Qfyilyi

I would like to include a world in a story that is located on the upper plane (or bottom, doesn't matter, but call it upper for the sake of reference) of the galaxy. If you think of the galaxy as a cookie, the world is on top near the rim, not in the middle of the cookie.

I could imagine that inhabitants on the northern half (call it the "top" or the furthest away from the center galactic plane) would experience a nearly perfectly dark night sky (ignoring moons) other than, pretty much, other galaxies.

I could also imagine the inhabitants of the southern half (call it the "bottom" or the closest to the center galactic plane) would see the galaxy (if rotation were in the right position) as a tear drop, with the brightest part near the horizon and the darkest part of the tear "straight up."

For reference, we Terrans see the galaxy as a band in the sky, I suspect because we're in the middle of the cookie.

My question: am I right to imagine the night sky for this planet? As I said, ignoring any moons, dark but other galaxies (very sparse "starlight") on top, and a teardrop view of the galaxy on the bottom (if rotated correctly) or a smattering of stars and galaxies (if not rotated correctly)?

What I'm hoping not to hear is, "Nope, your planet would need to be a bazillion miles above the plane of the galaxy to get a view like that..."

Such a world would have to be really above every other star system in order to achieve the vision you have.

Even then, you would still need a special arrangement. Stars orbit the galactic core just like planets orbit stars. The core is at the center of the orbital plane, meaning that if your star system is at the very top of the galactic disc, it has probably been - and will be again - at the bottom at some point during its existence. Planets tend to have their rotation aligned with the rotation of their parent star, which tenda to be aligned with the star's orbit plane. That's the case for six of the eight planets in our system. Your hypothetical planet would most likely be so tilted that in one "day" its inhabitants would have both the dark intergalactic space and the bulk of the Milky Way over their heads.

By the way, the stars farthest from the core are poor in elements heavier than helium. Your planet would probably be a gas giant, though statistically there should be the odd rocky planet here and there. Maybe a captured rogue planet.

Last but not least, the intergalactic space would not be so dark. There are some dwarf galaxies orbiting ours, and they are eerily beautiful. The most famous ones are the Magellanic Clouds, the bright patches in the picture below:

Source: https://amazingsky.net/2012/12/05/cottage-under-the-southern-stars/timor-cottage-magellanic-clouds/

I imagine that in a sky without other stars, and with little to no light pollution, those galaxies would seem to be even brighter to the naked eye.