[Groop] re:re:re:re:re:reguarding: highest poster

[Eric Chun]

>Yeah, but what's "up" in space?

Directions in space are a little more complicated than directions on Earth.
On Earth, we have a whole planet that helps us give directions. In space,
we don't have a stable surface, so new directions had to be invented.
First of all, the equivalent of up and down on Earth is elliptic north and
elliptic south, except that elliptic north is defined as the direction 
tangent
to the Earth's orbit, in the direction that the Earth is rotating around the
sun. Elliptic south is the opposite direction. The four directions 
correspond-
ing to north, south, east, and west are summer solstice, winter solstice,
spring equinox, and fall equinox. To determine where summer solstice is,
you start from elliptic north and go straight towards the axis of the 
Earth's
rotation, passing it until the line from the center of the Earth going to 
you
is perpendicular to the elliptic directions. The opposite direction is 
winter
solstice. To determine fall equinox, you look straight down elliptic north
and go 90 degrees counter-clockwise. Spring equinox is in the other direc-
tion.