2006-10-23 05:29:52 · 9 answers · asked by BOO! 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The Milky Way is visible in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, and at any time during the year. This tells you something - the axis of the Earth is perpendicular to the galactic plane. This is important regarding what you are seeing.
Now, our sun is located in in the Orion Arm of the galaxy (look at link 1 for a VERY good picture of the Sun's location in the arm). The Orion Arm is a relatively small one, but there is stuff from that arm around us on all sides. So SOME of the light you see in the milky way is almost certainly coming from the arm we're in.
But not ALL of it. Since we know the Earth's axis is close to perpendicular to the galactic plane, and it's also close to perpendicular to the solar plane, that suggests these two planes tend to correspond. This means that which direction you're looking, galactic-wise, will be different during different times of the year. Link 2 shows a panoramic view of the Milky Way... you can take the ends of that picture and make a loop out of them to get an idea of what an unobstructed view of the galaxy would look like throughout the year.
At no point do you see nothing... at its thinnest, you're seeing part of our arm and part of the distant Perseus Arm (which is further from the galactic center than we are). At its strongest, you are seeing much of the rest of the galaxy including the galactic core.
So yes, some of the light you see in the Milky Way band is undoubtedly from other arms! Hope that helps!
2006-10-23 09:37:02 · answer #1 · answered by Doctor Why 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As someone else said, we are not in an arm, but right on the edge of one.
If what we saw was the next arm over, then we would only see the Milky Way in half of our sky, and not in the other half. Since the Milky Way that we see in the night sky is fairly continuous (although brighter towards Sagittarius) then your hypothesis must be incorrect.
2006-10-23 12:51:03 · answer #2 · answered by kris 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Milky Way as seen in the night sky is actually the accumulated glow of the entire galactic disk. Many distant objects within the galaxy are too dim for the human eye to resolve individually, and light is also reflected, refracted, and dispersed by clouds of gas, making the light appear to have no specific source.
2006-10-23 12:39:23 · answer #3 · answered by DavidK93 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Our solar system is situated within the outer regions of the galaxy, well within the disk and only about 20 light years "above" the equatorial symmetry plane (to the direction of the Galactic North Pole, see below), but about 28,000 light years from the Galactic Center. Therefore, the Milky Way shows up as luminous band spanning all around the sky along this symmetry plane, which is also called the "Galactic Equator". Its center lies in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, but very close to the border of both neighbor constellations Scorpius and Ophiuchus.
2006-10-23 12:39:59 · answer #4 · answered by DanE 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The band of the galaxy during the summer in the Northern Hemisphere is the Sagittarius Arm. The one we see during the winter is an outer arm of the galaxy.
2006-10-23 14:10:48 · answer #5 · answered by bldudas 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
nope, it's the far side of the galaxy. Since we're essentially sitting in a big starry disk, the far side shows up as a big vague bright band.
2006-10-23 12:38:14 · answer #6 · answered by Chris P 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Try this link for a full answer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_way
2006-10-23 12:37:53 · answer #7 · answered by Yahzmin ♥♥ 4ever 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
actually no we are in the beginning of the arm you ae actually seeing the rest of it i work in chicago's adler planetarium
2006-10-23 12:37:28 · answer #8 · answered by chitown_princess88 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Are you sure you're not looking at Orion's Belt?
2006-10-23 12:37:36 · answer #9 · answered by boo's mom 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