What would the night sky look like for a world on the upper plane of the galaxy, near its rim?











up vote
14
down vote

favorite
2












I would like to include a world in a story that is located on the upper plane (or bottom, doesn't matter, but call it upper for the sake of reference) of the galaxy. If you think of the galaxy as a cookie, the world is on top near the rim, not in the middle of the cookie.



I could imagine that inhabitants on the northern half (call it the "top" or the furthest away from the center galactic plane) would experience a nearly perfectly dark night sky (ignoring moons) other than, pretty much, other galaxies.



I could also imagine the inhabitants of the southern half (call it the "bottom" or the closest to the center galactic plane) would see the galaxy (if rotation were in the right position) as a tear drop, with the brightest part near the horizon and the darkest part of the tear "straight up."



For reference, we Terrans see the galaxy as a band in the sky, I suspect because we're in the middle of the cookie.



My question: am I right to imagine the night sky for this planet? As I said, ignoring any moons, dark but other galaxies (very sparse "starlight") on top, and a teardrop view of the galaxy on the bottom (if rotated correctly) or a smattering of stars and galaxies (if not rotated correctly)?



What I'm hoping not to hear is, "Nope, your planet would need to be a bazillion miles above the plane of the galaxy to get a view like that..."










share|improve this question


















  • 1




    I think you need to give us more specifics, for example, how far from the galactic plane you want your star system to be. Galaxy is not a solid cookie, stars are gradually thinning out at the edges.
    – Alexander
    Nov 27 at 0:49












  • The planet would have to be far above the "cookie", not in it. Probably an elevation angle of 30 degrees or so from the center (spherical coordinates)
    – Majestas 32
    Nov 27 at 1:11










  • @Alexander, at least 95% from center, within the top 1% of stars at the top of said cookie.
    – JBH
    Nov 27 at 3:47






  • 1




    You might find some Elite :Dangerous players will have screenshots showing systems in this configuration... it may be worth reaching out to one of the communities and asking...
    – Stese
    Nov 27 at 8:52










  • @JBH You forget that a planet is a sphere, which means that it has surface areas pointing in every direction. At any one time half of the planet will face its star and been in daylight, and the other half will be in night. As the planet orbits its star the direction away from the star will change and different stars will be seen at night. And at any one time the stars visible at night will depend on the latitude. So at some times and places the night sky will show empty space between galaxies and at other times and places it will show the nearby galaxy which should look spectacular.
    – M. A. Golding
    Nov 27 at 17:58

















up vote
14
down vote

favorite
2












I would like to include a world in a story that is located on the upper plane (or bottom, doesn't matter, but call it upper for the sake of reference) of the galaxy. If you think of the galaxy as a cookie, the world is on top near the rim, not in the middle of the cookie.



I could imagine that inhabitants on the northern half (call it the "top" or the furthest away from the center galactic plane) would experience a nearly perfectly dark night sky (ignoring moons) other than, pretty much, other galaxies.



I could also imagine the inhabitants of the southern half (call it the "bottom" or the closest to the center galactic plane) would see the galaxy (if rotation were in the right position) as a tear drop, with the brightest part near the horizon and the darkest part of the tear "straight up."



For reference, we Terrans see the galaxy as a band in the sky, I suspect because we're in the middle of the cookie.



My question: am I right to imagine the night sky for this planet? As I said, ignoring any moons, dark but other galaxies (very sparse "starlight") on top, and a teardrop view of the galaxy on the bottom (if rotated correctly) or a smattering of stars and galaxies (if not rotated correctly)?



