Talk:Solar apex
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Re: "...discussions regarding the solar passage through the arms of the Galaxy..."
Am I missing something or is this just wrong?
it seems logical that the sun is a member of a galactic arm and not just visiting; otherwise galactic arms would not form; only a random scattering of objects would exist. It's like suggesting that planets regularly pass through solar systems rather then belonging to them.
There is a factor of ten discrepancy in this article between the reported orbital speed of solar system and that of neighboring stars: "orbital speed is 217 km/s" and "...is always between 20 and 25 km/s for the Sun's neighbours" .
[edit] Spiral arms
The spiral arms are regions of enhanced gas density, leading to enhanced star formation and hence many more young, hot (and therefore luminous and blue) stars than other parts of the galactic disk. This is what gives the arms their prominence, but it doesn't mean that there aren't stars between the arms (there are many, just older and so there are no luminous blue stars, hence not so visible). Also, the stars orbit at a different rate to the arms and regularly pass through them. Our sun happens to be close to the edge of an arm, but I don't think we're in one. 152.78.192.216 17:54, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
