<p>Unfortunately, what you are trying to do is not possible. We do not know the details of the Sun's motion or the Galactic potential precisely enough to make a prediction of exactly where the Sun was 4.5 billion years ago.</p>
<p>The amplitude and period of the oscillatory motion that I specified in my answer to the previous question is known <em>now</em> to of order 10%. If you extrapolate backwards for more than a few cycles then the phase could be anything.</p>
<p>In addition, the Sun has likely changed its radial position in the Galaxy during its life. If so, then the amplitude and period of the vertical oscillatory motion will also have evolved.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-28T12:42:57.493Z
Since you are the authority from which I based my graph, I guess that I will take my defeat with dignity. Thank you.
Zeniel Danaku
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-28T07:44:13.613Z
2021-05-28T07:44:13.613Z
ProfRob
<p>I made a <a href="https://www.desmos.com/calculator/jvsb4ysrmz?lang=en" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Desmos Graph</a> following the most voted answer of <a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/822/how-far-is-the-earth-sun-above-below-the-galactic-plane-and-is-it-heading-towar?newreg=27870ef5d1f84480b254ebb02559dea0">this question</a>, but I'm not sure if it is correct, because it suggest that the formation of the Sun happened shortly after it would have crossed the galactic plane, but the Sun did not exist before that. Is that possible?</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Y3FDu.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Y3FDu.png" alt="The line is part of a cosine function" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-28T00:28:09.120Z
First, your $x$ is wrong. The universe isn't even $\sim 57$ billion years old. Please edit your question to correct it.
WarpPrime
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-28T00:34:37.243Z
Probably not. The sun is executing radial epicyclic motion around the galactic center, so its distance increases and decreases periodically. The question you are referring to does not say anything about radial motion, so anything you have plotted on that basis must be wrong.
AtmosphericPrisonEscape
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-28T00:38:59.837Z
See https://www.desmos.com/calculator/exeupoixbq
WarpPrime
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-28T01:16:27.157Z
@fasterthanlight ok, but where is the Sun now? if I mark x=4.6*10^9 the graph show that the Sun is going down, towards the galactic plane, where the post I mentioned states that the Sun is currently going up.
Zeniel Danaku
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-28T01:48:59.297Z
@fasterthanlight again, and I quote "As the Sun is currently above the plane and moving upwards, and each cycle takes about 70 million years with an amplitude of 100pc, it will be roughly 30 million years before we cross the plane again" The "correction" you made marks the sun as going down.
Zeniel Danaku
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-28T01:49:46.147Z
The graph I made had a cycle of 70 (millions of years) and an amplitude of 100 (parsecs)
Zeniel Danaku
<the-sun><galaxy>
I made a graph trying to show the Sun's movement relative to the Galactic Plane. It doesn't seem to be correct
Zeniel Danaku
# I made a graph trying to show the Sun's movement relative to the Galactic Plane. It doesn't seem to be correct

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-05-28)

I made a [Desmos Graph](https://www.desmos.com/calculator/jvsb4ysrmz?lang=en) following the most voted answer of [this question](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/822/how-far-is-the-earth-sun-above-below-the-galactic-plane-and-is-it-heading-towar?newreg=27870ef5d1f84480b254ebb02559dea0), but I'm not sure if it is correct, because it suggest that the formation of the Sun happened shortly after it would have crossed the galactic plane, but the Sun did not exist before that. Is that possible?

[![The line is part of a cosine function](https://i.sstatic.net/Y3FDu.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/Y3FDu.png)

**Tags:** the-sun, galaxy

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: First, your $x$ is wrong. The universe isn't even $\sim 57$ billion years old. Please edit your question to correct it.  
> **username_2**: Probably not. The sun is executing radial epicyclic motion around the galactic center, so its distance increases and decreases periodically. The question you are referring to does not say anything about radial motion, so anything you have plotted on that basis must be wrong.  
> **username_1**: See https://www.desmos.com/calculator/exeupoixbq  
> **username_0**: @fasterthanlight ok, but where is the Sun now? if I mark x=4.6*10^9 the graph show that the Sun is going down, towards the galactic plane, where the post I mentioned states that the Sun is currently going up.  
> **username_0**: @fasterthanlight again, and I quote "As the Sun is currently above the plane and moving upwards, and each cycle takes about 70 million years with an amplitude of 100pc, it will be roughly 30 million years before we cross the plane again" The "correction" you made marks the sun as going down.  
> **username_0**: The graph I made had a cycle of 70 (millions of years) and an amplitude of 100 (parsecs)  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-05-28. Score: 2

Unfortunately, what you are trying to do is not possible. We do not know the details of the Sun's motion or the Galactic potential precisely enough to make a prediction of exactly where the Sun was 4.5 billion years ago.

The amplitude and period of the oscillatory motion that I specified in my answer to the previous question is known *now* to of order 10%. If you extrapolate backwards for more than a few cycles then the phase could be anything.

In addition, the Sun has likely changed its radial position in the Galaxy during its life. If so, then the amplitude and period of the vertical oscillatory motion will also have evolved.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Since you are the authority from which I based my graph, I guess that I will take my defeat with dignity. Thank you.  

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