What I'm hoping not to hear is, "Nope, your planet would need to be a bazillion miles above the plane of the galaxy to get a view like that..."










share|improve this question


















  • 1




    I think you need to give us more specifics, for example, how far from the galactic plane you want your star system to be. Galaxy is not a solid cookie, stars are gradually thinning out at the edges.
    – Alexander
    Nov 27 at 0:49












  • The planet would have to be far above the "cookie", not in it. Probably an elevation angle of 30 degrees or so from the center (spherical coordinates)
    – Majestas 32
    Nov 27 at 1:11










  • @Alexander, at least 95% from center, within the top 1% of stars at the top of said cookie.
    – JBH
    Nov 27 at 3:47






  • 1




    You might find some Elite :Dangerous players will have screenshots showing systems in this configuration... it may be worth reaching out to one of the communities and asking...
    – Stese
    Nov 27 at 8:52










  • @JBH You forget that a planet is a sphere, which means that it has surface areas pointing in every direction. At any one time half of the planet will face its star and been in daylight, and the other half will be in night. As the planet orbits its star the direction away from the star will change and different stars will be seen at night. And at any one time the stars visible at night will depend on the latitude. So at some times and places the night sky will show empty space between galaxies and at other times and places it will show the nearby galaxy which should look spectacular.
    – M. A. Golding
    Nov 27 at 17:58















up vote
14
down vote

favorite
2









up vote
14
down vote

favorite
2






2





I would like to include a world in a story that is located on the upper plane (or bottom, doesn't matter, but call it upper for the sake of reference) of the galaxy. If you think of the galaxy as a cookie, the world is on top near the rim, not in the middle of the cookie.



I could imagine that inhabitants on the northern half (call it the "top" or the furthest away from the center galactic plane) would experience a nearly perfectly dark night sky (ignoring moons) other than, pretty much, other galaxies.



I could also imagine the inhabitants of the southern half (call it the "bottom" or the closest to the center galactic plane) would see the galaxy (if rotation were in the right position) as a tear drop, with the brightest part near the horizon and the darkest part of the tear "straight up."



For reference, we Terrans see the galaxy as a band in the sky, I suspect because we're in the middle of the cookie.



My question: am I right to imagine the night sky for this planet? As I said, ignoring any moons, dark but other galaxies (very sparse "starlight") on top, and a teardrop view of the galaxy on the bottom (if rotated correctly) or a smattering of stars and galaxies (if not rotated correctly)?



What I'm hoping not to hear is, "Nope, your planet would need to be a bazillion miles above the plane of the galaxy to get a view like that..."










share|improve this question













I would like to include a world in a story that is located on the upper plane (or bottom, doesn't matter, but call it upper for the sake of reference) of the galaxy. If you think of the galaxy as a cookie, the world is on top near the rim, not in the middle of the cookie.



I could imagine that inhabitants on the northern half (call it the "top" or the furthest away from the center galactic plane) would experience a nearly perfectly dark night sky (ignoring moons) other than, pretty much, other galaxies.



I could also imagine the inhabitants of the southern half (call it the "bottom" or the closest to the center galactic plane) would see the galaxy (if rotation were in the right position) as a tear drop, with the brightest part near the horizon and the darkest part of the tear "straight up."



For reference, we Terrans see the galaxy as a band in the sky, I suspect because we're in the middle of the cookie.



My question: am I right to imagine the night sky for this planet? As I said, ignoring any moons, dark but other galaxies (very sparse "starlight") on top, and a teardrop view of the galaxy on the bottom (if rotated correctly) or a smattering of stars and galaxies (if not rotated correctly)?



What I'm hoping not to hear is, "Nope, your planet would need to be a bazillion miles above the plane of the galaxy to get a view like that..."







planets galactic






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Nov 27 at 0:42









JBH

37.7k584179




37.7k584179








  • 1




    I think you need to give us more specifics, for example, how far from the galactic plane you want your star system to be. Galaxy is not a solid cookie, stars are gradually thinning out at the edges.
    – Alexander
    Nov 27 at 0:49












  • The planet would have to be far above the "cookie", not in it. Probably an elevation angle of 30 degrees or so from the center (spherical coordinates)
    – Majestas 32
    Nov 27 at 1:11










  • @Alexander, at least 95% from center, within the top 1% of stars at the top of said cookie.
    – JBH
    Nov 27 at 3:47






