2007-02-26 03:54:18 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
There is no "really down" in space. Down is the direction that gravity pulls you. On Earth, that is toward the center of the Earth. It is not toward the south pole of the Earth, even though many people wonder why it is possible to stand at the south pule without falling off the Earth.
If you mean what is in the direction south of the solar system, then there are a number of southern constellations. But that direction is not "really down". There is no such thing as "really down" in space. I know the idea is hard to understand, but that is because space is so totally different than the surface of the Earth.
2007-02-26 04:00:54 · answer #1 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What is "down?"
We define such terms as "up" and "down" in reference to the center of the earth, while we're on the earth. In open space, such terms have no meaning really. You can define a coordinate system in relation to the sun, or the stars, or whatever your choose -- up and down have no meaning in open space.
If you are between earth and Mars in open space, and you travel at a right angle to the plane of the ecliptic (the plane in which the planets orbit the sun), you'd just find more open space...it's a long way to the closest star to our sun (just over 4 light years), and would take many thousands of years to get to any other star at even the fastest speeds we can now travel. Most of space is just empty -- a few molecules of gas and the occasional few particles of dust, not much more. And there's a lot more of that gas and dust in the plane of the ecliptic in our local region than there is outside of the plane...
2007-02-26 12:00:21 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you mean like "south" in the solar system, you would travel for a few tens of light years and eventually come to another solar system.
2007-02-26 12:08:04 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Define "down" in the context of this question. There technically would not BE a "down." Unless you mean "under your feet," in which case the answer is your own spacecraft.
2007-02-26 11:57:31 · answer #4 · answered by CaptDare 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well... between Mars and Earth, all there is is space... nice... empty space.
2007-02-26 11:57:32 · answer #5 · answered by Ryan 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
On Mars? I hope those pyramids and the carved face, but probably not.
2007-02-26 11:57:12 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
there is no "down" in space
2007-02-26 11:57:00 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