Coordinates of Sol: 0 / 0 / 0
Coordinates of Sag A*: 25.21875 / -20.90625 / 25899.96875
This is weird. AFAIK, Sag A* is the exact centre of the galaxy, and the "prime meridian" should run from Sol to it, by definition. It's not unreasonable for Sag A* to have a nonzero "height" coordinate, as there's no reason to assume that Sol is exactly on the galactic plane (and indeed these coordinates imply that Sol is somewhat "up", hence a negative coordinate for Sag A*). But that first coordinate should be zero.
There's an old sci-fi trope, "Counter-Earth", a planet on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth, forever hidden behind it. It's fallen out of use as modern spaceprobes would have found it. But the principle could be scaled up to the galaxy, with a "Counter-Sol" on the far side of Sag A*. About the only clue we've been given for the possible location of Raxxla is a comment that "I suppose we'd better put it somewhere obvious", and while the galaxy is vast, there are only a limited number of "obvious" places, and the Counter-Sol position would be one. It would even be possible to construct an in-game rationale, an experimental hyperdrive which teleports a ship to the opposite side of Sag A*'s gravity well.
But because of Sag A*'s offset, the opposite side of it would have coordinates 50.4375 / -41.8125 / 51,799.9375 - which is just over 50ly east of the galactic meridian. There's no star at those coordinates, but Drooteou PW-I a36-4 is close, at 51.5625 / -40.53125 / 51800.53125.
EDSM lists this as Derthek's Folly (also known as 'Counter Point'). The description reads:
But as far as I can see, Derthek was correct, due to the offset of Sag A*, and the displacement of the prime meridian. I have a Carrier there now, and it is a sadly uninteresting T-class dwarf orbited by iceballs, mostly with helium atmospheres. And the area has been explored. At least I made a quick billion on a slight detour to Gru Pri LZ-D d13-6 (I dropped off 5,000t of tritium to a Carrier buying at 200k/t, and then left, he might be wondering where it came from).
Still, I'll check out a few other mirror-Bubble systems while I'm out here. Presumably I'd get them by looking up their coordinates on EDSM and subtracting them from 50.4375 / -41.8125 / 51,799.9375 - so Counter-Shinrarta-Dezhra would be around -5.28125 / -59.40625 / 51,772.78125. There's no close match, but I checked out several nearby systems (nothing noteworthy found, but I was the first to scan most of them).
Smootoae QY-S d3-202 is the system described by EDSM as "Situated on the galactic prime meridian, and 1 LY above the galactic plane z-line, some 25,898 LYs from Sagittarius A* on the far side of the galaxy, this system is the physically located antithesis of Sol". However, even if we use the galactic prime meridian, this takes no account of Sol's elevation above the galactic plane. Incidentally, astronomers agree that Sol is "above" the galactic plane, but are unsure by how much (estimated between 75ly and 101ly, rather than ED's 20.9ly).
But it's likely that if Raxxla is out here somewhere, it would be the nearest Earthlike world rather than an exact match: why set up a base on a barren iceball if there's an ELW somewhere nearby? And this is likely to apply to any other "obvious" locations too (Frontier did this with Explorers Anchorage, using the nearest ELW to Sag A*). So I'll look around for ELW's (yes I know I'm unlikely to find anything of interest..). The area around "Derthek's Folly" is explored, but I'm working outwards and now finding untagged systems (no ELW's yet though). I'll leave my Carrier parked at Derthek's Folly for awhile, and I've opened up docking permissions and services in case anyone is in the neigbourhood.
Coordinates of Sag A*: 25.21875 / -20.90625 / 25899.96875
This is weird. AFAIK, Sag A* is the exact centre of the galaxy, and the "prime meridian" should run from Sol to it, by definition. It's not unreasonable for Sag A* to have a nonzero "height" coordinate, as there's no reason to assume that Sol is exactly on the galactic plane (and indeed these coordinates imply that Sol is somewhat "up", hence a negative coordinate for Sag A*). But that first coordinate should be zero.
There's an old sci-fi trope, "Counter-Earth", a planet on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth, forever hidden behind it. It's fallen out of use as modern spaceprobes would have found it. But the principle could be scaled up to the galaxy, with a "Counter-Sol" on the far side of Sag A*. About the only clue we've been given for the possible location of Raxxla is a comment that "I suppose we'd better put it somewhere obvious", and while the galaxy is vast, there are only a limited number of "obvious" places, and the Counter-Sol position would be one. It would even be possible to construct an in-game rationale, an experimental hyperdrive which teleports a ship to the opposite side of Sag A*'s gravity well.
But because of Sag A*'s offset, the opposite side of it would have coordinates 50.4375 / -41.8125 / 51,799.9375 - which is just over 50ly east of the galactic meridian. There's no star at those coordinates, but Drooteou PW-I a36-4 is close, at 51.5625 / -40.53125 / 51800.53125.
EDSM lists this as Derthek's Folly (also known as 'Counter Point'). The description reads:
Discovered circa 3302...
Point at which an intrepid explorer reached in a venture to locate a solar system on the far side of the galaxy that is the physically located antithesis of Sol. The system discovered turned out to be an unremarkable brown dwarf system with seven dead worlds, and one moon.
Update: 3304
It is now believed that the nearby star system of Luna's Shadow is the more appropriate location of Sol's antithesis as it lays on the zero meridian and is almost exactly the same distance from Sag-A* as Sol is.
Derthek's Folly will remain on the map for historical purposes only as it was the first genuine attempt to locate Sol's antithesis back during the era of pre-engineered jump ranges and limited route-plotting capabilities. CMDR Derthek's intrepid journey here will rightly be remembered. - Erimus Kamzel.
But as far as I can see, Derthek was correct, due to the offset of Sag A*, and the displacement of the prime meridian. I have a Carrier there now, and it is a sadly uninteresting T-class dwarf orbited by iceballs, mostly with helium atmospheres. And the area has been explored. At least I made a quick billion on a slight detour to Gru Pri LZ-D d13-6 (I dropped off 5,000t of tritium to a Carrier buying at 200k/t, and then left, he might be wondering where it came from).
Still, I'll check out a few other mirror-Bubble systems while I'm out here. Presumably I'd get them by looking up their coordinates on EDSM and subtracting them from 50.4375 / -41.8125 / 51,799.9375 - so Counter-Shinrarta-Dezhra would be around -5.28125 / -59.40625 / 51,772.78125. There's no close match, but I checked out several nearby systems (nothing noteworthy found, but I was the first to scan most of them).
Smootoae QY-S d3-202 is the system described by EDSM as "Situated on the galactic prime meridian, and 1 LY above the galactic plane z-line, some 25,898 LYs from Sagittarius A* on the far side of the galaxy, this system is the physically located antithesis of Sol". However, even if we use the galactic prime meridian, this takes no account of Sol's elevation above the galactic plane. Incidentally, astronomers agree that Sol is "above" the galactic plane, but are unsure by how much (estimated between 75ly and 101ly, rather than ED's 20.9ly).
But it's likely that if Raxxla is out here somewhere, it would be the nearest Earthlike world rather than an exact match: why set up a base on a barren iceball if there's an ELW somewhere nearby? And this is likely to apply to any other "obvious" locations too (Frontier did this with Explorers Anchorage, using the nearest ELW to Sag A*). So I'll look around for ELW's (yes I know I'm unlikely to find anything of interest..). The area around "Derthek's Folly" is explored, but I'm working outwards and now finding untagged systems (no ELW's yet though). I'll leave my Carrier parked at Derthek's Folly for awhile, and I've opened up docking permissions and services in case anyone is in the neigbourhood.