  • 1




    You might find some Elite :Dangerous players will have screenshots showing systems in this configuration... it may be worth reaching out to one of the communities and asking...
    – Stese
    Nov 27 at 8:52










  • @JBH You forget that a planet is a sphere, which means that it has surface areas pointing in every direction. At any one time half of the planet will face its star and been in daylight, and the other half will be in night. As the planet orbits its star the direction away from the star will change and different stars will be seen at night. And at any one time the stars visible at night will depend on the latitude. So at some times and places the night sky will show empty space between galaxies and at other times and places it will show the nearby galaxy which should look spectacular.
    – M. A. Golding
    Nov 27 at 17:58
















  • 1




    I think you need to give us more specifics, for example, how far from the galactic plane you want your star system to be. Galaxy is not a solid cookie, stars are gradually thinning out at the edges.
    – Alexander
    Nov 27 at 0:49












  • The planet would have to be far above the "cookie", not in it. Probably an elevation angle of 30 degrees or so from the center (spherical coordinates)
    – Majestas 32
    Nov 27 at 1:11










  • @Alexander, at least 95% from center, within the top 1% of stars at the top of said cookie.
    – JBH
    Nov 27 at 3:47






  • 1




    You might find some Elite :Dangerous players will have screenshots showing systems in this configuration... it may be worth reaching out to one of the communities and asking...
    – Stese
    Nov 27 at 8:52










  • @JBH You forget that a planet is a sphere, which means that it has surface areas pointing in every direction. At any one time half of the planet will face its star and been in daylight, and the other half will be in night. As the planet orbits its star the direction away from the star will change and different stars will be seen at night. And at any one time the stars visible at night will depend on the latitude. So at some times and places the night sky will show empty space between galaxies and at other times and places it will show the nearby galaxy which should look spectacular.
    – M. A. Golding
    Nov 27 at 17:58










1




1




I think you need to give us more specifics, for example, how far from the galactic plane you want your star system to be. Galaxy is not a solid cookie, stars are gradually thinning out at the edges.
– Alexander
Nov 27 at 0:49






I think you need to give us more specifics, for example, how far from the galactic plane you want your star system to be. Galaxy is not a solid cookie, stars are gradually thinning out at the edges.
– Alexander
Nov 27 at 0:49














The planet would have to be far above the "cookie", not in it. Probably an elevation angle of 30 degrees or so from the center (spherical coordinates)
– Majestas 32
Nov 27 at 1:11




The planet would have to be far above the "cookie", not in it. Probably an elevation angle of 30 degrees or so from the center (spherical coordinates)
– Majestas 32
Nov 27 at 1:11












@Alexander, at least 95% from center, within the top 1% of stars at the top of said cookie.
– JBH
Nov 27 at 3:47




@Alexander, at least 95% from center, within the top 1% of stars at the top of said cookie.
– JBH
Nov 27 at 3:47




1




1




You might find some Elite :Dangerous players will have screenshots showing systems in this configuration... it may be worth reaching out to one of the communities and asking...
– Stese
Nov 27 at 8:52




You might find some Elite :Dangerous players will have screenshots showing systems in this configuration... it may be worth reaching out to one of the communities and asking...
– Stese
Nov 27 at 8:52












@JBH You forget that a planet is a sphere, which means that it has surface areas pointing in every direction. At any one time half of the planet will face its star and been in daylight, and the other half will be in night. As the planet orbits its star the direction away from the star will change and different stars will be seen at night. And at any one time the stars visible at night will depend on the latitude. So at some times and places the night sky will show empty space between galaxies and at other times and places it will show the nearby galaxy which should look spectacular.
– M. A. Golding
Nov 27 at 17:58






@JBH You forget that a planet is a sphere, which means that it has surface areas pointing in every direction. At any one time half of the planet will face its star and been in daylight, and the other half will be in night. As the planet orbits its star the direction away from the star will change and different stars will be seen at night. And at any one time the stars visible at night will depend on the latitude. So at some times and places the night sky will show empty space between galaxies and at other times and places it will show the nearby galaxy which should look spectacular.
– M. A. Golding
Nov 27 at 17:58












3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
13
down vote













Such a world would have to be really above every other star system in order to achieve the vision you have.



