Find your bearings (2)
View from the cockpit as we approach Tialán
When you are travelling in space, what is North? what is South? What East and West? Does it even make sense to talk about them? As we mentioned in our last post everything in space is rotating one way or another.
Let us take a rotating sphere, like planet Earth, stand up on the equator our arms stretched out in a horizontal straight line, and look in the direction of movement, the direction in which distant stars rise vertically over the horizon. We are looking East. Our left hand is pointing North, parallel to the axis of rotation, and our right hand is pointing South. These definitions hold for every rotating object.
Position along the surface is measured with two angles, longitude, which measure East-West displacement, and latitude, which measures North-South Displacement. Altitude, the distance over the surface, is a very provincial concept. For space travel we refer to distance to the center of our reference object. Both distance and latitude are straight forward geometrical concepts, but longitude requires an origin, a zero meridian where we start measuring from and that is arbitrary, often defined by the locals.
The Absolute Lactean Coordinates (ALC) use the centre of the galaxy and its means axis of rotation to define North, South, East and West. The position of the Helian sun with respect to the centre of the Milky way is used to define the origin of galactic longitude, zero longitude.
As we leave the interstellar void and approach celestial bodies, our displays will incorporate new relevant coordinate systems in addition to ALC. System coordinates (Such as Spofiné), Planetary (Such as Tianlán), Satellital (Such as Tantú) or local, such as a Spherogram or a large structure like The Mamma Granda Inn.
Make sure you visit the ships bridge as you apprach “land”. It is very exciting to see new systems light up. In many cases this indicates your life is about the take a new turn, in a new planet, a new society. May be one that is empty and needs to be made habitable. Or maybe you are just changing ship in the Tantú transport hub and you will have to hibernate one thousand more years before you reach your destination.
Enjoy your stay in Tantú.
