Question Universal 3D Space Coordinates

[Kaito]

How often have you heard this (or something similar) on a science fiction show/movie:
"Punch in the coordinates for the warp drive"

Now, lets assume a couple things:
There is technology present to achieve a "simulated" faster than light travel, be it through wormholes, "warp" drives (compressing space in front of you and expanding it behind you), or any number of ways to travel from star to star in a seemingly short amount of time.

Also assume we have a need to use some sort of coordinate system in space.


Now, the actual question: What would we use as a 3D coordinate system in space? On earth, it's simple: Up is Up. No questions asked. And from there, you can use reference points such as, say, THE SUN for measuring North, East, etc. However, in space...there are no decent landmarks, especially if you are traveling from star to star. So, what do you guys think we should have as a type of coordinate system for space? We all know one will eventually be used, I'm just thinking about it 1000 years too early

One rule: It has to be truly universal, meaning spanning galaxy to galaxy.

I've come up with one for a galactic scale: Find the plane of the Milky Way Galaxy. Draw line perpendicular to this plane crossing through the center of our galaxy. This is the "Y" line. Find the tips of the longest "spirals", and draw a line through them that crosses through the center of the galaxy. This is the "X" line. Draw another line perpendicular to X that crosses through the center of the galaxy. This is the "Z" line. Now, you have center. From there, you assign each galaxy a relative "tilt" (which we have the math to do) from the Milky Way.

I know there are flaws with this system, such as Y+, Z-, etc. However, it's a start.

Can anyone think of a system for Galaxy/Solar system coordinates?

 

[mc_]

I suggest, "polar" system should be better for this - R, angle 1 (planar), angle 2.

 

[Artlav]

Our galaxy have a central bar, right?

Or so we think based on what we can observe from here.

How stable is the orientation of that bar?
If it is stable, that's your X axis.

Then again, for how long would we need such a coordinate system?

If it's a matter of thousands of years only, then any big star could be a point of reference.

If it's millions of years, you could pick 4 galaxies as your coordinate system - centre (probably our one), one for X+, one for Y+, one for Z+.

If it's forever - not a chance, all will be flowing like an explosion on a fireworks factory.

 

[Quick_Nick]

Watch out for those curvy parts of spacetime.

 

[Carmen A]

For tactical maneuvering I sure hope there is a more intuitive location system than coordinates, which might be good for fixed reference systems.

But it can't tell your gunners to open fire on the damned enemy ship coming up from behind the moon on your starboard bow at a stupidly close range. For this of course, polar relative is easier.

I forsee it's going to be a game of reference points and fixed coordinates along with polar references for local relative navigation.

Watch out for those curvy parts of spacetime.

Erm, get them to install fold boosters on their variable fighters? XD

 

[Rtyh-12]

I would suggest the coordinate system used in Spore for the galaxy. You take the core as the center and then draw concentric circles around it. Then, to point to a star, you use the distance from the core and the angle relative to a line that is chosen by convention (like Greenwich having nothing special, yet the zero meridian passes through it).

 

[Quick_Nick]

I would suggest the coordinate system used in Spore for the galaxy. You take the core as the center and then draw concentric circles around it. Then, to point to a star, you use the distance from the core and the angle relative to a line that is chosen by convention (like Greenwich having nothing special, yet the zero meridian passes through it).

That's polar coordinates I'm pretty sure.

 

[jedidia]

One rule: It has to be truly universal, meaning spanning galaxy to galaxy.

That would be pretty pointless. It would be like using a galactic coordinate system to pin-point a point on earth. If it has to be universal, then there would probably be a system that denotes the positions of galaxies in the universal frame, and a coordinate system for each galaxy. also, if you're thinking of a universal coordinate system, you're not just 1000 years to early. More like a million...

Galaxies are moving pretty fast relative to each other (sometimes almost at the speed of light), so a 3-dimensional coordinate system is out of the question. You'll need a four-dimensional one.

The same might actually be a good thing to have inside a galaxy, since some stars are moving significantly relative to each other.

For what it's worth, Orbiter Galaxy employs a 3-dimensional coordinate system with 0/0/0 being the galactic core. The Z-axis is perpendicular to the plane, the y-axis is perpendicular to the Z-axis and crosses Sol (which also denotes the positive y direction), and X is obviously perpendicular to both. The + direction of the Z-axis was chosen completely arbitrarily.

This is stil a bit sun-centric, since the sun is used as a reference point for Y and X axis, but then again our global coordinate system is still using Greenwhich as a reference and not some global landmark. In a Galactic civilisation, the point of reference would most probably be similiarly distinguished, by the species that has the best map material which all other species would adapt to. Then again, as said above, it is doubtfull that a galactic civilisation could make do with only 3 dimensions.

That's polar coordinates I'm pretty sure.

more precisely: it's galactic centered polar coordinates. Galactic polar coordinates are already in use, but still use the sun as point of reference (obviously, since we have no other reliable reference to go on).

 

[Jarvitä]

There is no absolute vantage point for the universe, so I'm at (0,0,0) right now, and I'm looking in direction parallel to the X unit vector.

Anything more is a compromise.