The Shape of the Milky Way Is Warped and Twisted (abc.net.au) 42
Necroloth writes: You probably thought that if you were looking at our galaxy from the outside and at a distance, you would see a thin disc of stars that orbit around a central region, but the further away from the inner regions of the Milky Way you are, the less the pull of gravity. At the outer disc, the hydrogen atoms that make up the Milky Way's gas disc are, as a consequence, warped into an S-like shape, no longer pulled together in a thin plane. A group of astronomers from Australia and China have built their "intuitive and accurate three-dimensional picture" by mapping 1339 classical Cepheids. There's a quick animation of the galaxy on the @NatureAstronomy twitter here. The study has been published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
And Earth in the bend (Score:5, Interesting)
An interesting aspect of this is that our solar system I think is in the part where the disc starts to bend, according to this diagram [earthsky.org] of where our solar system is in the galaxy...
It seems like it would be kind of irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but maybe for some reason in the places where the gas discs of a universe start to bend, life it more likely for some reason. Or course, with a sample size of one you can't really extrapolate much - just seems like an interesting coincidence.
If I'm wrong about the location I would love to know more exactly where we are.
Re: (Score:1)
I don't see how the two diagrams are related. But then, I don't understand what it is you mean by "starts to bend" - since it looks to me like a smooth curve. To develop, life needs two things which oppose each other: transition metals (i.e. heavy elements such as iron, molybdenum, nickle, etc.) and a surface environment relatively free of ionizing radiation. (note that these two things are only hypothetical requirements, we don't understand how life did (or could) actually develop.) Close to the galactic c
Re:And Earth in the bend (Score:5, Interesting)
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Who woulda thunkit? The Milky Way is a giant I-phone 6
The Shape of the Milky Way Is Warped and Twisted (Score:4, Funny)
Or at least personality -- instead of the SuperBowl I watched this [youtube.com] instead. Much funner.
I *DID* miss the Puppy Bowl though; I'm ashamed of that.
torque? (Score:1, Interesting)
"Our Galaxy thus follows Briggs’ rule for spiral galaxies4, which suggests that the origin of the warp is associated with torques forced by the massive inner disk5. "
I assume the force in question being referred to is gravity? Gravity induced torque?
What's the explanation for torque here? The force along the axle where all the spins and forces are in a plane... it's observed sure, its defined in equation form, agreed, but how exactly does the accelerating spin *around* the disc cause torque *along* th
Re: (Score:1)
May-be the plasma and magnetic lines between the stars are to blame?
I told you, put it in the fridge! (Score:1)
They melt really easily. No substance to them really.
Knowledge brought to us by a former classmate (Score:2)
I studied undergrad physics with one of the astronomers cited in the article. Really weird reading along and then going, "Oh, I know them!"
Oh yeah? (Score:1)