Even then, you would still need a special arrangement. Stars orbit the galactic core just like planets orbit stars. The core is at the center of the orbital plane, meaning that if your star system is at the very top of the galactic disc, it has probably been - and will be again - at the bottom at some point during its existence. Planets tend to have their rotation aligned with the rotation of their parent star, which tends to be aligned with the star's orbit plane. That's the case for six of the eight planets in our system. Your hypothetical planet would most likely be so tilted that in one "day" its inhabitants would have both the dark intergalactic space and the bulk of the Milky Way over their heads.



By the way, the stars farthest from the core are poor in elements heavier than helium. Your planet would probably be a gas giant, though statistically there should be the odd rocky planet here and there. Maybe a captured rogue planet.



Last but not least, the intergalactic space would not be so dark. There are some dwarf galaxies orbiting ours, and they are eerily beautiful. The most famous ones are the Magellanic Clouds, the bright patches in the picture below:



Magellanic clouds



Source: https://amazingsky.net/2012/12/05/cottage-under-the-southern-stars/timor-cottage-magellanic-clouds/



I imagine that in a sky without other stars, and with little to no light pollution, those galaxies would seem to be even brighter to the naked eye.






share|improve this answer






























    up vote
    2
    down vote













    How many stars will you see in the direction of the edge?



    I downloaded from Hipparcos the distance and visual magnitude of all stars with magnitude 6.5 and below. This is roughly the number of stars visible to the naked eye. Here is a plot:



    enter image description here



    (Note: some stars are listed with a negative parallax, for various reasons. I lumped them all together at 1e5 parsecs distance, so as not to weirdly distort my graph)



    Now, lets say that you are in the upper 1% of the galaxy. Lets cut the list of visible stars down to only those within 10 parsecs.



    enter image description here



    First off, there are only 53 left, less than 1% even. But, interestingly, lets compare only those 'brightest' stars, with magnitude 1.5 or less:



    enter image description here



    7 out of the 22 brightest stars would still be here, if we removed all stars more than 10 parsecs away.



    Conclusion



    If you move a planet to the edge of the galaxy, you will largely have an empty sky in the direction out of the galaxy. But not totally empty. While the total number of stars visible in the direction of intergalactic space would only be perhaps 1% of the total we see here on Earth, you will still see maybe a third or more of the brightest stars. Not enough for constellations, but enough to give them cool names like "Sirius" and "Procyon" and so forth.






    share|improve this answer




























      up vote
      0
      down vote













      If the planet is actually at the edge of the galaxy then what you see depends on the axis of rotation.



      (a) If the axis of rotation of the planet is along a line that passes through the centre of the galaxy then Uppers will have a relatively empty sky and Downers will see a full sky.



      (b) If the axis is normal to the previously mentioned one then there will be some interesting 'dawns' that happen during the night when the galaxy rises over the horizon. These will appear differently in different parts of the planet's orbit round the star. When the inhabitants view the galaxy from behind their sun the galaxy dawn and the solar dawn will be simultaneous. When they are between their sun and the galaxy, the dawns will occur 180 degrees out of phase and so you will see a night dawn of their milky way followed by a sun dawn 12 hours* later.



      (c) Other axes will produce intermediate effects.



