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Converting between Galactic and Ecliptic coordinates

Asked 7 years, 2 months ago Active 7 years, 2 months ago Viewed 14k times

I was hoping someone would be able to tell me the formula to convert between ecliptic and
galactic coordinates. I've been able to convert values using
4 http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/toolbox/tb_coordconv.cfm but have no idea how they were able to
calculate that. Thanks in advance :)

astronomy coordinate-systems celestial-mechanics astrometrics

edited Dec 2 '13 at 10:56 asked Dec 2 '13 at 4:38

Share Cite Improve this question Pulsar Tim Mutton
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2 Answers Active Oldest Votes

Both ecliptic and galactic coordinates are spherical coordinate systems that involve measuring
angles on the celestial sphere. There are two equivalent ways to convert between such two
7 coordinate systems:

1. A transformation by deriving a general rotation matrix, for example using Euler angles;

Fi di i h i l i l d l l i i
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2/7/2021 astronomy - Converting between Galactic and Ecliptic coordinates - Physics Stack Exchange
2. Finding an appropriate spherical triangle and calculating its sides and angles using Spherical
trigonometry.

Let's take a closer look at the second method. A spherical triangle is a triangle on a unit sphere (in
our case the celestial sphere) that is formed by the intersection of three great circles.

It has three 'angles' (A , B , and C ) as well as three 'sides' (the arc lengths a, b, and c). Note that
the sides are in fact also angles. There exist several useful relations between these 6 elements: the
most fundamental are the cosine rules:

cos a = cos b cos c + sin b sin c cos A,

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cos a cos b cos c + sin b sin c cos A,

cos b = cos c cos a + sin c sin a cos B,

cos c = cos a cos b + sin a sin b cos C .

From these, one can also derive the sine rules:

sin A sin B sin C

= = ,
sin a sin b sin c

and the sine-cosine rules:

sin a cos B = cos b sin c − sin b cos c cos A,

sin b cos C = cos c sin a − sin c cos a cos B,

sin c cos A = cos a sin b − sin a cos b cos C .

Now we can use these identities to convert between two spherical coordinate system. Consider the
following figure:

This figure shows the transformation from equatorial to galactic coordinates, but the
transformation from ecliptic to galactic coordinates is analogous. P is the equatorial pole, γ is the
vernal point, G is the galactic pole and B is the galactic centre. The galactic plane and the
equatorial plane intersect at the line S C , and K is the intersection of the galactic plane with the
great circle through G and P . A celestial object, located at R , has equatorial coordinates (α, δ)
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2/7/2021 astronomy - Converting between Galactic and Ecliptic coordinates - Physics Stack Exchange
( , )

and galactic coordinates (l, b) . Also, the galactic pole has equatorial coordinates (α , δ G G
)(in the
figure, these are called (α , δ ) and the galactic centre has equatorial coordinates (α , δ
′ ′
B B ) (not

shown in the figure). In the epoch J2000 (see wikipedia),

h m ∘ ∘
α G = 12 51 .4 = 192 .85, δG = +27 .13,
h m ∘ ∘
α B = 17 45 .6 = 266 .40, δB = −28 .94.

In order to convert between equatorial and galactic coordinates, one now has to solve the pink
spherical triangle P GR. It is straightforward to see that the three sides are 90 − δ , 90 − b, ∘
G
∘

and 90 − δ . The angle between P G and P R is α − α . Finally, in order to find the angle
∘
G

between P G and GR we have to solve another spherical triangle, namely P K B : the arc length
P B is 90 − δ , the arc length P K is δ (since the arc length GK is 90 ), and the angle between
∘ ∘
B G

P B and P K is α − α , with α + 180 . Therefore, applying the cosine rule in P K B ,

∘
K B = α K G

we find

cos(BK ) = sin δB cos δG − cos δB sin δG cos(α G − α B ),

= −0.4307 − 0.1130 = −0.5437,

so that the angle BK is equal to 122 .9. Therefore, the angle between P G and GR is 122
∘ ∘
.9 − l .
Now we can apply the cosine and sine rules in the triangle P GR, to convert equatorial
coordinates to galactic coordinates. We get

sin b = sin δG sin δ + cos δG cos δ cos(α − α G ),

∘
cos b sin(122 .9 − l) = cos δ sin(α − α G ),
∘
cos b cos(122 .9 − l) = cos δG sin δ − sin δG cos δ cos(α − α G ).

(the first eq. is the cosine rule applied to GR , the second is the sine rule between GR and P R,
and the third is the sine-cosine rule for GR ). These three equations can be solved to get (b, l) .
Conversely, from galactic to equatorial coordinates:
∘
sin δ = sin δG sin b + cos δG cos b cos(122 .9 − l),
∘
cos δ sin(α − α G ) = cos b sin(122 .9 − l),
∘
cos δ cos(α − α G ) = cos δG sin b − sin δG cos b cos(122 .9 − l).

The conversion between ecliptic and galactic coordinates is completely analogous, with equatorial
coordinates (α, δ) replaced with ecliptic coordinates (λ, β) , and
∘ ∘
λ G = 180 .01, βG = +29 .80,
∘ ∘
λ B = 266 .84, βB = −5 .54.

We find

cos(BK ) = sin βB cos βG − cos βB sin βG cos(λ G − λ B ),

= −0.1119,

so that the angle BK is 96 ∘

.43 . Finally,

sin b = sin βG sin β + cos βG cos β cos(λ − λ G ),

∘
cos b sin(96 .43 − l) = cos β sin(λ − λ G ),

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∘
cos b cos(96 .43 − l) = cos βG sin β − sin βG cos β cos(λ − λ G ),

and conversely
∘
sin β = sin βG sin b + cos βG cos b cos(96 .43 − l),
∘
cos β sin(λ − λ G ) = cos b sin(96 .43 − l),
∘
cos β cos(λ − λ G ) = cos βG sin b − sin βG cos b cos(96 .43 − l).

edited Dec 2 '13 at 10:49 answered Dec 2 '13 at 10:03

Share Cite Improve this answer Pulsar
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Perhaps you're looking for something you can just punch into a spreadsheet instead of a generic
matrix transformation? I've found it's easier to go from equatorial to other systems. So you can
0 move it from ecliptic to equatorial (in degrees):

sin(λ)∗cos(ϵ)−tan(β)∗sin(ϵ)
−1
α = tan ( )
cos(λ)

−1
δ = sin (sin(β) ∗ cos(ϵ) + cos(β) ∗ sin(ϵ) ∗ sin(λ))

Where ϵ is the obliquity of the ecliptic based on your reference epoch.

Then equatorial to galactic:

−1
b = sin (cos(δ) ∗ cos(27.4) ∗ cos(α − 192.25) + sin(δ) ∗ sin(27.4))

sin(δ)−sin(b)∗sin(27.4)
−1
l = tan ( ) + 33
cos(δ)∗cos(27.4)∗sin(α−192.25)

The numbers for the formula come from how the galactic is setup where α = 192.25 for the north
pole and δ = 27.4 for the ascending node of the galactic plane where the equator l = 33

NOTE: Whenever you compute the inverse tangent you have to remove the ambiguity based on
y
the quadrant. For example tan = The angle is between 0-90 if both x & y are positive. The
−1

angle is between 90-180 if y is positive and x is negative. The angle is 180-270 if both x and y are
negative. The angle is between 270 and 360 if y is negative and x is positive. Just add or subtract
180 or 360 to put the result in the correct quadrant.

answered Dec 2 '13 at 9:09

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