Chinese astronomers have chance upon a raw helical arm at the taboo reaching of the Milky Way . But it might be an extension of a upstage sleeve discovered back in 2011 , suggesting that a lofty spiral weapon system encircles the entire galaxy .
Our understanding of what the Milky Way looks like is inhibited by the fact that we exist directly inside it ; nearby stars run to obscure more distant ones , making direct observations extremely intriguing for astronomers . It was n’t until 1852 that we even realized our galaxy was a volute . Today , some 163 year after , there ’s still no consensus on the exact configuration of the Milky Way ’s spiral branch .
That said , we are fairly certain that the Milky Way shoot a line several prominent arms that all start near the galax ’s center , including the Perseus Arm , the Sagittarius Arm , and the Scutum - Centaurus Arm . As for our Sun , it ’s located in the Local Arm , which isa prominent “ offshoot”of the Perseus Arm .
https://gizmodo.com/our-intergalactic-neighbourhood-is-more-prominent-than-511208737
That’s a Wrap
Of relevance to the new breakthrough is the Scutum - Centaurus Arm , an immensely tenacious whorl that extends from the beetleweed ’s bar . Back in 2011 , astronomers Thomas Dame and Patrick Thaddeusdiscovered an lengthiness to this arm(or at the very least , a new arm all in all ) . Assuming it ’s an extension , Scutum - Centaurus winds outward in a counterclockwise direction , stretching all the way to the galaxy ’s polar side .
https://gizmodo.com/newly-discovered-galactic-arm-means-the-milky-way-is-mo-5802388
But as the novel field of study suggests , it may actually curl even further , form a complete 360 - level revolution around the Milky Way .
By combining data point from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey and datum from the Milky Way Imaging Scroll Painting project , Chinese uranologist Yan Sun of the Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanjing , along with his colleagues , have discover a wholly new coiling weapon at the uttermost outer scope of the Milky Way . And as the research worker note in their survey , “ The logical meet results confirm that the new arm can be translate as the far - extension of the remote branch recently discovered by Dame & Thaddeus . ”
The raw segment is located at a spoke of somewhere between 15 to 19 kpc ( 50,000 - 62,000 light - year ) . For context , our Sun is located about 27,000 light - days from the astronomical centre . Across most most of its length the limb is about 400 to 600 microcomputer ( 1,300 - 2,000 promiscuous - year ) thick .
By using wireless waves , the astronomers were able to identify the new stria by detect sizable chunks of carbon monoxide gas , which is an passing abundant interstellar mote . In total , their survey identified 72 molecular swarm with substantive masses that credibly lie within the newly discovered arm .
Ken Croswell from Scientific Americanhighlights some reactionsto the find :
What is most remarkable , the astronomers say , is that the segment may hold out from the outermost part of Scutum – Centaurus , pull in this arm even longer . If so , the arm actually pull in a full 360 - degree turn around the coltsfoot . “ That ’s amazing , ” says Robert Benjamin of the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater , an astronomer who was not involved with the uncovering . “ It ’s rare , ” notes Thomas Dame , an uranologist at the Harvard – Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics . “ I calculate that you would have to look through dozens of aspect - on spiral galaxy look-alike to find one where you could convince yourself you could cut through one arm 360 point around . ” chick helped come upon the 2011 denotation of the Scutum – Centaurus Arm . “ My imprint was that we had found the end of it , ” he tell . “ So I was very surprised to see this . ”
Mind the Gap
All this said , there is a rather important caution to the unmistakable uncovering : a 40,000 light - year gap between the end of Dame & Thaddeus ’s branch to where Yan ’s new subdivision begin . The young lot could be a solitary arm , or a spur from another prominent arm . But this should n’t be too difficult to prove one way or another ; astronomers should get to look for exchangeable molecular cloud in the gap . Crosswell quotes Benjamin as saying , “ It should be easy in the next few old age to confirm or rebut their hypothesis . ”
Should it be confirmed , the discovery suggests the Milky Way is far more spectacular than we believe ; very few turbinate galaxies have arms that wrap completely around them .
say the full study at The Astrophysical Journal : “ A potential university extension of the Scutum - Centaurus Arm into the Outer Second Quadrant . ” A pre - print version is availablehere .
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