[ad_1]
The Milky Way crashed into a dwarf galaxy with a particular orbit 10 billion years ago. Experts said it was the most important moment in history that shaped the milky way in what it is today. ( V. Belokurov (Cambridge, UK), from an image of the ESO / Juan Carlos Muñoz )
The remains of a powerful collision between the Milky Way and a smaller galaxy, which took place billions of years ago.
An international team of astronomers has discovered that some stars traveling in a particular orbit near the center of the Milky Way are the remains of a head-to-head encounter with a dwarf galaxy called Sausage. 19659003] The cataclysmic crash is one of the greatest moments in the history of the Milky Way, according to experts. Although the galaxy has merged with a dozen of its satellites since its creation, this particular fusion has reshaped the structure of the Milky Way, creating the inner bulge in the center and the spherical halo surrounding the outer edges. Sausage galaxy
About 8 to 10 billion years ago, a dwarf galaxy hit the milky way hard. The smaller galaxy did not survive the accident because the strong gravitational force from the Milky Way lacerated it.
The researchers however found evidence of the collision in the form of stars traveling in long, narrow orbits near the galactic center. These sausage-like orbits, called galaxies, are called radial orbits
"This is a telltale sign that the dwarf galaxy has entered a really eccentric orbit and that its fate has been sealed," says Vasily Belokuro of the University of Cambridge
The researchers came to their conclusions after thoroughly studying the data collected by the ambitious Gaia mission of the European Space Agency. The goal was to gather as much information on the positions and trajectories of the Milky Way's millions of stars and to create a three-dimensional map of the galaxy based on the data collected.
The details of the study are published in three articles. in the monthly records of the Royal Astronomical Society, the letters of the Astrophysics Journal and the pre-printed ArXiv site.
Gaia Sausage
Using Gaia data, researchers were able to analyze the velocities of stars and trace their trajectories. They found a distinctively sausage orbit, prompting scientists to name them Gaia Sausage stars.
"These sausage stars are what's left of the last major merger of the Milky Way," says Wyn Evans, also of the University of Cambridge
The Milky Way continues to engulf more small galaxies in its vicinity. There are nine dwarfs orbiting the galaxy, but the Milky Way is currently engulfing the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy.
In the 100 million years to come, the gravitational pull of the Milky Way will tear Sagittarius. to what happened to the galaxy of sausage.
Sausage, however, was probably more potent than Sagittarius. Despite its size, it caused a lot of damage in the Milky Way after the collision, causing swelling of the galactic center and scattering of the wreckage along the inner parts of the galaxy. The researchers believe that it is this collision that has shaped the Milky Way in the cosmic structure that it is today.
They also found eight globular clusters left behind by the accident. Globular clusters are ancient spherical clusters of stars that are usually found in large galaxies. Although the sausage was a dwarf galaxy, scientists believe that it must have been big enough to house its own clusters of stars
30 Gadgets and technical gifts for Father's Day 2018 This dad will think to be rad
© 2018 Tech Times, All Rights Reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
[ad_2]
Source link
