<p>I initially thought it was a switch to a view from the north ecliptic pole +66 deg declination but
Got it:
The zoom direction changed from straight above Chicago to a view point from the galactic north pole. Alpha Sculptoris is near the south galactic pole at galactic coordinates 268 deg long -87 deg (lat). Thus explains why planet orbits look elongated and at 4:10 we are perpendicular to the Milky Way. Staring at the background stars the switch looks like it happened early before reaching moon. You can see Alpha Sculptoris at that point.
Note at 3:15 narration says &quot;southern constellations as they appear <strong>from</strong> far side of earth which is a bit misleading.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-06T05:07:51.517Z
So there are (at least) three view directions in the video: 1. perpendicular to the ground of Chicago. 2. perpendicular to the ecliptic. 3. perpendicular to the galactic disk of the Milky Way.
Elon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-06T06:33:47.323Z
I think it skipped perpendicular to ecliptic because the orbits look elongated. They are in reality very nearly round. Staring at the background stars; you can pick alpha Sculptoris as being just behind the earth even before the moon's orbit appears. So I think the video switched early on from perpendicular to Chicago to the galactic axis very early on.
TazAstroSpacial
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-05T07:53:08.263Z
2022-07-05T07:53:08.263Z
TazAstroSpacial
<p>I watched a video called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Powers of Ten</em></a> made in the 70s. It starts from a view of an area in Chicago and moves the &quot;camera&quot; away from the ground towards the space. At 3m15s of the video, the center of the &quot;camera&quot; points to the Sculptor constellation area. In particular, the center is close to Alpha Sculptoris, whose  <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Sculptoris" rel="nofollow noreferrer">declination is around -29°</a>.</p>
<p>However, the latitude of Chicago is around 42°N, so the star we &quot;see&quot; in the opposite direction should have declination -42° (Thanks to JohnHoltz for correction). So it seems that the center should lie in the Phoenix region instead.</p>
<p>Did the video's author make a mistake, or am I missing something?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-02T00:20:36.320Z
The star above 42 N latitude has a declination of +42. The star underneath  has a declination of -42. That's only a small difference from your calculation,  so that does not explain the difference in the video.
JohnHoltz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-02T00:38:47.253Z
@JohnHoltz Oh, you're right. I made a mistake. 42 is closer to 29 indeed.
Elon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-02T10:29:28.713Z
I saw the original Powers of Ten video on public TV I think back in the 1970's and  also [enjoyed the book](https://eames.com/en/powers-of-ten). This reminds me of the slightly rant-like enthusiasm of [Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson - Titanic 3D and Cameron "Wrong Sky"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B6jSfRuptY)
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-03T02:44:15.397Z
@uhoh That’s an interesting story!
Elon
<observational-astronomy><constellations>
The constellations in “Powers of Ten”
Elon
# The constellations in “Powers of Ten”

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-07-01)

I watched a video called [*Powers of Ten*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0) made in the 70s. It starts from a view of an area in Chicago and moves the "camera" away from the ground towards the space. At 3m15s of the video, the center of the "camera" points to the Sculptor constellation area. In particular, the center is close to Alpha Sculptoris, whose [declination is around -29°](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Sculptoris).

However, the latitude of Chicago is around 42°N, so the star we "see" in the opposite direction should have declination -42° (Thanks to JohnHoltz for correction). So it seems that the center should lie in the Phoenix region instead.

Did the video's author make a mistake, or am I missing something?

**Tags:** observational-astronomy, constellations
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The star above 42 N latitude has a declination of +42. The star underneath  has a declination of -42. That's only a small difference from your calculation,  so that does not explain the difference in the video.  
> **username_0**: @JohnHoltz Oh, you're right. I made a mistake. 42 is closer to 29 indeed.  
> **username_2**: I saw the original Powers of Ten video on public TV I think back in the 1970's and  also [enjoyed the book](https://eames.com/en/powers-of-ten). This reminds me of the slightly rant-like enthusiasm of [Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson - Titanic 3D and Cameron "Wrong Sky"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B6jSfRuptY)  
> **username_0**: @uhoh That’s an interesting story!  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2022-07-05. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

I initially thought it was a switch to a view from the north ecliptic pole +66 deg declination but
Got it:
The zoom direction changed from straight above Chicago to a view point from the galactic north pole. Alpha Sculptoris is near the south galactic pole at galactic coordinates 268 deg long -87 deg (lat). Thus explains why planet orbits look elongated and at 4:10 we are perpendicular to the Milky Way. Staring at the background stars the switch looks like it happened early before reaching moon. You can see Alpha Sculptoris at that point.
Note at 3:15 narration says "southern constellations as they appear **from** far side of earth which is a bit misleading.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: So there are (at least) three view directions in the video: 1. perpendicular to the ground of Chicago. 2. perpendicular to the ecliptic. 3. perpendicular to the galactic disk of the Milky Way.  
> **username_3**: I think it skipped perpendicular to ecliptic because the orbits look elongated. They are in reality very nearly round. Staring at the background stars; you can pick alpha Sculptoris as being just behind the earth even before the moon's orbit appears. So I think the video switched early on from perpendicular to Chicago to the galactic axis very early on.  

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