![\"Galaxy](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8277\/8706286375_a375eaec61_n_d.jpg\")
<\/a>I found a comment left on one of Greta van der Rol\u2019s blog posts interesting: the discussion was of a space ship coasting to a stop in space because the engine failed.\u00a0 This will not happen, but he asked, \u201cCoast to a stop \u2013 relative to what?\u201d And he made the point of my next post in an elegantly succinct manner. The biggest issue in flitting around space is that everything is in motion.<\/p>\n
If we board an aircraft in New York and fly to London, noodle around for a week then fly back; New York is almost always right where we left it.\u00a0 We can use landmarks, compass headings & distance and now GPS satellite signals to travel from one point on our globe to another with little risk of missing our mark \u2013 unless we\u2019re using iMaps: then it\u2019s hard to say where you will end up!\u00a0 But in outer space \u2013 even interplanetary space \u2013 things are very different. Everything in our solar system orbits around our sun.\u00a0 We can use the sun as one fixed point of reference, but everything else is in motion and moving from one place to another requires a lot of complicated mathematics to calculate a trajectory that will put us in the place our destination will be when we get there.\u00a0 In marksmanship terms, we must \u201clead the target\u201d: shoot for where it will be, not where it is now.<\/p>\n
Once we leave our planetary system, things get a bit more strange, for our sun is no longer a fixed reference point; our solar system is in motion relative to the rest of the galaxy.\u00a0 If you think finding your car in the shopping mall parking lot is a challenge, how would you feel if sections of the lot could move around?\u00a0 What if light pole 6B was not guaranteed to be 4 rows to the left of the Penny\u2019s main entrance, but could be closer to Sears when you were ready to leave?\u00a0 That would throw a wrinkle into things wouldn\u2019t it?\u00a0 I\u2019d be using the valet parking for sure!<\/p>\n
We hop on an interstellar space ship bound for a distant star, noodle around for a few months collecting souvenirs and photographing the local flora and fauna, then head back home.\u00a0 But wait: home is not where we left it!\u00a0 Now what?<\/p>\n
As Sci-Fi writers we can simply type, \u201cEnsign Saunders, plot a course.\u201d and we\u2019re on our way.\u00a0 No need to wallow around in the details of interstellar navigation.\u00a0 But, isn\u2019t this a bit like saying, \u201cI have a calculator, why do I need to learn the multiplication tables?\u201d\u00a0 Sometimes, as a writer, wallowing in the details can add depth to your writing. So, how might we chart a galaxy so that our ships could reliably navigate through it?\u00a0 What would we use for landmarks when the land is fluid?<\/p>\n
Navigation by Coordinates.<\/em><\/h1>\n![\"galactic](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8399\/8706287217_d59b54f146_m_d.jpg\")
<\/a>There is a galactic coordinate system in use now. <\/em>The galactic coordinate system<\/b> is a celestial coordinate system<\/a> in spherical coordinates<\/a>, with the Sun<\/a> as its center, the primary direction aligned with the approximate center of the Milky Way galaxy<\/a>, and the fundamental plane<\/a> approximately in the galactic plane<\/a>. It uses the right-handed convention<\/a>, meaning that coordinates are positive toward the north and toward the east in the fundamental plane<\/a>.[1]<\/sup><\/a>This is a great way to plot celestial bodies as viewed from Earth, but I think we\u2019ll find its usefulness limited once we start bebopping about in other neighborhoods.<\/p>\nStar Maps<\/h1>\n
A computer model of the galaxy could, with sufficient memory and processing power, keep track of the gazillion stars and other celestial bodies in our galaxy.\u00a0 Such a computer will need to be powerful enough to make Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Titan supercomputer <\/em>(which resides down the road from me in Oak Ridge Tennessee, and is currently the world\u2019s fastest computer) look like a child\u2019s toy.\u00a0 But if you can plunk down a You Are Here pin on the map, you could calculate a course that will put you in the right spot when your destination gets to where it will be when you get there\u2026 and, hopefully, avoid hitting anything substantial while en route.\u00a0 This is fine if you have a careful record of where you have been, but how do you figure out where you are if you\u2019re not sure?<\/p>\nNavigating by Beacons<\/h1>\n
A network of beacons or satellites that emit a constant signal could be established and used as guide posts.\u00a0 Of course the beacons will be moving along with everything else, but if LaGrange points are chosen so the beacons can float along in relatively fixed positions relative to the rest of the galaxy their guidance should be useful.\u00a0 The bigger problem is that radio signals will take tens of thousands of years to span interstellar space and laser disperses quickly.\u00a0 Both signals are likely to become lost in the galactic background noise, making them of use only at relatively close range anyway.\u00a0 And the cost of setting up and maintaining a system of intergalactic lighthouses\u2026 let\u2019s not even go there!<\/p>\n![\"Pulsar_Chandra](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8140\/8707411494_075c6c4b92_m_d.jpg\" "\\"Pulsar_Chandra")
Pulsar_Chandra Crab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nA better system would be to use powerful, natural phenomena as sign posts.\u00a0 Like pulsars.\u00a0 <\/em>The European Space Agency\u2019s Ariadna initiative is examining the feasibility of navigation relying on millisecond pulsars; rotating neutron stars that spin faster than 40 revolutions per second.\u00a0 Each star is unique in its timing interval.\u00a0 Locate three of them in your proximity and you can triangulate your current position on that wondrous computerized star map your ship carries around.\u00a0 A ship with optical sensors could do this autonomously.\u00a0 Galactic GPS.<\/p>\nUsing pattern recognition software and constellations comes to mind as well.\u00a0 But again, as we travel around, and view the constellations from different angles, their shape will change.\u00a0 That pat-rec software will have to be really sophisticated to handle that!<\/p>\n
