For the astronomy guys out there...

[elija]

If you haven't seen it already I think you'll enjoy every space mission in the last 50 years - on 1 map (warning it's quite big)

[Daniel_B]

If you haven't seen it already I think you'll enjoy -snip- every space mission in the last 50 years - on 1 map[/url] (warning it's quite big)

Saw that recently, absolutely amazing. I am absolutely facilitated with aerospace engineering (although I do not know enough math yet to really understand most of it), I think that it is amazing how we slingshot a single satellite multiple times off of different planets to accelerate it.

[techieMoe]

Cool. I was just discussing with my wife the other night that I wondered why it was the space missions we send out seem to all go "horizontally" along the ellipse of our galaxy. I wondered why we don't send probes in perpendicular directions as well. Of course, I could just be demonstrating my ignorance of interstellar physics.

[Daniel_B]

Cool. I was just discussing with my wife the other night that I wondered why it was the space missions we send out seem to all go "horizontally" along the ellipse of our galaxy. I wondered why we don't send probes in perpendicular directions as well. Of course, I could just be demonstrating my ignorance of interstellar physics.

I think the information graphics we get present it as flat, but the planets are in fact at different "vertical" positions relative to earth. I could not imagine us being that well aligned. There would be little purpose in sending anything "up" (so to speak) because we can see everything from here.

[D-cat]

I don't know if I can find the graph, but indeed the planets do not orbit on the same plane, but are amazingly pretty close (in a narrow range we call the Orbital Plane). Using Mercury as 0 deg, the planes shift steeper as you get further away (for the most part). The images that draw Pluto (will always be a planet to me) as an eliptical cross sectioning orbit with Neptune make more sense when you see the planar angles.

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Not the image I was referring to, but it kind of makes the point.

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Also, this page makes a good illustration from Earth's POV.
What is a planetary alignment? Infinitewell

[Daniel_B]

Thanks for the image, quite informative. Does the image that you were thinking of have all the planets positions on it? If you can find that it would be awesome.

[D-cat]

Took a while... here ya go.



Still not the EXACT one I saw in a book years ago, but this is pretty much it.

[Daniel_B]

Took a while... here ya go.



Still not the EXACT one I saw in a book years ago, but this is pretty much it.

That answers a question I've had for years, thanks.

[questio verum]

Nice find, Elija! You know I love this stuff. This one would definitely make a nice wall poster. We have two more months left in the official "Year of Astronomy", so stay on the lookout for those end of the year 'blowouts'.

qv

[enyocnosaj]

Awesome pic! I've recently been following NASA on Twitter.

twitter(dot)com/NASA