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As the Sun orbits the Milky Way, I understand that it also moves up and down through the plane of the Galaxy. How long does this movement take and can we tell where we are in the current cycle.

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  • $\begingroup$ Interesting question! If you provide some sources (i.e. links) and if you explain more about what you mean by "moves up and down through the plane of the galaxy", i.e. can you be more precise? These efforts can help garner more attention to your question. $\endgroup$ Jul 30, 2021 at 16:51
  • $\begingroup$ The sun isnt making an orbit tranverse to the galactic plane. It could oscillate though. Above, down, above, etc. $\endgroup$ Jul 30, 2021 at 17:07

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There are several answers to this similar question:

https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/42053/what-pulls-the-sun-above-the-galactic-plane-and-pulls-it-below-the-galactic-plan/42054#42054[1]

If I remember correctly, it takes tens of millions of years for the Sun to make one full oscellation "above" and "below" the galactic plane, and it takes about 250 million years to make one full orbit around the center of the galaxy.

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