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Path: utzoo!watmath!watrose!gwhawkins
From: gwhawkins@watrose.UUCP (gwhawkins)
Newsgroups: net.astro
Subject: Re: StarDate: March 31 The Galactic Carousel and the Cosmic Year
Message-ID: <7424@watrose.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 6-Apr-85 16:19:30 EST
Article-I.D.: watrose.7424
Posted: Sat Apr  6 16:19:30 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 7-Apr-85 04:13:34 EST
References: <19@utastro.UUCP>
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 25

> One or two million years ago, the sun crossed the galactic plane moving
> northward, toward the north pole of the galaxy.  About ten million
> years from now, after gradually slowing down, the sun will reverse
> direction -- travel back towards the plane of the galaxy -- and cross
> back to the other side.  A complete up and down cycle takes about 66
> million years -- so during one trip around the galaxy, the sun crosses
> the galactic plane about eight times.
> Script by Diana Hadley and Deborah Byrd.
> (c) Copyright 1984, 1985 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin

Sorry for not really knowing what I'm talking about, but isn't there some
question at the moment as to where we are on this carousel?  I heard on
the CBC radio program Quirks and Quarks that the up down cycle could be
as short as 36 million years and that we are due to cross the galactic
plane again in the next 1 to 3 million years.  Admittedly, the gentleman
doing the explaining was using this information to verify another theory.
Was he out to lunch or is there really a great deal of uncertainty in
calculating this cycle?

		larry fast (Universty of Waterloo)
		broadcasting from exile

PS On behalf of the readers of this group, I'd like to thank
   Diana Hadley, Deborah Byrd and anyone else involved in
   bringing us our regular Astro-fix.