      *Local hours






      share|improve this answer























        Your Answer





        StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
        return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
        StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
        StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
        });
        });
        }, "mathjax-editing");

        StackExchange.ready(function() {
        var channelOptions = {
        tags: "".split(" "),
        id: "579"
        };
        initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

        StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
        // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
        if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
        StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
        createEditor();
        });
        }
        else {
        createEditor();
        }
        });

        function createEditor() {
        StackExchange.prepareEditor({
        heartbeatType: 'answer',
        convertImagesToLinks: false,
        noModals: true,
        showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
        reputationToPostImages: null,
        bindNavPrevention: true,
        postfix: "",
        imageUploader: {
        brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
        contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
        allowUrls: true
        },
        noCode: true, onDemand: true,
        discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
        ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
        });


        }
        });














        draft saved

        draft discarded


















        StackExchange.ready(
        function () {
        StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fworldbuilding.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f131340%2fwhat-would-the-night-sky-look-like-for-a-world-on-the-upper-plane-of-the-galaxy%23new-answer', 'question_page');
        }
        );

        Post as a guest















        Required, but never shown

























        3 Answers
        3






        active

        oldest

        votes








        3 Answers
        3






        active

        oldest

        votes









        active

        oldest

        votes






        active

        oldest

        votes








        up vote
        13
        down vote













        Such a world would have to be really above every other star system in order to achieve the vision you have.



        Even then, you would still need a special arrangement. Stars orbit the galactic core just like planets orbit stars. The core is at the center of the orbital plane, meaning that if your star system is at the very top of the galactic disc, it has probably been - and will be again - at the bottom at some point during its existence. Planets tend to have their rotation aligned with the rotation of their parent star, which tends to be aligned with the star's orbit plane. That's the case for six of the eight planets in our system. Your hypothetical planet would most likely be so tilted that in one "day" its inhabitants would have both the dark intergalactic space and the bulk of the Milky Way over their heads.



        By the way, the stars farthest from the core are poor in elements heavier than helium. Your planet would probably be a gas giant, though statistically there should be the odd rocky planet here and there. Maybe a captured rogue planet.



        Last but not least, the intergalactic space would not be so dark. There are some dwarf galaxies orbiting ours, and they are eerily beautiful. The most famous ones are the Magellanic Clouds, the bright patches in the picture below:



        Magellanic clouds



        Source: https://amazingsky.net/2012/12/05/cottage-under-the-southern-stars/timor-cottage-magellanic-clouds/



        I imagine that in a sky without other stars, and with little to no light pollution, those galaxies would seem to be even brighter to the naked eye.






        share|improve this answer



























          up vote
          13
          down vote













          Such a world would have to be really above every other star system in order to achieve the vision you have.



          Even then, you would still need a special arrangement. Stars orbit the galactic core just like planets orbit stars. The core is at the center of the orbital plane, meaning that if your star system is at the very top of the galactic disc, it has probably been - and will be again - at the bottom at some point during its existence. Planets tend to have their rotation aligned with the rotation of their parent star, which tends to be aligned with the star's orbit plane. That's the case for six of the eight planets in our system. Your hypothetical planet would most likely be so tilted that in one "day" its inhabitants would have both the dark intergalactic space and the bulk of the Milky Way over their heads.



          By the way, the stars farthest from the core are poor in elements heavier than helium. Your planet would probably be a gas giant, though statistically there should be the odd rocky planet here and there. Maybe a captured rogue planet.



          Last but not least, the intergalactic space would not be so dark. There are some dwarf galaxies orbiting ours, and they are eerily beautiful. The most famous ones are the Magellanic Clouds, the bright patches in the picture below:



          Magellanic clouds



          Source: https://amazingsky.net/2012/12/05/cottage-under-the-southern-stars/timor-cottage-magellanic-clouds/



          I imagine that in a sky without other stars, and with little to no light pollution, those galaxies would seem to be even brighter to the naked eye.






          share|improve this answer

























            up vote
            13
            down vote










            up vote
            13
            down vote









            Such a world would have to be really above every other star system in order to achieve the vision you have.



            Even then, you would still need a special arrangement. Stars orbit the galactic core just like planets orbit stars. The core is at the center of the orbital plane, meaning that if your star system is at the very top of the galactic disc, it has probably been - and will be again - at the bottom at some point during its existence. Planets tend to have their rotation aligned with the rotation of their parent star, which tends to be aligned with the star's orbit plane. That's the case for six of the eight planets in our system. Your hypothetical planet would most likely be so tilted that in one "day" its inhabitants would have both the dark intergalactic space and the bulk of the Milky Way over their heads.



