this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2024
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If we're talking intergalactic navigation, I'd use QSO J0529-4351 as north.
It has the highest chance of being visible from wherever we want to go.
I was going to suggest the Great Attractor or the Shapley Supercluster, but I think your suggestion is better. It's more point-like and since it's farther away (well outside of the reachable universe) it results in a more uniform set of directions over long distances.
Of course, cultural influence will be big. If these explorers are Terragen then most likely the Milky Way's north/south direction will be pretty deeply ingrained in their coordinate systems. They might keep on using that, since it's not like manual astrolabe-style navigation will ever be relevant at that level of technology.