![Auriga](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Auriga.png)
The galactic anticenter is a direction in space directly opposite to the
Galactic Center
The Galactic Center or Galactic Centre is the rotational center, the barycenter, of the Milky Way galaxy. Its central massive object is a supermassive black hole of about 4 million solar masses, which is called Sagittarius A*, a compact rad ...
, as viewed from
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
. This direction corresponds to a point on the
celestial sphere
In astronomy and navigation, the celestial sphere is an abstract sphere that has an arbitrarily large radius and is concentric to Earth. All objects in the sky can be conceived as being projected upon the inner surface of the celestial sphere, ...
.
From the perspective of an observer on Earth, the galactic anticenter is located in the constellation
Auriga
AURIGA (''Antenna Ultracriogenica Risonante per l'Indagine Gravitazionale Astronomica'') is an ultracryogenic resonant bar gravitational wave detector in Italy. It is at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nuclea ...
, and the
Crab nebula
The Crab Nebula (catalogue designations Messier object, M1, New General Catalogue, NGC 1952, Taurus (constellation), Taurus A) is a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in the constellation of Taurus (constellation), Taurus. The common name ...
and the bright star
Beta Tauri
Beta Tauri is the second-brightest star in the constellation of Taurus. It has the official name Elnath; ''Beta Tauri'' is the current Bayer designation, which is Latinised from β Tauri and abbreviated Beta Tau or β Tau. The origina ...
(Elnath) appear nearest this point. For binocular and telescope observers in
dark sky locations, the magnitude 8.5 star
HIP
In vertebrate anatomy, hip (or "coxa"Latin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) in medical terminology) refers to either an anatomical region or a joint.
The hip region is ...
27180 appears closest to this point.
Location
In terms of the
galactic coordinate system
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 ap ...
, the Galactic Center (in
Sagittarius) corresponds to a longitude of 0°, while the anticenter is located exactly at 180°. In the
equatorial coordinate system
The equatorial coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system widely used to specify the positions of celestial objects. It may be implemented in spherical or rectangular coordinates, both defined by an origin at the centre of Earth, a fund ...
, the anticenter is found at roughly
RA 05h 46m,
dec +28° 56'.
See also
*
Anticenter shell
The anticenter shell or anticenter superbubble is a region near the anticenter of the Milky Way Galaxy that emits 21 cm radiation. It is located at , or l = 197°, b = +2° in galactic coordinates, near the border of the constellations Gemini a ...
*
Galactic Center
The Galactic Center or Galactic Centre is the rotational center, the barycenter, of the Milky Way galaxy. Its central massive object is a supermassive black hole of about 4 million solar masses, which is called Sagittarius A*, a compact rad ...
References
Anticenter
Anticenter
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