Plane on which the majority of a disk-shaped galaxy's mass lies
Milky Way with galactic plane, ecliptic and celestial equator.
The galactic plane is the plane on which the majority of a disk-shaped galaxy's mass lies. The directions perpendicular to the galactic plane point to the galactic poles. In actual usage, the terms galactic plane and galactic poles usually refer specifically to the plane and poles of the Milky Way, in which Planet Earth is located.
Some galaxies are irregular and do not have any well-defined disk. Even in the case of a barred spiral galaxy like the Milky Way, defining the galactic plane is slightly imprecise and arbitrary since the stars are not perfectly coplanar. In 1959, the IAU defined the position of the Milky Way's north galactic pole as exactly RA = 12h 49m, Dec = 27° 24′ in the then-used B1950 epoch;[citation needed] in the currently-used J2000 epoch, after precession is taken into account, its position is RA 12h 51m 26.282s, Dec 27° 07′ 42.01″.[citation needed] This position is in Coma Berenices, near the bright star Arcturus; likewise, the south galactic pole lies in the constellation Sculptor.
The zero of longitude of galactic coordinates was also defined in 1959 to be at position angle 123° from the north celestial pole. Thus the zero longitude point on the galactic equator was at 17h 42m 26.603s, −28° 55′ 00.445″ (B1950) or 17h 45m 37.224s, −28° 56′ 10.23″ (J2000), and its J2000 position angle is 122.932°. The Galactic Center is located at position angle 31.72° (B1950) or 31.40° (J2000) east of north.
This edge-on view of the galaxy NGC 4452 from Earth shows its galactic plane, with the nucleus at the center.
This edge-on view of the spiral galaxy NGC 891 shows the profile of a dusty galactic plane.
The galacticplane is the plane on which the majority of a disk-shaped galaxy's mass lies. The directions perpendicular to the galacticplane point to...
center of the Milky Way Galaxy, and the fundamental plane parallel to an approximation of the galacticplane but offset to its north. It uses the right-handed...
visible region of the Milky Way's galacticplane occupies an area of the sky that includes 30 constellations. The Galactic Center lies in the direction of...
Way galacticplane) Camelopardalis Ursa Major Coma Berenices (near the Milky Way galactic north pole) Virgo Centaurus Circinus (in the galacticplane) Triangulum...
Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. is a British-American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and the Virgin Group conglomerate which retains an...
(Southern GalacticPlane Survey) focuses on Romulans". "Galactic quadrants" within Star Wars canon astrography map depicts a top-down view of the galactic disk...
order of 1016 solar masses. However, it is obscured by the Milky Way's galacticplane, lying behind the Zone of Avoidance (ZOA), so that in visible light...
the direction towards the Galactic Center. Galactic latitude resembles the elevation above the galacticplane and galactic longitude determines direction...
close to a single plane (the galacticplane) in more or less conventional circular orbits around the center of the galaxy (the Galactic Center), or in a...
The Galactic Center is the barycenter of the Milky Way and a corresponding point on the rotational axis of the galaxy. Its central massive object is a...
view of the GalacticPlane than is possible at optical wavelengths, due to absorption by material in the disk of the galaxy. The GCS (Galactic) covers an...
account the absorption of light by interstellar dust present in the galacticplane; but after Robert Julius Trumpler quantified this effect in 1930 by...
half of the galacticplane. Main dark nebulae of the Solar antapex half of the galacticplane. Main stellar associations of the galacticplane in the night...
orbit of the galactic center cause it to regularly pass through the galacticplane. When the Sun's orbit takes it outside the galacticplane which bisects...
to be narrower in the galacticplane, becoming somewhat egg-shaped or elliptical, and may widen above and below the galacticplane, becoming shaped like...
The galactic ridge is a region of the inner galaxy that is coincident with the galacticplane of the Milky Way. It can be seen from Earth as a band of...
exoplanet, discovered in 2020 by TESS. The planet is located outside the galacticplane. LHS 1815 b is a terrestrial planet (super-Earth) with a mass of 0.0132...
the emission from the galactic nebulae, making detection of Planet Nine thermal emission problematic close to the galacticplane or bulge. Because the...
in a more irregular shape. These were generally found in or near the galacticplane of the Milky Way. Astronomers dubbed the former globular clusters, and...
the Bolocam GalacticPlane Survey (BGPS) took place from June 2005 until September 2007 and covers 170 square degrees of the galacticplane visible from...
the center. The thin disk contributes about 85% of the stars in the Galacticplane and 95% of the total disk stars. It can be set apart from the thick...
are the largest known structures in the universe, consisting of walls of galactic superclusters. These massive, thread-like formations can commonly reach...
the primary galaxy's spiral arms. An example of a major interaction is a galactic collision, which may lead to a galaxy merger. A giant galaxy interacting...
Vega. The plane of the ecliptic lies at an angle of about 60° to the galacticplane. The Sun follows a nearly circular orbit around the Galactic Center (where...
of 204.2 Myr. At present it is 23 ly (7 pc) below the galacticplane, and it will cross the plane every 29.4 Myr. As of January 2022, the Butterfly Cluster...
Belt is a local ring of stars in the Milky Way, tilted away from the galacticplane by about 16–20 degrees, first reported by John Herschel and Benjamin...
candidates. In June 2023 IceCube identified as a galactic map the neutrino diffuse emission from the Galacticplane at the 4.5σ level of significance. Physics...
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