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It is no longer enough to know that our galaxy is neither the largest, nor the best situated, nor anything special, among a modest galactic group of a universe with more than 2 trillion galaxies ; a new study by astronomers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Macquarie University in Australia shows that our galactic disk is curved.
A new study by astronomers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Macquarie University in Australia shows that our galactic disk is crooked. , with one end diagonally up and one down
The paper, published in the latest issue of Nature Astronomy, modeled the galaxy disk from the mapping of 1,339 Cepheid variables. This is a star type particularly useful for measuring distances because there is a direct relationship between brightness and pulse period. By measuring the pulsation, it is possible to know the absolute luminosity and comparing it to the relative luminosity (observed by astronomers), it is possible to estimate the distance.
The researchers worked with a population of Cepheids well characterized by NASA's Wise satellite. , then marked their positions on the Milky Way disk – thus creating a 3D map of a part of the galaxy. The result confirms previous observations made of hydrogen clouds and even indicates the curved nature of the disc.
The curved shape of the outer edge of the galactic disk is not at all unexpected; there are other galaxies with similar patterns, and this had already been predicted from the effect of the gravitational couple generated by the spin of the innermost star disk.
With the new 3D map, the identification of curvature will help scientists to study in more detail the evolution of our galaxy over the last billion years, as well as the distribution of the black matter.
Aside from the scientific gains, we must admit that the effect does not seem to contribute aesthetically to the galaxy – the Milky Way, for those who look from the outside, it should not not look like a harmonious flat disc of stars, like his older sister, Andromeda.
This should not bother anyone. This may not be as beautiful as others, but it should not change our perception: the Milky Way has always been and will always be our home in the immense immensity of the cosmos.
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