Encyclopædia Galactica Rami T. F. Rekola Tuorlan Astronomical Society Tuorla Observatory University of Turku

CooC - Coordinate Conversions (version 3.0)

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Galactic coordinate system

For studies of more distant galactic objects or somewhat closeby extragalactic objects, a natural reference plane is the plane of the Milky Way. Since the Sun lies very close to that plane, we can put the origin at the Sun.

Galactic longitude, l, is measured counterclockwise from the direction of the centre of the Milky Way (in Sagittarius, R.A. = 17h 45.7min, dec. = -29 deg). The values are between 0 and 360 degrees in decimal format (degrees).

Galactic latitude, b, is measured from the galactic plane, positive northwards and negative southwards. The values are between -90 and +90 degrees in decimal format (degrees).

For more information on different coordinate systems, please check the corresponding encyclopædia article.




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