How did scientists determine where our solar system is located in the galaxy?

1 Answer
A. S. Adikesavan
Apr 28, 2016

With unit of distance as 1000 light years (ly), the Sun's distance from the center of our galaxy Milky Way (MW) is 27. This is a 2-sd approximation 27000 ly.

Explanation:

For making this approximation, the relative error RE, in assuming that Earth's distance from MW center (MWC) is Sun's distance, is given by

#|RE|<= (2 AU)/((27000) X (62900) AU)=1.18 E-09#

This is in nano units.

So, for the entire solar system, this relative error will be in millionths.
Thus, observations and measurements from Earth or ISS or HST are all useful, in making short-string-sd approximations, keeping unit of distance as quite large..

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