<p>Suppose an alien race fired a laser beam from the centre of the Milky Way, it went through the Sun and then off further out of the galaxy.  What Constellation would the light beam head towards, closest star also if possible?  Am not interested about how much devastation the light beam may or may not cause, just the journey and destination.  </p>

<p>Would that direction be the quickest/shortest way out of the galaxy if we had a spaceship that could travel that fast?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-13T13:37:40.740Z
Opposite constellation is Gemini, so it would roughly move towards Castor/Pollux.
Adwaenyth
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-13T14:13:14.430Z
Depending on what you mean by "out of the galaxy" the quickest way would just be to go "up" or "down" out of the plane of the galaxy rather than traveling the full length of the disk.
zephyr
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-14T22:47:18.563Z
When i originally asked the question, I thought both questions would be the same answer.  The second question didn't actually have to go through the Sun, just the quickest way out.  So straight up to Polaris it is then.
MiscellaneousUser
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-16T15:28:23.063Z
Not Polaris, @Misc! That's twice wrong: (i) the direction to Polaris is not perpendicular to the ecliptic (the plane of the Solar System); and (ii) the ecliptic is inclined at an angle of about 60° to the galactic plane. According to [this Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_plane), you want to head for Arcturus.
TonyK
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-23T22:01:40.793Z
Actually, the "Galactic North Pole" is at about 12h 51m RA, 27deg 8min DEC. This between Beta and Gamma Comae Berenices at 13h 12m/ 27d 53m and 12h 27m/ 28d 16m respectively (epoch J2000.0). FYI Polaris is at 2h 32m RA/ 89d 16m DEC).
Jack R. Woods
<milky-way><constellations>
Opposite Constellation of Sagittarius A*
MiscellaneousUser
# Opposite Constellation of Sagittarius A*

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-01-13)

Suppose an alien race fired a laser beam from the centre of the Milky Way, it went through the Sun and then off further out of the galaxy. What Constellation would the light beam head towards, closest star also if possible? Am not interested about how much devastation the light beam may or may not cause, just the journey and destination.

Would that direction be the quickest/shortest way out of the galaxy if we had a spaceship that could travel that fast?

**Tags:** milky-way, constellations
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Opposite constellation is Gemini, so it would roughly move towards Castor/Pollux.  
> **username_2**: Depending on what you mean by "out of the galaxy" the quickest way would just be to go "up" or "down" out of the plane of the galaxy rather than traveling the full length of the disk.  
> **username_0**: When i originally asked the question, I thought both questions would be the same answer.  The second question didn't actually have to go through the Sun, just the quickest way out.  So straight up to Polaris it is then.  
> **username_3**: Not Polaris, @Misc! That's twice wrong: (i) the direction to Polaris is not perpendicular to the ecliptic (the plane of the Solar System); and (ii) the ecliptic is inclined at an angle of about 60° to the galactic plane. According to [this Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_plane), you want to head for Arcturus.  
> **username_4**: Actually, the "Galactic North Pole" is at about 12h 51m RA, 27deg 8min DEC. This between Beta and Gamma Comae Berenices at 13h 12m/ 27d 53m and 12h 27m/ 28d 16m respectively (epoch J2000.0). FYI Polaris is at 2h 32m RA/ 89d 16m DEC).  

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