            By the way, the stars farthest from the core are poor in elements heavier than helium. Your planet would probably be a gas giant, though statistically there should be the odd rocky planet here and there. Maybe a captured rogue planet.



            Last but not least, the intergalactic space would not be so dark. There are some dwarf galaxies orbiting ours, and they are eerily beautiful. The most famous ones are the Magellanic Clouds, the bright patches in the picture below:



            Magellanic clouds



            Source: https://amazingsky.net/2012/12/05/cottage-under-the-southern-stars/timor-cottage-magellanic-clouds/



            I imagine that in a sky without other stars, and with little to no light pollution, those galaxies would seem to be even brighter to the naked eye.






            share|improve this answer














            Such a world would have to be really above every other star system in order to achieve the vision you have.



            Even then, you would still need a special arrangement. Stars orbit the galactic core just like planets orbit stars. The core is at the center of the orbital plane, meaning that if your star system is at the very top of the galactic disc, it has probably been - and will be again - at the bottom at some point during its existence. Planets tend to have their rotation aligned with the rotation of their parent star, which tends to be aligned with the star's orbit plane. That's the case for six of the eight planets in our system. Your hypothetical planet would most likely be so tilted that in one "day" its inhabitants would have both the dark intergalactic space and the bulk of the Milky Way over their heads.



            By the way, the stars farthest from the core are poor in elements heavier than helium. Your planet would probably be a gas giant, though statistically there should be the odd rocky planet here and there. Maybe a captured rogue planet.



            Last but not least, the intergalactic space would not be so dark. There are some dwarf galaxies orbiting ours, and they are eerily beautiful. The most famous ones are the Magellanic Clouds, the bright patches in the picture below:



            Magellanic clouds



            Source: https://amazingsky.net/2012/12/05/cottage-under-the-southern-stars/timor-cottage-magellanic-clouds/



            I imagine that in a sky without other stars, and with little to no light pollution, those galaxies would seem to be even brighter to the naked eye.







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited Nov 28 at 15:40

























            answered Nov 27 at 1:20









            Renan

            40.6k1194206




            40.6k1194206






















                up vote
                2
                down vote













                How many stars will you see in the direction of the edge?



                I downloaded from Hipparcos the distance and visual magnitude of all stars with magnitude 6.5 and below. This is roughly the number of stars visible to the naked eye. Here is a plot:



                enter image description here



                (Note: some stars are listed with a negative parallax, for various reasons. I lumped them all together at 1e5 parsecs distance, so as not to weirdly distort my graph)



                Now, lets say that you are in the upper 1% of the galaxy. Lets cut the list of visible stars down to only those within 10 parsecs.



                enter image description here



                First off, there are only 53 left, less than 1% even. But, interestingly, lets compare only those 'brightest' stars, with magnitude 1.5 or less:



                enter image description here



                7 out of the 22 brightest stars would still be here, if we removed all stars more than 10 parsecs away.



                Conclusion



                If you move a planet to the edge of the galaxy, you will largely have an empty sky in the direction out of the galaxy. But not totally empty. While the total number of stars visible in the direction of intergalactic space would only be perhaps 1% of the total we see here on Earth, you will still see maybe a third or more of the brightest stars. Not enough for constellations, but enough to give them cool names like "Sirius" and "Procyon" and so forth.






                share|improve this answer

























                  up vote
                  2
                  down vote













                  How many stars will you see in the direction of the edge?



                  I downloaded from Hipparcos the distance and visual magnitude of all stars with magnitude 6.5 and below. This is roughly the number of stars visible to the naked eye. Here is a plot:



                  enter image description here



                  (Note: some stars are listed with a negative parallax, for various reasons. I lumped them all together at 1e5 parsecs distance, so as not to weirdly distort my graph)



                  Now, lets say that you are in the upper 1% of the galaxy. Lets cut the list of visible stars down to only those within 10 parsecs.



                  enter image description here



                  First off, there are only 53 left, less than 1% even. But, interestingly, lets compare only those 'brightest' stars, with magnitude 1.5 or less:



                  enter image description here



                  7 out of the 22 brightest stars would still be here, if we removed all stars more than 10 parsecs away.



