Galactic Navigation

Cardinal Directions

The galaxy being 3D space, the cardinal directions of north, south, east, and west just aren't enough to properly give orientation in the galaxy. Listed below are the galactic cardinal directions and what they correspond to.

Galactic-North

This direction corresponds to the the "above" the galactic equator. Traveling galactic-north corresponds to movement "up" the y-axis, which corresponds to the galactic axis.

In the "true" galactic coordinate system (as opposed to the Coruscant system, which establishes Coruscant as 0,0,0), Coruscant is established as being in the galaxy's northern hemisphere.

Galactic-South

Galactic-south opposes galactic-north, and it is the region "below" the galactic equator. Traveling galactic-south is equal to movement "down" the y-axis.

Galactic-East

Galactic-east is the direction which corresponds to the region "east" of an arbitrary meridian established by the early explorers of the Republic as the East-West Meridian. Travel "forwards" along the x-axis is moving to the galactic-east.

Coruscant lies galactic-east of the galactic center. The Slice lies within the galaxy's eastern quadrant.

Galactic-West

The opposing direction to galactic-east, the region "west" of the East-West Meridian. Movement galactic-west corresponds to travel backwards" along the x-axis.

Galactic-Spinward

Established by early Republic navigators and scientists, galactic-spinward corresponds to the "northern" compass point when the galactic map is viewed from a point north of the galactic disc. This direction corresponds to the region "west" of the Corby Meridian, while travel galactic-spinward corresponds to movement "left" on the z-axis.

The orientation of this direction was established by established a meridian 90° to the East-West Meridian, the name was established by theoretically looking galactic-east from the galactic center: "left" was spinward, "right" was antispinward. Thus, the terms galactic-spinward and galactic-antispinward stuck, and the meridian was named the Corby Meridian.

Galactic-Antispinward

The opposing direction to galactic-spinwards, galactic-antispinwards corresponds to the region "east" of the Corby Meridian. Travel galactic-antispinwards is movement "right" on the z-axis.

Relative Directions

Listed below are four of the relative directions in galactic navigation.

Corewards

Movement towards the Galactic Core, duh.

Rimwards

Movement away from the Galactic Core, towards the Rim.

Spinwards

Movement counter-clockwise relative of a position.

Antispinwards

Movement clockwise relative of a position.

Example: Corellia is antispinwards of Coruscant. Travel from Coruscant to Corellia means traveling clockwise from Coruscant.