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Locate the galactic centre with your phone.

March 5, 2024 - 07:08 -- Admin

I so need this stupid little app. It’s free, it’s called Galactic Compass, and it’s available on the App Store.

From Space.com.

It's designed to always point users in the direction of the Galactic Center, no matter Earth's position in the cosmos. Webb's inspiration for the app stems from years of teaching himself to always know where to look for the Galactic Center, which shifts as we move through space. He wrote about the reasoning behind Galactic Compass in a post on his personal website, which also announced the app's release. 

"I would end up pointing through the pavement, or down a street, and thinking, 'huh, that's where it is,'" Webb said in the post. "Eventually then I had this picture of myself, and the Earth, and the solar system, and the center of the galaxy which had initially been whirling round me, and now it had flipped, I was turning around it. It was wildly situating." 

To find the centre of the galaxy (and the location of a colossal life-sucking black hole known as Sagittarius A*) launch the application and rest your iPhone on a stable surface. A large green arrow will emerge, directing you towards the singularity.

It’s cool.