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Suppose 2 spaceships leave from the earth's north and South Pole going straight up which one will exit the galaxy first (assume they have the same speed and are going in a totally straight line) ? Edge of the galaxy means absence of stars, this question refers to the up-down edge of this spiral galaxy. The question is about the current distance from the earths poles to the edge (top/down) not to the galactic plane, as far as I understand after crossing the plane the nearest pole to the edge will be reversed.

user426132
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  • Given the kind of distances involved, you can treat the Earth as a mathematical point without any loss of accuracy in the answer. Now, do you want "edges" in the spiral plane, or perpendicular to that? – Carl Witthoft Mar 25 '19 at 17:31
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    You might like to [edit] your question to be a bit more precise. How do you define “edge”? Are you including the dark matter halo? Are you ignoring gravitational effects (both boosts and “drag”)? Ie is this about simple straight-line distance, or plotting an escape arc? – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Mar 25 '19 at 23:47
  • Edited to show the question requires a simple straight line, and edge means perpendicular – user426132 Mar 26 '19 at 08:08
  • and our solar system is at a large angle to the ecliptic plane (https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/orientation-of-the-earth-sun-and-solar-system-in-the-milky-way.888643/) so to get to the edge, you don't want to exit via the pole but at ~27deg from the equator. – Hobbes Mar 26 '19 at 08:24
  • take into consideration the angle... the exit is from the pole – user426132 Mar 26 '19 at 08:30
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    exiting from the pole gives a much longer trajectory than exiting perpendicular to the galactic plane. – Hobbes Mar 26 '19 at 09:59
  • yes it does... and I am interested in this situation which line would be longer.. from the south or from the north pole – user426132 Mar 26 '19 at 10:57
  • @hobbes - but since the North and South poles are perpendicular, the angle relative to the galaxy does not affect which one "wins the race" – Carl Witthoft Mar 26 '19 at 19:58
  • In case it's not clear from the answers on the question linked by Hobbes, we are currently "north" of the galactic plane. – PM 2Ring Mar 27 '19 at 10:01
  • 60° from south to north by system planetary to the galaxy plane, and 23° south to north by earth in the planetary system, obvious south pole, but real question which direction sun has? – Adrian R Mar 28 '19 at 07:43
  • what does "north" of the galactic plane mean? We are above the galactic plane and the earth's north pole is pointing away from it? – user426132 Mar 29 '19 at 13:06

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