On Earth, the cardinal directions are straightforward. The arrow on a compass points to the nearest magnetic pole. You can then use it to travel anywhere on Earth.

In space, the idea of anything being “central” enough to be used as a “North” (since the universe has no center) or being fixated enough to not somehow pose issues is more convoluted.

If you were a pioneer of space exploration, what would your “North” be?

  • bob_lemon@feddit.org
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    2 months ago

    You can prefix the coordinates with the name of the current nearest star or center of galaxy.

    Universal coordinates are fairly useless anyway, given how everything moves around in space.