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(110–210 Earth radii) 6.36×10 6 –1.27×10 7: 6.80–7.10: The space dominated by Earth's magnetic field and its magnetotail, shaped by the solar wind. Earth's orbit: 299.2 million km 2 AU: 2.99×10 8: 8.48: The average diameter of the orbit of the Earth relative to the Sun. Encompasses the Sun, Mercury and Venus. Inner Solar System ~6.54 AU
Aristotle himself believed that the Milky Way was part of the Earth's upper atmosphere, along with the stars, and that it was a byproduct of stars burning that did not dissipate because of its outermost location in the atmosphere, composing its great circle.
The galactic coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system in spherical coordinates, with the Sun as its center, the primary direction aligned with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy, and the fundamental plane parallel to an approximation of the galactic plane but offset to its north.
17 45 40.04, −29° 00′ 28.1″. The Galactic Center, as seen by one of the 2MASS infrared telescopes, is located in the bright upper left portion of the image. Marked location of the Galactic Center. The Galactic Center is the barycenter of the Milky Way and a corresponding point on the rotational axis of the galaxy.
The Orion Arm, also known as the Orion–Cygnus Arm, is a minor spiral arm within the Milky Way Galaxy spanning 3,500 light-years (1,100 parsecs) in width and extending roughly 10,000 light-years (3,100 parsecs) in length. This galactic structure encompasses the Solar System, including Earth.
Galactic quadrant. Longitudinal lines of the galactic coordinate system. A galactic quadrant, or quadrant of the Galaxy, is one of four circular sectors in the division of the Milky Way Galaxy. Numbered quadrants and sectors of constellations. Quadrants as starcharts, with most prominent stars marked.
In 1959, the IAU defined the position of the Milky Way's north galactic pole as exactly RA = 12 h 49 m, 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 12 h 51 m 26.282 s, Dec 27° 07′ 42.01″.
The Andromeda–Milky Way collision is a galactic collision predicted to occur in about 4.5 billion years between the two largest galaxies in the Local Group—the Milky Way (which contains the Solar System and Earth) and the Andromeda Galaxy.
The theory of galactocentrism was an important step in the development of cosmological models as speculation on the existence of other galaxies, comparable in size and structure to the Milky Way, placed the Earth in its proper perspective with respect to the rest of the universe.
The Milky Way is a barred spiral, although the bar itself is difficult to observe from Earth's current position within the galactic disc. The most convincing evidence for the stars forming a bar in the Galactic Center comes from several recent surveys, including the Spitzer Space Telescope.