Other Ideas?<\/h1>\n
My money is on the pulsars and a star map in a bio-mega-super computer, but I\u2019d be very interested in hearing any other ideas you might have.<\/p>\n
Others in this series:<\/h2>\n
Science Fiction Fact & Fancy: Space Travel<\/a>
\nScience Fiction Fact & Fancy: Propulsion-Engines
\n<\/a>Science Fiction Fact & Fancy: Propulsion-Exotic<\/a>
\n Space: A Really Dangerous Place to Live<\/a>
\nScience Fiction Fact & Fancy: Navigation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Have you ever gone to a carnival and tried out the shooting gallery: the ones where you use a BB gun to plink over metal duckies as they swim across a shelf in the back of the booth? Even if the carney has not messed with the sights so the BB does not go where … Continue reading “Science Fiction Fact & Fancy: Navigation”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[13],"class_list":["post-5049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-muse","tag-scifi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5049"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21151,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5049\/revisions\/21151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a>There is a galactic coordinate system in use now. <\/em>The galactic coordinate system<\/b> is a celestial coordinate system<\/a> in spherical coordinates<\/a>, with the Sun<\/a> as its center, the primary direction aligned with the approximate center of the Milky Way galaxy<\/a>, and the fundamental plane<\/a> approximately in the galactic plane<\/a>. It uses the right-handed convention<\/a>, meaning that coordinates are positive toward the north and toward the east in the fundamental plane<\/a>.[1]<\/sup><\/a>This is a great way to plot celestial bodies as viewed from Earth, but I think we\u2019ll find its usefulness limited once we start bebopping about in other neighborhoods.<\/p>\nStar Maps<\/h1>\n
A computer model of the galaxy could, with sufficient memory and processing power, keep track of the gazillion stars and other celestial bodies in our galaxy.\u00a0 Such a computer will need to be powerful enough to make Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Titan supercomputer <\/em>(which resides down the road from me in Oak Ridge Tennessee, and is currently the world\u2019s fastest computer) look like a child\u2019s toy.\u00a0 But if you can plunk down a You Are Here pin on the map, you could calculate a course that will put you in the right spot when your destination gets to where it will be when you get there\u2026 and, hopefully, avoid hitting anything substantial while en route.\u00a0 This is fine if you have a careful record of where you have been, but how do you figure out where you are if you\u2019re not sure?<\/p>\n A network of beacons or satellites that emit a constant signal could be established and used as guide posts.\u00a0 Of course the beacons will be moving along with everything else, but if LaGrange points are chosen so the beacons can float along in relatively fixed positions relative to the rest of the galaxy their guidance should be useful.\u00a0 The bigger problem is that radio signals will take tens of thousands of years to span interstellar space and laser disperses quickly.\u00a0 Both signals are likely to become lost in the galactic background noise, making them of use only at relatively close range anyway.\u00a0 And the cost of setting up and maintaining a system of intergalactic lighthouses\u2026 let\u2019s not even go there!<\/p>\n A better system would be to use powerful, natural phenomena as sign posts.\u00a0 Like pulsars.\u00a0 <\/em>The European Space Agency\u2019s Ariadna initiative is examining the feasibility of navigation relying on millisecond pulsars; rotating neutron stars that spin faster than 40 revolutions per second.\u00a0 Each star is unique in its timing interval.\u00a0 Locate three of them in your proximity and you can triangulate your current position on that wondrous computerized star map your ship carries around.\u00a0 A ship with optical sensors could do this autonomously.\u00a0 Galactic GPS.<\/p>\n Using pattern recognition software and constellations comes to mind as well.\u00a0 But again, as we travel around, and view the constellations from different angles, their shape will change.\u00a0 That pat-rec software will have to be really sophisticated to handle that!<\/p>\n My money is on the pulsars and a star map in a bio-mega-super computer, but I\u2019d be very interested in hearing any other ideas you might have.<\/p>\n Science Fiction Fact & Fancy: Space Travel<\/a> Have you ever gone to a carnival and tried out the shooting gallery: the ones where you use a BB gun to plink over metal duckies as they swim across a shelf in the back of the booth? Even if the carney has not messed with the sights so the BB does not go where … Continue reading “Science Fiction Fact & Fancy: Navigation”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[13],"class_list":["post-5049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-muse","tag-scifi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5049"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21151,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5049\/revisions\/21151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Navigating by Beacons<\/h1>\n
Other Ideas?<\/h1>\n
Others in this series:<\/h2>\n
\nScience Fiction Fact & Fancy: Propulsion-Engines
\n<\/a>Science Fiction Fact & Fancy: Propulsion-Exotic<\/a>
\n Space: A Really Dangerous Place to Live<\/a>
\nScience Fiction Fact & Fancy: Navigation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"