On 09/04/2010 08:38 PM, Mauro Lacy wrote:
> The "X" component of the distance ("$3" in the graphs), and the "Y"
> component of the velocity ("$7" in the second graph), both closely
> match the bnl decay rate changes.
>
> After a careful orientation of the solar system inside the galaxy, I
> realized that "X" is the component of the distance that is in a
> direction almost perpendicular (~6 degrees of difference) to the
> galactic center, on the plane of the ecliptic.
> And "Y" is then almost pointing to the galactic center. Always on the
> plane of the ecliptic.
>
> As the plane of the ecliptic is tilted 60 degrees with respect to the
> plane of the galaxy, when X is negative we're closer to the galactic
> plane, and when positive we're farther from it.
>
> And when the Y velocity component is positive, we're traveling almost
> towards the galactic center, and when negative, we're travelling away
> from it.
Actually, it's the other way around. During my 'careful orientation' I
made a trivial mistake: exchanging Sun's and Earth's position.
This link is useful to visualize it correctly, which is not easy. The
image is correct, as far as I can tell:
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/fenertyb/solsysGC.html#top
So, when X is negative(minimum in march 21, northern vernal equinox, Sun
in Pisces) actually we're farthest from the galactic plane, the Y
velocity component is also most negative, and we're traveling towards
the galactic center at max speed.
And vice versa, when X is positive (maximum in september 21, northern
autumn equinox, Sun in Virgo) we're closest to the galactic plane, and
traveling away from the galactic center.
>
> What does this mean in relation to the decay rate changes? It could
> mean two things:
> 1) Closeness to the galactic plane increases the decay rates.
This is reversed accordingly.
By the way, this is unlikely to be the cause for the changes in decay
rates, because we're actually traveling farther from the galactic plane
due to Solar Apex motion, and that trend should be present in the decay
data, as the rates of displacement are on the same order of magnitude.
> 2) Moving away from the galactic center does it, and is related to how
> fast the movement is.
It must be: moving towards.
I have projected (3D coordinate transformation) the Y component of the
velocity as seen from the center of the galaxy, but there isn't a
significant change in phase. And the addition of the solar apex
component only displaces the magnitude of the Y component, not its phase.
Next step would be to do curve fitting of the decay rate data, and look
for a matching viewing angle for the resultant curve, but probably it
does not make sense to do that with a dataset like that.
Mauro
