North in Space?

[wesley05]

I'm sorry if this has been posted before, but after chattin with a few mates, i suddenly had the urge to know what a compass would do in space, as in which way it would point if that makes sense. <br />Its really pointless question, but its just irratating me trying to think about it lol<br /><br />p.s, i'm new, and i'm just wondering if anyone else has ever tried thinknig of the edge of the universe/space? <br />it really will drive you crazy, try it

 

[michaelmozina]

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/22apr_currentsheet.htm<br /><br />Alas, as you can see from this article, it's a bit complicated I'm afraid. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />The sun has a magnetic alignment that slowly rotates in relationship to its spin axis. It takes approximately 22 years for the sun to complete one full rotation of it's magnetic field. This rotation of the sun's magnetic field in relationship to the sun's spin axis is the cause of the sun's 11 year solar cycle. Active phases occur when the sun's north and south magnetic poles point roughly north and south of the equator. During "quiet" phases, the sun's magnetic fields are aligned roughly parallel to this spin axis. The sun's spin axis is actually more "stable" than the sun's magnetic alignment. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds. - Kristian Birkeland </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

Excellent description, MichaelMozina, but then, you are one of the best-read of all of the laypeople here on the subject of the Sun. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />The easy answer to the question is that magnetic compasses aren't useful in space, but there is a technical definition of "north". For the purpose of defining coordinates of stars and things (as viewed from Earth), the universe is divided into two halves. The north half is the half that the Earth's north rotational pole points into. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />In general, the north part of a rotating body is held to be the part where, if you were above that part, directly in line with the rotational axis, you will see the planet turning counter-clockwise. This is why astronomers say that Venus has its south pole pointing "up", into the northern celestial hemisphere -- by definition, an object rotating backwards (like Venus) has its north pole pointing "down". (Assuming we define "up" as "roughly in the direction of the Earth's northern hemisphere".)<br /><br />However, some astronomers don't like that definition, and instead define the north rotational pole of a body by which end of it is pointing into the same half of the ecliptic as the Earth's north rotational pole. This obviously has problems when looking at extrasolar systems, or even with oddballs in our own solar system, such as Uranus (which has an axial tilt close enough to 90 degrees to make it semantically challenging). <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[drwayne]

This is another place where you will see "right hand rule" aplied in some definitions...<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>