                  Conclusion



                  If you move a planet to the edge of the galaxy, you will largely have an empty sky in the direction out of the galaxy. But not totally empty. While the total number of stars visible in the direction of intergalactic space would only be perhaps 1% of the total we see here on Earth, you will still see maybe a third or more of the brightest stars. Not enough for constellations, but enough to give them cool names like "Sirius" and "Procyon" and so forth.






                  share|improve this answer























                    up vote
                    2
                    down vote










                    up vote
                    2
                    down vote









                    How many stars will you see in the direction of the edge?



                    I downloaded from Hipparcos the distance and visual magnitude of all stars with magnitude 6.5 and below. This is roughly the number of stars visible to the naked eye. Here is a plot:



                    enter image description here



                    (Note: some stars are listed with a negative parallax, for various reasons. I lumped them all together at 1e5 parsecs distance, so as not to weirdly distort my graph)



                    Now, lets say that you are in the upper 1% of the galaxy. Lets cut the list of visible stars down to only those within 10 parsecs.



                    enter image description here



                    First off, there are only 53 left, less than 1% even. But, interestingly, lets compare only those 'brightest' stars, with magnitude 1.5 or less:



                    enter image description here



                    7 out of the 22 brightest stars would still be here, if we removed all stars more than 10 parsecs away.



                    Conclusion



                    If you move a planet to the edge of the galaxy, you will largely have an empty sky in the direction out of the galaxy. But not totally empty. While the total number of stars visible in the direction of intergalactic space would only be perhaps 1% of the total we see here on Earth, you will still see maybe a third or more of the brightest stars. Not enough for constellations, but enough to give them cool names like "Sirius" and "Procyon" and so forth.






                    share|improve this answer












                    How many stars will you see in the direction of the edge?



                    I downloaded from Hipparcos the distance and visual magnitude of all stars with magnitude 6.5 and below. This is roughly the number of stars visible to the naked eye. Here is a plot:



                    enter image description here



                    (Note: some stars are listed with a negative parallax, for various reasons. I lumped them all together at 1e5 parsecs distance, so as not to weirdly distort my graph)



                    Now, lets say that you are in the upper 1% of the galaxy. Lets cut the list of visible stars down to only those within 10 parsecs.



                    enter image description here



                    First off, there are only 53 left, less than 1% even. But, interestingly, lets compare only those 'brightest' stars, with magnitude 1.5 or less:



                    enter image description here



                    7 out of the 22 brightest stars would still be here, if we removed all stars more than 10 parsecs away.



                    Conclusion



                    If you move a planet to the edge of the galaxy, you will largely have an empty sky in the direction out of the galaxy. But not totally empty. While the total number of stars visible in the direction of intergalactic space would only be perhaps 1% of the total we see here on Earth, you will still see maybe a third or more of the brightest stars. Not enough for constellations, but enough to give them cool names like "Sirius" and "Procyon" and so forth.







                    share|improve this answer












                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer










                    answered Nov 28 at 4:33









                    kingledion

                    72.4k26244428




                    72.4k26244428






















                        up vote
                        0
                        down vote













                        If the planet is actually at the edge of the galaxy then what you see depends on the axis of rotation.



                        (a) If the axis of rotation of the planet is along a line that passes through the centre of the galaxy then Uppers will have a relatively empty sky and Downers will see a full sky.



                        (b) If the axis is normal to the previously mentioned one then there will be some interesting 'dawns' that happen during the night when the galaxy rises over the horizon. These will appear differently in different parts of the planet's orbit round the star. When the inhabitants view the galaxy from behind their sun the galaxy dawn and the solar dawn will be simultaneous. When they are between their sun and the galaxy, the dawns will occur 180 degrees out of phase and so you will see a night dawn of their milky way followed by a sun dawn 12 hours* later.



