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Bar at Milky Way's heart revealed (article)

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  • 18-08-2005 4:01am
    #1
    nesf
    Registered Users Posts: 27,645 ✭✭✭✭


    Didn't spot this in any of the recent threads and I'm sure some of you already know this but I thought this might be of interest to some. :)

    Bar at Milky Way's heart revealed. (New Scientist)
    Extract wrote:
    The Milky Way is not a perfect spiral galaxy but instead sports a long bar through its centre, according to new infrared observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.


    (Edit)An alternative from my preferred source ;)
    A Bar at the Heart of the Milky Way (Scientific American)
    The Milky Way may be our own galactic neighborhood, but it still has some surprises in store. To wit: the most comprehensive structural analysis of the galaxy ever conducted indicates that ours is not a run-of-the-mill spiral one after all.



    Enjoy :)


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    #2
    monkeyfudge
    Registered Users Posts: 23,216 ✭✭✭✭monkeyfudge


    mmmmm... Milky Way bar...

    This means the map of the Milky Way they gave away with the magazine a few weeks ago is useless now... I had it on my wall and everything.


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    #3
    nesf
    Registered Users Posts: 27,645 ✭✭✭✭nesf


    monkeyfudge wrote:
    mmmmm... Milky Way bar...

    This means the map of the Milky Way they gave away with the magazine a few weeks ago is useless now... I had it on my wall and everything.

    National Geographic is better for posters in my experience. I got an "Earth at Night" one up atm. It's a nice image :)


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    #4
    Spear
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Help & Feedback Category Moderators Posts: 25,268 CMod ✭✭✭✭Spear


    Maybe I missed something, but certainly at least 18 months ago it was taught on my degree course that our galaxy was slightly barred already.


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    #5
    nesf
    Registered Users Posts: 27,645 ✭✭✭✭nesf


    Spear wrote:
    Maybe I missed something, but certainly at least 18 months ago it was taught on my degree course that our galaxy was slightly barred already.

    Was it from a theoretical viewpoint? Or maybe barred in a different context.

    I never took any Astrophysics, so I'm not that well up on this stuff. Just say the article and thought it might interest people.


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    #6
    planck2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 242 ✭✭planck2


    It bring's new meaning to the name the chocolate bar called "Milky Way Bar"


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    #7
    Spear
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Help & Feedback Category Moderators Posts: 25,268 CMod ✭✭✭✭Spear


    nesf wrote:
    Was it from a theoretical viewpoint? Or maybe barred in a different context.

    I never took any Astrophysics, so I'm not that well up on this stuff. Just say the article and thought it might interest people.

    In the context it was stated it was given as a nailed down tight fact.


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    #8
    JupiterKid
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 12,734 Mod ✭✭✭✭JupiterKid


    The central bar in the Milky Way has been widely known and accepted amiong the astronomical community for about 11 or 12 years now - earlier infrared observations (like that of the COBE mission) detected a peanut shaped bulge to the galaxy that strongly suggested a bar.

    The new map of the galaxy shows a cetral bar far larger and longer than perviously believed. I find it quite amazing that we can even map our galaxy from inside it.


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