SITE
- This web site focuses on schematic diagrams of the solar system (orbits and planet positions, updated monthly) AS SEEN from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius and the centre of our Milky Way galaxy.
The pictures align the Milky Way horizontally, rather than at an angle as usually seen from Earth. As the home page indicates, note how steeply our Solar System is tilted compared to the galaxy. Not all books (even University texts) and films (sci-fi) show this angle correctly - a regular oversight resulting from earth-bound thinking. Yet anyone who studies the stars for a while (amateur and professional astronomers for example) realizes we are at an angle.
Over and over I encountered books and films which didn't show our correct placement among the stars, so I started making sketches while imagining what a traveller* coming from some other system might see as they approach our world. Those sketches along with contemplating the night sky when it was clear and exploring some computer star programs when the skies were cloudy led to putting this site together...
* could be an extraterrestrial or future human traveller
- Planetarium programs such as VoyagerII and Red Shift on the Mac (my work requires a Mac so I am less familiar with PC-compatible programs at present*) can, with a few settings, show you views even more detailed than what I present on this web site. Plus you may even watch dynamic views, with the planets speeded-up as they revolve around the Sun. You can track comets and interplanetary satellites, along with many other goodies. And of course plan your telescope outings.
However, not everyone may have access to such programs, or have the time to set up extra-solar-system views, so I hope these monthly views help a bit to fill the gap. Also, in subsequent months I hope to have time to add extra items in now and then, which items don't necessarily come with a star program.
An additional reason for the diagrams is to stretch our thinking beyond earth-based habits. And include a bit of accuracy. Even if we don't plan to travel away fromEarth it helps the creative soul in humans to sometimes try out fresh views; especially so in terms of seeing our true place in the larger scheme of things. Part of that means getting correct the simple fact of how our solar system is aligned or tilted vis a vis the galaxy. It is such a simple point, really, we might as well be aware of it - and teach our children, instead of giving them inaccurate diagrams which various books and films unwittingly have.
* If you use a PC-compatible star program that can show extra-solar-stem views (diagrams) and align the galaxy horizontally, please e-mail me (see below) with brief details so I can make a note for other web visitors, thanks.
- Why did I select the particular viewing angle I did for the main diagrams? In space there is no up or down (just gravity wells ...and maybe space-time warps if you are from another planet). A ship visiting our system might approach upside down or any other angle, and from almost any direction, subject to any navigational practicalities, of course.
I chose horizontal to keep we Earth-familiar human visitors from experience unnecessary extra disorientation - growing up on Earth we are instinctively used to horizons, so out in the galaxy I decided to make the view of the galactic plane horizontal. I could have made it horizontal also by flipping it 180 degrees, but I had to make a choice. (If you are surfing from Australia you could turn your computer monitor upside down to see it "right side up" - but try at your own risk:-) Back to seriousness, why did I choose a view looking from the direction of Sagittarius? Why not from the nearest star to us? Why not from the Andromeda Galaxy? Or some other view? Maybe a view looking toward the constellation Hercules, the direction which our system is presently moving?
Well, again to avoid any extra disorientation, it seemed the galaxy has two easy-to-understand locations for us humans: our own system and the centre of the galaxy. Hence I picked a line (an approximation, for you detail-watchers) from galactic centre to us (which approaches more or less through the constellation Sagittarius.) Et voila! The views as you see resulted. Maybe if in the future if I have time and web space I will try some other views.
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e-Mail info and link B Fenerty (sites by, who is)
Miscellaneous Legal top of this NOTES page
- E-MAIL INFO AND LINK
You are invited to e-Mail me to say you visited (it is always encouraging to hear from visitors), to ask me questions (simple ones please) (or ask when I will finally manage to do the next update!), to make suggestions and note corrections. Since I run several web sites with the same reply e-mail address you might mention you are e-mailing from the Solar System site. Please, NO e-mail attachments without prior arrangement. Also, my schedule sometimes keeps me from replying for several days. But do write, I eventually reply:-)
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About this site B Fenerty (sites by, who is)
Miscellaneous Legal top of this NOTES page
- B FENERTY (SITES BY, WHO IS)
For other items by yours truly, try my regularly updated photos from around town at my extensive Calgary Scenes site for a start. (Where in the world is Calgary? See the maps at that site.)
If you want to know more about yours truly, see these notes at Calgary Scenes, or if you are curious about my professional work, see my Oak Lane Art and Text site.
Digital Astrophotos - a few experiments Link added Jan 99
Also by yours truly, star-hopping maps for a couple of interesting asterisms
- Kemble's Cascade, a delightful, circumpolar string of stars
sparkling down into NGC1502, visible essentially year round. link opens in new window
Link added Jan 99 January 23, located between Polaris and Zenith approx 20:55; Feb 13, same approx 19:30*
- A subtle, surprising straight line of 8 or so faint stars under Leo, link opens in new window
a rather wide, binocular dark site object, Mag. 8 and fainter stars amidst a few brighter stars.
Link added Jan 99 January 23 rises approx 21:05, E; transit approx 03:00;
February 13 rises approx19:45 , E; transit approx 01:35.*
* times rough-estimated from compact Palm Pilot app "Planetarium" from http://www.aho.ch/pilotplanetsBefore you jump, be sure to bookmark/add-as-a-favourite this site so you can easily return and see next month's planet positions and maybe some extra goodies. Thanks for visiting.
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About this site e-Mail info and link
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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Various project ideas for students or, for that matter, anyone interested in our place in the stars are in a miscellaneous list in Projects to stretch your imagination on the orbit/planet posiitons page.
- This site uses client-side image maps. Clicking on the underlined "links" on the graphics should work, else you can scroll down and use the text-links instead. If you still have problems please e-mail me, thanks.
- If Milky Way area does not show clearly or at all on your screen, try increasing your monitor's contrast and brightness.
- Updates and new items: planet positions are updated approximately once a month. New items may be added with the planetary update or at other times.
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About this site e-Mail info and link B Fenerty (sites by, who is)
Legal top of this NOTES page
- Legal and related items: all original graphics and text on/from this web site © Copyright 1999 B Fenerty. All rights reserved. Any trademarks or company names which may appear on this site belong to the respective companies, and are here only for reference and not by way of any representation. Details on this site are general, approximated from several sources, and may contain errors (please e-mail me if you find any major oversights).
About this site e-Mail info and link B Fenerty (sites by, who is)
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