Question about computer models of our galaxy

[bdewoody]

I watch a lot on the science channel about space and I wonder when they show computer generated models of our galaxy and the local cluster are they taking into account the shift in position due to the varying amount of time it takes light from different stars to reach earth.<br /><br />I hope this question makes sense. But it seems to me that what we see especially of our own galaxy is distorted by the amount of time it takes for the light from distant stars to reach us and therefore a model showing the stars relative positions should be adjusted to take this into account. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em><font size="2">Bob DeWoody</font></em> </div>

 

[vogon13]

Light takes roughly 100,00 years to cross the galaxy.<br /><br />Galaxy takes ~250,000,000 years to rotate once.<br /><br /><br />Probably don't have to worry about that detail too much . . . . <br /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[brellis]

One of the coolest 'puter models I've seen shows individual stars moving against the structural motion of the spiral arms of the Milky Way, so over hundreds of millions of years a particular star will actually shift its galactic position from one arm to the next. How'd they manage to figger that one out? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><em><strong>I'm a recovering optimist - things could be better.</strong></em></font> </p> </div>

 

[vogon13]

Arms are traced out by one particular short lived star variety. Hoi polloi type stars wander galaxy freely.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[brellis]

That makes sense. I'm still amazed that we can deduce such million-year motion in the short time we've been able to observe the universe thru telescopes.<br /><br />Do you know which type of star we orbit?<br /><br />Does the planet Vogon orbit a Hoi Polloi-type star? <img src="/images/icons/rolleyes.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><em><strong>I'm a recovering optimist - things could be better.</strong></em></font> </p> </div>

 

[vogon13]

Without hanging around a redwood forest for 4000 years, you can get a pretty good idea of how a redwood forest works.<br /><br />Look at seeds, buds, leaves saplings, fallen trees, etc. and you can get an idea of what's going on in an afternoon.<br /><br />Astronomers have been studying stars for centuries, we probably have that down pretty good at this point.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[brellis]

<font color="yellow"> Astronomers have been studying stars for centuries, we probably have that down pretty good at this point. </font><br /><br />You've just explained why i'm a musician, and not an astonomer. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> I'm humbled when I consider the combined knowledge of generations of observing.<br /><br />It's an example of a dichotomy inherent to the human condition: for example, at one point we accomplished the "Quest for Fire", but most people today don't know how to make fire from scratch. As our society has grown more complex, and as our techonological reach has extended to the stars, we've entered an age of specialization. It's not necessary for a baker to know how to build a rocket, but it does make life richer to glean a little info outside one's particular focus.<br /><br />When I get my Astronomy Magazine, I like to relax by lying down under a dark sky, head pointed north, and imagine where the sun and all the planets are at the time, visible or not, according to the charts provided. It gives me a more clear sense of being on a sphere. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><em><strong>I'm a recovering optimist - things could be better.</strong></em></font> </p> </div>