Milky Question

[bearack]

The Earth takes 24 hours to make a rotation. It takes 365 days to orbit the sun. How long doe's our solar system take to orbit the entire Milky Way or do we even make a celestial orbit at all? <br /><br />If our solar system doe's orbit the Milky Way, would we have similar effects like in our solar system, i.e. as we pull farther away from our sun we have a cooling trend. Could we at some point in an orbit be more exposed to gamma rays then other times?<br /><br />Please pardon all my questions, and most likely stupid questions, but I'm a noob in the field and trying to get a better understanding of how all this works.<br /><br />Thanks in advance.<br /><br />Tim<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><br /><img id="06322a8d-f18d-4ab1-8ea7-150275a4cb53" src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/6/14/06322a8d-f18d-4ab1-8ea7-150275a4cb53.Large.jpg" alt="blog post photo" /></p> </div>

 

[bearack]

LOL, didn't, apparently finish my title. I meant to have the title say "Milky Way Question"<br /><br />I guess the current title might peek some interest at least <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><br /><img id="06322a8d-f18d-4ab1-8ea7-150275a4cb53" src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/6/14/06322a8d-f18d-4ab1-8ea7-150275a4cb53.Large.jpg" alt="blog post photo" /></p> </div>

 

[garfieldthecat]

The question is not stupid at all <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />. Our sun does rotate around the galactic centre, at a speed of about 200 km/s. One complete rotation takes about 250 million years, so we have already completed around 25 rotations since the Sun appeared.<br />As for the Gamma ray, to my knowledge the dust clouds are quite well dispatched around the galactic center and we shouldn’t feel a big difference while rotating, nothing that would allow a perceptible temperature change, simply because the amount of energy we receive from the rest of the galaxy is ridiculous compared to what we receive from the Sun. But I’m not an expert in this field, so I’ll let others give a best or more complete answer <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br />

 

[bearack]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p><br />What makes you think the Earth is pulling farther away from our sun? <br /><p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />I'm referring to the cyclical orbit where the Earth gets closure and moves away.<br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Do you mean, is there any point in the Earth's orbit of the sun where it is more exposed to gamma rays, or are you asking if the Earth is more exposed to gamma rays at some point in the solar system's orbit of the galaxy? <br /><p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />I'm referring to gamma exposure from the Milky Way. I'm assuming our solar system has the same orbital wobble as all the planets within our solar system due to gravitation pulls. I'm wondering if we encounter more gamma the closure we get to the Milky Way center.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><br /><img id="06322a8d-f18d-4ab1-8ea7-150275a4cb53" src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/6/14/06322a8d-f18d-4ab1-8ea7-150275a4cb53.Large.jpg" alt="blog post photo" /></p> </div>

 

[bearack]

Thanks for the information.<br /><br />Wouldn't a galaxy with it massive gravitation pull(s) cause some sort of wobble, though? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><br /><img id="06322a8d-f18d-4ab1-8ea7-150275a4cb53" src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/6/14/06322a8d-f18d-4ab1-8ea7-150275a4cb53.Large.jpg" alt="blog post photo" /></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

A galaxy with it's massive gravitational pull on the solar system acts just the same as the Sun's massive pull on the earth.<br /><br />There is no "wobble" although since the orbit is eccentric (not a perfect circle) the object gets closer and further away from the gravitational source. But that is a standard (eccentric, as all are) orbit. From that orbit, there is no wobble. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[weeman]

<font color="yellow"> I'm referring to the cyclical orbit where the Earth gets closure and moves away. </font><br /><br />Earth's orbit is not a <i>perfect</i> circle, the difference from when Earth is closest to the Sun and when it is farthest from the Sun is only about 4 million miles. So, we experience much more temperature changes due Earth's tilt on its axis (giving us the four seasons). <br /><br />As a side note, one interesting thing that is being discovered with extrasolar planets is that most of them have highly elliptical orbits. We seem to have a unique solar system in that all of the planets have much more circular orbits (excluding Pluto). <br /><br />Many extrasolar planets have very elliptical orbits, meaning their distance from their host star may vary by more than 100 million miles! This is a much more extreme difference than we see with Earth's orbit. These extrasolar planets definitely experience intense changes in their temperatures and weather. <br /><br />Anyways, Earth orbits the galactic center once every 230 million years, give or take a few <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> This is astounding! It gives you an idea of just how colossal our galaxy really is! Think about what was happening on Earth, one galactic orbit ago (230 million years ago <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> ).<br /><br />In the time that our solar system has made one orbit, Earth saw the rise and fall of the dinosaurs, the rise of the first mammals, the rise of the first birds, the rise of the first flowering plants, the rise of primates, and the eventual evolution of humans! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[bearack]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>was happening on Earth, one galactic orbit ago (230 million years ago ). <p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />It's absolutely mind blowing. It really puts into perspective how our concept of time is really on a microbial level. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><br /><img id="06322a8d-f18d-4ab1-8ea7-150275a4cb53" src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/6/14/06322a8d-f18d-4ab1-8ea7-150275a4cb53.Large.jpg" alt="blog post photo" /></p> </div>

 

[weeman]

Indeed.<br /><br />In the last several years, I have treated Astronomy as a definite hobby, I can't get enough <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />I look at time completely different now. For example, the other day I was watching the movie 'The Great Outdoors' with John Candy and Dan Aykroyd, and I was thinking to myself how old it seems now, and how corny it seemed at parts. Although they're full of classics, we often joke about many movies from the 70's and 80's, and how old and outdated they seem today.<br /><br />20-30 years on a human scale seems like ages ago. 'The Great Outdoors' seems like an old movie, but it's only about 20 years old. But then I was thinking to myself, what is 20 years on a cosmic scale? <br /><br />It's nothing...nada...it is a puny measurement of time on a cosmic scale, it means almost nothing. Take lightyears for example, how far is 20 lightyears? On a human scale, it is a long, long ways away. However, on a cosmic scale, 20 lightyears is not far at all, it's right nextdoor in our galactic neighborhood. <br /><br />When we look at an object (like a star) that is 20 lightyears away, we don't have to look too far, we are seeing it fairly recently in its lifetime. Yet, 20 years ago to humans is a long time. The time it took for the light from the "nearby" star (at 20 lightyears) to reach Earth, is the same time from 1988 to right now! <br /><br />So then it makes the movie, 'The Great Outdoors' not seem so old! That's just how I often see things, it is an interesting way to put our universe into perspective. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>