Posted on 03/01/2022 1:24:57 PM PST by MtnClimber
Explanation: What are these two bands in the sky? The more commonly seen band is the one on the right and is the central band of our Milky Way galaxy. Our Sun orbits in the disk of this spiral galaxy, so that from inside, this disk appears as a band of comparable brightness all the way around the sky. The Milky Way band can also be seen all year -- if out away from city lights. The less commonly seem band, on the left, is zodiacal light -- sunlight reflected from dust orbiting the Sun in our Solar System. Zodiacal light is brightest near the Sun and so is best seen just before sunrise or just after sunset. On some evenings in the north, particularly during the months of March and April, this ribbon of zodiacal light can appear quite prominent after sunset. It was determined only this century that zodiacal dust was mostly expelled by comets that have passed near Jupiter. Only on certain times of the year will the two bands be seen side by side, in parts of the sky, like this. The featured image, including the Andromeda galaxy and a meteor, was captured in late January over a frozen lake in Kanding, Sichuan, China.
For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
Also, one interesting thing this picture shows is the solar system’s orbital tilt in relation to the Milky Way. Some have used this to speculate that the sun did not originate in this galaxy, but from another one that was captured by it. This is probably baseless though, since there is slim reason that the solar system would share the same orbital plane as the galaxy.
Dueling bands, eh? Led Zeppelin vs. Deep Purple gets my vote. :-)
Damn, I feel old. Heh.
Yes, I have thought about the differences in the orbital planes too. Our solar system oscillates back and forth across the plane of the galaxy so any forces to cause alignment would seem to offset depending on which side of the galactic plane we are on, so there may be no constant force for alignment. The galactic plane crossings do seem to correspond to mass extinction events so we may tend to collide with things, though we are coming out of a crossing and nothing happened the last time.
Why do we see moons, planets, and galaxies spinning in opposite directions?
If the big bang were true they would be spinning in the same direction...
Just something to think about when you see astronomers writing about the universe...
🤔
The oscillating above and below the galactic plane is one thing (a factor in ice ages perhaps?), but I think the sharing of orbital planes originates from the same reason moons share the solar system’s ecliptic. The initial spin causes it. But there are other factors besides the galaxy’s spin that would affect the spin of a protoplanetary disk as it collapses. Anyway, I just thought the idea was interesting.
Not really. According to the standard theory, the big bang itself has no spin. There is not even any outward velocity associated with the big bang, since it is the expansion of space itself, not the expansion of matter through space, if that makes sense. Spins of stars and galaxies and so forth are attributed to local forces, such as passing objects that impart gravitational tugs.
Not to be confused with dueling banjos.
Watch the skies. Everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!
Interesting. I’ll vouch that dust just gets everywhere, all right.
Planetary spin is also interesting. Most planets spin with equators somewhat aligned to the orbital plane of the solar system. Except Uranus which spins perpendicular to the orbital plane.
Two questions: Have the Zodiac lights of the Sudan been explained? Likewise, have the Marfa Lights of Texas?
Most planets seem to spin the same direction as the solar system spins—counter clock as seen from the north. But there is a random element also. Probably because of the planetesimals which created them. They can come from random directions and be of random size, but tend to favor a particular angle of impact. I’ve never heard an official theory about it though.
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