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If you were the boss of a group of intergalactic explorers, what would you use as the "North" on the space compasses? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 19 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

35 comments fedilink hide all child comments

On Earth, the cardinal directions are straightforward. The arrow on a compass points to the nearest magnetic pole. You can then use it to travel anywhere on Earth.

In space, the idea of anything being “central” enough to be used as a “North” (since the universe has no center) or being fixated enough to not somehow pose issues is more convoluted.

If you were a pioneer of space exploration, what would your “North” be?

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

SagA*

It's as good a place as any other.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (2 children)

This.

If you're wondering why, this is the centre of our Galaxy. Of course if you're planning on intergalactic travel, you might have some issues, but before you get too worried about it, exploring the current galaxy is going to take a while.

Wikipedia

Edit: The link to the super massive black hole at the centre of our galaxy wasn't working.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

The link worked for me

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 hours ago

Yeah, in the unedited version of my reply, the asterisk wasn't detected as part of the URL which lands you at Sag A, not Sag A*.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 17 hours ago

SagA* is as good as any other galactic center for intergalactic north too. There's really no reason to pick a different one.