Streams of Stars Reveal Cannibal Nature of Milky Way
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Streams of Stars Reveal Cannibal Nature of Milky Way
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 Sarge Send message Joined: 25 Aug 99 Posts: 12273 Credit: 8,569,109 RAC: 79 
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Streams of Stars Reveal Cannibal Nature of Milky Way Jeanna Bryner Staff Writer SPACE.com Wed May 30, 9:15 PM ET HONOLULU-Newly discovered stellar streams that arc around our galaxy might be the remnants of cannibalized star clusters and galaxies, scientists announced today. The stellar streams findings reveal our galaxy can be a dangerous place for passersby, said researcher Carl Grillmair of Caltech, here at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Stellar streams are thought to form over billions of years as our galaxy's gravity slowly tears apart globular clusters and even dwarf galaxies. The stars, which were once packed tightly together, are now separated by light-years, trailing one another as they jet at high speeds through the galactic halo. Grillmair and his colleagues analyzed data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), comparing the colors and luminosities of stars and grouping similar stars together. Two of the discovered streams are about 13,000 light-years from Earth and are likely the remains of ancient globular clusters, spherical collections of hundreds of thousands of old stars. Astronomers have identified only about 150 globular clusters orbiting the Milky Way, though they think thousands may have existed in the past. The third stream is about 130,000 light-years from Earth and could be the closest dwarf galaxy to our Milky Way ever discovered. To date about 20 dwarf galaxies have been identified in the Milky Way and astronomers have wondered why they haven't found more. "It might tell us why we don't see them, because they all get ripped up like this," Grillmair told SPACE.com. He added that perhaps there is a safe distance from the Milky Way, and any closer dwarf galaxies would be "toast." Containing up to 100 million stars, dwarf galaxies are also thought to be chock-full of dark matter, the glue thought to hold our galaxy together. Grillmair suspects stellar streams will garner loads of scientific attention for years to come, as they are windows into our galaxy's past, present and future and likely hold evidence of dark matter. One theory for how our galaxy formed says that lots and lots of dwarf galaxies merged, and are continuing to merge, and ultimately gave rise to the Milky Way. The dwarf-galaxy stream could be one such merger that's slowly succumbing to the Milky Way's gravitational lure. "This is a very exciting time for galactic archaeology, and finding more of these ancient streams will really help us to piece together the structure of our galaxy and how it evolved over time," Grillmair said. Capitalize on this good fortune, one word can bring you round ... changes. ID: 581622 ·  |
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Orgil Send message Joined: 3 Aug 05 Posts: 979 Credit: 103,527 RAC: 0 
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Great news thanks Sarge! Here is another geneticist reviewed lifescience through amazing new perspective: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5299001517553328014 - He has proven through newest genetic scientific advantages that life flourish in pure acidic condition while bred by iron. (that means everywhere in universe!?) He is a big scientist so please do not scare away those ufo deniers. ;-) running time 22min, a lecture sponsored by BMW science initiative called TED. This scientist tried amazing intelligence cultivating experiment and it worked!: ( Another great TED lecture. 19min) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3851641969794220871 There are more great TED lectures you can watch by pressing FROM USER hyperlink. Mandtugai! ID: 582377 · |
Tiare Rivera  Send message Joined: 21 Apr 03 Posts: 270 Credit: 254,004 RAC: 0 
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Streams of Stars Reveal Cannibal Nature of Milky Way Wow, this is quite interesting, thank you very much for posting this Sarge Bye! Tiare.-  My photography world ID: 582450 · |
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Sarge Send message Joined: 25 Aug 99 Posts: 12273 Credit: 8,569,109 RAC: 79
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Wow, this is quite interesting, thank you very much for posting this SargeYou're welcome, Tiare. Nice to see you. :) Capitalize on this good fortune, one word can bring you round ... changes. ID: 582952 · |
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