                        (c) Other axes will produce intermediate effects.



                        *Local hours






                        share|improve this answer



























                          up vote
                          0
                          down vote













                          If the planet is actually at the edge of the galaxy then what you see depends on the axis of rotation.



                          (a) If the axis of rotation of the planet is along a line that passes through the centre of the galaxy then Uppers will have a relatively empty sky and Downers will see a full sky.



                          (b) If the axis is normal to the previously mentioned one then there will be some interesting 'dawns' that happen during the night when the galaxy rises over the horizon. These will appear differently in different parts of the planet's orbit round the star. When the inhabitants view the galaxy from behind their sun the galaxy dawn and the solar dawn will be simultaneous. When they are between their sun and the galaxy, the dawns will occur 180 degrees out of phase and so you will see a night dawn of their milky way followed by a sun dawn 12 hours* later.



                          (c) Other axes will produce intermediate effects.



                          *Local hours






                          share|improve this answer

























                            up vote
                            0
                            down vote










                            up vote
                            0
                            down vote









                            If the planet is actually at the edge of the galaxy then what you see depends on the axis of rotation.



                            (a) If the axis of rotation of the planet is along a line that passes through the centre of the galaxy then Uppers will have a relatively empty sky and Downers will see a full sky.



                            (b) If the axis is normal to the previously mentioned one then there will be some interesting 'dawns' that happen during the night when the galaxy rises over the horizon. These will appear differently in different parts of the planet's orbit round the star. When the inhabitants view the galaxy from behind their sun the galaxy dawn and the solar dawn will be simultaneous. When they are between their sun and the galaxy, the dawns will occur 180 degrees out of phase and so you will see a night dawn of their milky way followed by a sun dawn 12 hours* later.



                            (c) Other axes will produce intermediate effects.



                            *Local hours






                            share|improve this answer














                            If the planet is actually at the edge of the galaxy then what you see depends on the axis of rotation.



                            (a) If the axis of rotation of the planet is along a line that passes through the centre of the galaxy then Uppers will have a relatively empty sky and Downers will see a full sky.



                            (b) If the axis is normal to the previously mentioned one then there will be some interesting 'dawns' that happen during the night when the galaxy rises over the horizon. These will appear differently in different parts of the planet's orbit round the star. When the inhabitants view the galaxy from behind their sun the galaxy dawn and the solar dawn will be simultaneous. When they are between their sun and the galaxy, the dawns will occur 180 degrees out of phase and so you will see a night dawn of their milky way followed by a sun dawn 12 hours* later.



                            (c) Other axes will produce intermediate effects.



                            *Local hours







                            share|improve this answer














                            share|improve this answer



                            share|improve this answer








                            edited Nov 28 at 16:11

























                            answered Nov 28 at 15:09









                            chasly from UK

                            9,06534389




                            9,06534389






























                                draft saved

                                draft discarded




















































                                Thanks for contributing an answer to Worldbuilding Stack Exchange!


                                • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                                But avoid



                                • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                                • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                                Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


                                To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.





                                Some of your past answers have not been well-received, and you're in danger of being blocked from answering.


                                Please pay close attention to the following guidance:


                                • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                                But avoid



                                • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                                • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                                To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                                draft saved


                                draft discarded














                                StackExchange.ready(
                                function () {
                                StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fworldbuilding.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f131340%2fwhat-would-the-night-sky-look-like-for-a-world-on-the-upper-plane-of-the-galaxy%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                                }
                                );

                                Post as a guest















                                Required, but never shown





















































                                Required, but never shown














                                Required, but never shown












                                Required, but never shown







                                Required, but never shown

































                                Required, but never shown














                                Required, but never shown












                                Required, but never shown







                                Required, but never shown







                                Popular posts from this blog

                                Biblatex bibliography style without URLs when DOI exists (in Overleaf with Zotero bibliography)

                                ComboBox Display Member on multiple fields

                                Is it possible to collect Nectar points via Trainline?