Scientists have discovered a “gap” in one hand of the Milky Way

Scientists have discovered a "gap" in one hand of the Milky Way

This picture shows what we think the Milky Way looks like, with two large spiral arms.

NASA / JBL-Caltech

Astronomers have done some work to find out what our home galaxy looks like no matter where it sits. We know that this is a spiral galaxy There are two main weapons. A new study says one of the galaxy’s short arms is “broken”, with clusters of stars and gas clusters sticking out.

NASA called for brakes on Tuesday Bark. “Approximately 3,000 light-years is the first large structure to be identified with an orientation that is dramatically different from the orbit of the hand,” the space agency said in a statement.

The stand-alone structure includes a group of young stars and nebulae Lagoon Nebula And the Eagle Nebula, house Pillars of Hubble’s famous image. Instead of holding the Milky Way’s spiral arm firmly, the structure expands at a significant angle.

The stars and gas clouds that make up the stars form “brakes,” which are placed in the Milky Way galaxy. Star shapes represent the areas that make up a star.


NASA / JBL-Caltech

Caltech Astrophysic Michael Kuhno The lead author of the study, Published last month in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The research team used NASA data The Spitzer Space Telescope is now defunct To A European Space Agency Gaya Space Laboratory Create a 3D view of arm sections to detect and measure distances from newborn stars.

“When we finally put this Gaya and Spitzer data together and look at this comprehensive, three-dimensional map, we see that there is a lot of complexity that is not yet known in this area,” Kun said. Scientists have observed similar structures in the spiral galaxies observed by our telescopes. These structures are called promontories or wings.

“Stars in a newly discovered structure may have formed simultaneously in the same common area, and were uniquely affected by forces acting within the Milky Way, including the force of gravity,” NASA said. Also included. “

The Milky Way will be a challenge to create the details of our house (the earth lives in the short arm of Orion) and its structure. As NASA saidIt’s like standing in the middle of Times Square and trying to map the whole of Manhattan Island.

The “split” discovery offers scientists a new perspective on the Milky Way. It may have distinctive spiral arms, but not every star and nebula in the line gets colored.

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