Top Posters
Since Sunday
o
4
b
4
4
s
3
j
3
b
3
m
3
K
3
g
3
L
3
w
3
m
3
New Topic  
michal.levy michal.levy
wrote...
Posts: 34
Rep: 1 0
11 years ago
Do the planetary disks for most solar systems in the galaxy form oriented in the same plane as the Galaxy itself? The Kepler Telescope depends on planets passing between between the sun it orbits and the telescope in order to be detected. Planets orbiting in a plane perpendicular to our view of that solar system will never be detected. The relationship will determine how many planets it is possible to detect and the percentage of undetectable planets (by that method).
Read 385 times
6 Replies
Replies
wrote...
11 years ago
The plane of the Solar system is quite a ways off the plane of the galaxy.

Edit: 60 degrees off!
wrote...
11 years ago
The planetary planes tend to be similar to the galactic plane, simply due to the process of their creation, but no, there is no set relationship between them.
wrote...
11 years ago
I'm waiting for branson or somebody to give out with a flying saucer so can check it out personally & safely.
wrote...
11 years ago
There's a tendency for the planes to be similar due to Coriolis force from the gravitational gradient of the galaxy but impacts tend to cause random deviations much as our planets rotations have similar tilts and directions but with a few variations.   Planets whose orbital plane is parallel to the galactic disk are easier to detect by transits and doppler wobble while planets whose orbital planes are tangential to the galactic plane are easier to detect by visual wobble.   The relationship doesn't limit how many planets it is possible to detect because we have more than one verified technique to detect exoplanets.
Answer accepted by topic starter
irinairina
wrote...
Top Poster
Posts: 919
11 years ago
Sign in or Sign up in seconds to unlock everything for free
This verified answer contains over 210 words.
1

Related Topics

wrote...
11 years ago
Is there a relationship between the planetary disk and the disk of our galaxy?

No. One is from the leftovers from the formation of *one* star, the other is the set of *all* the stars in that galaxy.

What I *PRESUME* (but correct me if I'm wrong) is why would those two structures look similar at such different scales. It has to do with dynamics, and more specifically to a conservation law called "conservation of angular momentum", from which you can explain why a rotating system under a gravitational potential would form a disk. If you haven't learnt about it in high school, you will learn it if you attend the first year of a college physics undegratuate course.Do the planetary disks for most solar systems in the galaxy form oriented in the same plane as the Galaxy itself?

No. The orientation of the planetary disk's rotation axis has to do with local effects (perturbation from neighbours) than with the whole galaxy.

In fact, you'll notice that the coordinate system known as galactic coordinate system is pretty much slanted relative to the ecliptic (the "plane" on which the Earth orbits the Sun, and around which most material in the solar system orbits the Sun). This coordinate system traces more or less along the Milky Way, which does not lie along the ecliptic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_coordinate_systemThe Kepler Telescope depends on planets passing between between the sun it orbits and the telescope in order to be detected.

Almost that. You can make direct detections from direct measurements. This transit method allows to measure the "width" of the planet, for example.

You can still measure the presence of planets (and their distances to the star, by their periods) of exoplanets by measuring the "wobble" of the host star. That's the most common method of detection. Although if the exoplanets around a star are orbiting it perpendicularly to our line of sight, we won't measure a "wobble". This wobbling is measured more accurately in direction of the star, and not "to the sides", because you're measuring the radial Doppler shift over many days or even months.Planets orbiting in a plane perpendicular to our view of that solar system will never be detected.

If they do, it'll have to be done in some other clever way. For example, if it's close enough and the planet is big, you might attempt a direct detection by occulting the star (putting a "dot" on the telescope that prevents light from being seen by blocking its light) and attempt to directly "see" orbiting planets. You might have some luck with large planets, but not so much with smaller planets.
New Topic      
Explore
Post your homework questions and get free online help from our incredible volunteers
  1090 People Browsing
Related Images
  
 806
  
 1020
  
 323
Your Opinion
Which of the following is the best resource to supplement your studies:
Votes: 300