let me rephrase this. Why is the Milky Way Galaxy Perpendicular to the horizon in the night sky on earth?

Question

One might assume that it would appear horizontal if our solar system was aligned on a near level plane with its parent galaxy.

Answer 1

The Milky Way is not perpendicular to the horizon in the night sky "on earth".

The horizon represents different angles to the ecliptic depending on one's lattitude!

The plane of the ecliptic is defined as the plane of the earth's orbit around the sun. It can be thought of, roughly, as the plane that the sun appears to be in as it arcs across the daytime sky.

If one stands near the north or south pole, the horizon is parallel to the ecliptic, and if one stands at the equator, the horizon is perpendicular to it.

The plane of the ecliptic is NOT the plane of the Milky Way.

Depending on where you stand on the map, you will see the Milky Way hit the horizon at just about any angle you like, from parallel to perpendicular.

Answer 2

Perpendicular To The Horizon

Answer 3

The Milky Way is NOT perpendicular to the horizon, except at this time of the year. At other times of the year it runs around parallel to the horizon. This is because the Earth's axis of rotation is not perpendicular to the plane of the Milky Way, so the angle of the Milky Way changes relative to the horizon as the Earth rotates. Go out and look at the sky for a while before jumping to conclusions!

Answer 4

The Milky Way we see is actually the near edge of the Sagittarius Arm.

So picture the galaxy as a flat rotating pizza.
The Earth is a small olive out towards the edge, but tilted over, not aligned with the pizza.
So from that olive the pizza would appear to be at an angle in the sky.
The Earth is not rotating perpendicular to the galactic axis, its tilted.

Answer 5

It depends on the season, the location on the Earth you are looking from, and the time of night. The Milky Way's location in relation to the horizon is in a state of constant change.

And as to why our solar system's plane is not aligned to the galaxy, why should it be? Every collapsing gas cloud that forms stars (like the one that formed our solar system) doesn't spin exactly in sync with our galaxy.

Answer 6

Our own solar system is tipped by about 63 degrees with respect to the plane of the galaxy.

Answer 7

The milky way is just a whole bunch of stars. The latitude of your geographic position on earth will determine how it is oriented in the sky.

Answer 8

One might assume, but one does not know for sure. There wouldn't be "wonders of the Universe" if we could explain everything and it all made sense.