is there a north and south in outer space?

Question

is there a north and south in outer space?

Answer 1

yes, north and south are terms used interchangeably with "up and down" in reference to both the solar system and the galaxy... when viewed from "above" or from the northern hemisphere, the earth rotates counterclockwise, and it proceeds counterclockwise around the sun and the galaxy rotates in a counterclockwise manner... the suns equator and the ecliptic plane of the solar system align very closely with the ecliptic plane, the "disc", of the galaxy...its easiest to picture both as flat discs, spinning counter clockwise, with the earth tilted about 15 degrees off axis with both. As with any disc, its easiest to escape it by traveling up or down in a northern or southern direction... whats really missing is any sort of an east or west, since outside of the planet we tend more toward disc shapes than spheres... there's a "clockwise" or "spinward" and a "counterclockwise" or "anti-spinward", but no east or west. You can also go "in" or "out" towards the centers of the solar system or the galaxy "discs"

Answer 2

Yes, You can extent the North and south definition on earth to space.



The earth rotates in much the same plane as the solar system and the plane of the solar system rotation is pretty much in the same plane as that of the milky way. So astronomers have assigned north to the upward direction of the axis of rotation for the solar system and the galaxy as well.



Sometimes this can be confusing in astronomy as some telescopes invert the object in the eyepiece so the north pole is at the bottom of the image or photograph.

Answer 3

No. Outer space is above and beyond and if somehow, outer space ended (which I really don't think possible), then I guess there would be a North and South. But, as I said before, outer space is endless.

Answer 4

Nope. We determine North by the magnetic pole on our planet. Directions like North, South, up or down mean nothing in space.

Answer 5

North, south, east and west maximum surely have a which ability outdoors of Earth. yet no longer constantly the comparable which ability. Any rotating reference physique (and that includes maximum each physique in area) has a north pole, and that's defined utilising the ultimate suited-Hand Rule. in case you curl your hands of your ultimate suited hand contained in direction of rotation, the direction your thumb factors is "North". Its opposite is South. East and west in area are no longer linear guidelines like they're on a 2-D map. they're angular guidelines. The direction a element is spinning is East and its opposite is West. There are some exceptions, which includes while a moon revolves in a various direction than the spin of the planet it revolves around. It that case astronomers choose for to apply the planet's physique of reference and say the moon travels in a "retrograde" orbit.

Answer 6

When NASA sent the Voyager 2 out they put several references to pulsars in out galaxy on a plaque on the ships body, so any space traveler who found the ship could find their way to earth buy using these pulsars as a road map to earth.

Every pulsar is distinct as to how many beats per second they have and can be uses like a road map to plot where you are in the galaxy.

So as far as N and S I guess it would have to be in 3 dimensions instead of just 2 like here on earth.

Think of it like being under water and trying to find something or somewhere. Up, down and side to side.

Answer 7

Not really, but there is a galactic coordinate system, so, yes, man has imposed a north and south in outer space, but you have to specify which coordinate system you are using, galactic, equatorial (declination and right ascension or hour angle), or horizon (altitude azimuth), which is a local coordinate system.



http://seds.org/~spider/spider/ScholarX/coords.html



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_coordinate_system

Answer 8

There is no north and south in space - north and south are determined by the direction of a magnetic field and in space there is no one magnetic field.

There are mag fields around stars and many planets, they are all oriented differently.

Answer 9

There is no north and south, but there is close and far.

Answer 10

No.



The universe is isotropic - it has no preferred direction. You can only tell direction in space by referencing stars or planets.

Answer 11

In earth orbit, yeah. In sight of earth, I suppose so. Out of sight of earth? Nahhh.

Answer 12

No, we only use those coordinates for planets and stars they don't apply in space.

Answer 13

No, you would use bright stars for reference.