a question about milky way and constellations

ok so as I look up at the constellations in the sky, specifically
those that the milky way galaxy goes through, or really any
constellations, i am asking myself what direction in space am i
looking with respect to our milky way galaxy? i mean, when i see
casseopia, or cygnus, *where* am i looking in terms of earth and the
galaxy? Am i looking towards the center of the galaxy? away from the
galaxy center but through our arm of the galaxy, etc.? That seems like
a valid question any curious star gazer should want to know, I know I
do. Is there some star map of a sort that shows our galaxy, location
of earth in it, and the direction relative to earth and the galaxy of
the constellations? That would be interesting to see.

On Aug 8, 3:32 pm, " wrote:
ok so as I look up at the constellations in the sky, specifically
those that the milky way galaxy goes through, or really any
constellations, i am asking myself what direction in space am i
looking with respect to our milky way galaxy?...

Some research/googling and I found a few sites; this is along the
lines of what I am looking to discover. I just want to know where or
in what direction a star or constellion is in relation to our sun, in
terms of our galaxy. Of course for a constellation there are many
stars spread out in space, but all in some general direction--and I
want to know in what direction.
http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/milkyway.html
http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/milkyway2.jpg [unlabled]
Perhaps the next site is the most detailed, albeit zoomed in on just
our sector, but from it I think the direction of some stars and
objects can be deduced:
http://www.sslmit.unibo.it/zat/image...hy/M-Way_2.htm
http://www.ras.ucalgary.ca/CGPS/wher..._basic_big.gif

On Aug 8, 1:32 pm, " wrote:
ok so as I look up at the constellations in the sky, specifically
those that the milky way galaxy goes through, or really any
constellations, i am asking myself what direction in space am i
looking with respect to our milky way galaxy? i mean, when i see
casseopia, or cygnus, *where* am i looking in terms of earth and the
galaxy? Am i looking towards the center of the galaxy? away from the
galaxy center but through our arm of the galaxy, etc.? That seems like
a valid question any curious star gazer should want to know, I know I
do. Is there some star map of a sort that shows our galaxy, location
of earth in it, and the direction relative to earth and the galaxy of
the constellations? That would be interesting to see.

The center of the milky way galaxy is in Sagittarius. For both
Cassiopeia and Cygnus, you are looking pretty much along the galactic
plane. The galactic plane (starting from the galactic center) follows
a line from Sagittarius through Aquila, Cygnus, Cepheus, Cassiopeia,
Perseus, Auriga, Gemini, Orion, Monoceros, Canis Major, Puppis, Vela,
Carnia, Crux, Musca, Circinus, Norma, Scorpius and then back to
Sagittarius. Some of these are only visible from the Northern
Hemisphere, and some are only visible from the Southern Hemisphere.

The position of the constellations doesn't make much sense in 3D
space, because the constellations are really bright stars that are
close to each other only from our viewpoint. The constellations are
composed of stars that are not associated with each other. Some of
the bright stars only appear bright because they are close to us (like
Alpha Centauri at 4.8ly) , while some are very far away, but are very
large, therefore very bright (like Rigel in Orion, 775 ly away).

You might be interested in this site: http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/index.html

wrote:

ok so as I look up at the constellations in the sky, specifically
those that the milky way galaxy goes through, or really any
constellations, i am asking myself what direction in space am i
looking with respect to our milky way galaxy? i mean, when i see
casseopia, or cygnus, *where* am i looking in terms of earth and the
galaxy? Am i looking towards the center of the galaxy? away from the
galaxy center but through our arm of the galaxy, etc.? That seems like
a valid question any curious star gazer should want to know, I know I
do. Is there some star map of a sort that shows our galaxy, location
of earth in it, and the direction relative to earth and the galaxy of
the constellations? That would be interesting to see.

Center of Milky Way is said to be close to the constellation Sagittarius.
The opposite direction would then be somewhere around Auriga (I think)
You may find this link interesting.

http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/

Gives an idea at least. And points out we are not just looking in a
direction, we are at the same time looking backwards in time... Andromeda
Galaxy is an example of some 2.7 million years backwards (light years away)

On Aug 8, 4:06 pm, Bill Hudson wrote:
....
The position of the constellations doesn't make much sense in 3D
space, because the constellations are really bright stars that are
close to each other only from our viewpoint. The constellations are
composed of stars that are not associated with each other. ...

But all the stars of a constellation, or one could speak of the
constellation itself, has to be "out there" in some linear direction
away from earth, in some relationship to the galaxy center. That is
what I am trying to reason out. Typical star charts do not speak of
that, at least the cheap books I have. So it does help when you say
Sagittarius is towards the center of out galaxy, from earth, that
makes sense to me then when I see the constellation in the sky.

On Aug 8, 4:06 pm, Bill Hudson wrote:
.... For both
Cassiopeia and Cygnus, you are looking pretty much along the galactic
plane. ...

But in what direction, from earth along that plane? Seems there would
be a market for someone to write a 3D interactive map of the galaxy,
with stars and such in 3D, man that would be nice. Any software
developers out there looking for a new product idea?

On Aug 8, 2:09 pm, Iordani wrote:
wrote:
ok so as I look up at the constellations in the sky, specifically
those that the milky way galaxy goes through, or really any
constellations, i am asking myself what direction in space am i
looking with respect to our milky way galaxy? i mean, when i see
casseopia, or cygnus, *where* am i looking in terms of earth and the
galaxy? Am i looking towards the center of the galaxy? away from the
galaxy center but through our arm of the galaxy, etc.? That seems like
a valid question any curious star gazer should want to know, I know I
do. Is there some star map of a sort that shows our galaxy, location
of earth in it, and the direction relative to earth and the galaxy of
the constellations? That would be interesting to see.

Center of Milky Way is said to be close to the constellation Sagittarius.
The opposite direction would then be somewhere around Auriga (I think)

Pretty close! Sgr A * is at 17h 45m 40.04s 29° 00 28.1 , so the
reciprocal bearing would be 12h less and reversed sign on the
declination, or 5h 45m 40.04s +29° 00 28.1 , so right near the Auriga/
Gemini/Taurus borders.

On Aug 8, 2:12 pm, " wrote:
On Aug 8, 4:06 pm, Bill Hudson wrote:
... For both

Cassiopeia and Cygnus, you are looking pretty much along the galactic
plane. ...

But in what direction, from earth along that plane? Seems there would
be a market for someone to write a 3D interactive map of the galaxy,
with stars and such in 3D, man that would be nice. Any software
developers out there looking for a new product idea?

I don't know if this is really what you're looking for but you might
check out Stellarium http://www.stellarium.org/
and Celestia http://shatters.net/celestia/

:

ok so as I look up at the constellations in the sky, specifically
those that the milky way galaxy goes through, or really any
constellations, i am asking myself what direction in space am i
looking with respect to our milky way galaxy? i mean, when i see
casseopia, or cygnus, *where* am i looking in terms of earth and the
galaxy...

Where is M13? http://www.thinkastronomy.com/M13/index.html is now a
free download for Mac, Linux, and Windoze. It used to cost $19.

Davoud

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

On Wed, 08 Aug 2007 23:09:49 +0200, Iordani wrote:

Center of Milky Way is said to be close to the constellation Sagittarius.

Also worth pointing out that compared with the distance to the center of
the Milky Way, all of the stars that make up the visible constellation
of Sagittarius are very close. When we look at the center of the Milky
Way, we are really looking _through_ Sagittarius.

Saying that the center of the galaxy is in Sagittarius, while completely
correct in normal usage, might also be confusing to some beginners.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com