Posted on 11/21/2020 6:24:48 AM PST by BenLurkin
Scientists working with data from the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys’ Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) have discovered a “fossil galaxy” hidden in the depths of our own Milky Way.
Astronomers named it Heracles...
The remnants of Heracles account for about one third of the Milky Way’s spherical halo. But if stars and gas from Heracles make up such a large percentage of the galactic halo, why didn’t we see it before? The answer lies in its location deep inside the Milky Way.
APOGEE has measured spectra for more than half a million stars all across the Milky Way, including its previously dust-obscured core.
To separate stars belonging to Heracles from those of the original Milky Way, the team made use of both chemical compositions and velocities of stars measured by the APOGEE instrument.
Because galaxies are built through mergers of smaller galaxies across time, the remnants of older galaxies are often spotted in the outer halo of the Milky Way, a huge but very sparse cloud of stars enveloping the main galaxy. But since our Galaxy built up from the inside out, finding the earliest mergers requires looking at the most central parts of the Milky Way’s halo, which are buried deep within the disc and bulge.
Stars originally belonging to Heracles account for roughly one third of the mass of the entire Milky Way halo today – meaning that this newly-discovered ancient collision must have been a major event in the history of our Galaxy.
The fifth phase of the SDSS has already begun taking data, and its “Milky Way Mapper” will build on the success of APOGEE to measure spectra for ten times as many stars in all parts of the Milky Way, using near-infrared light, visible light, and sometimes both.
(Excerpt) Read more at scitechdaily.com ...
Big deal. We can never even hope to reach the planets of the nearest star from our sun. What a waste of time to spend on totally useless things.
So the Milky Way has a caramel center?
I for one find this fascinating!
ROFL!!!
that’s the most DEPRESSING ####ing post I have read in years lol
“there’s no short cut to India!!! The world might even be flat!! Than what?? Forget about it Columbus and let’s go smoke a joint!”
:)
me too i love this stuff
Milky Way to Heracles: you will be assimilated.
Andromeda to Milky Way: you will be assimilated.
Moral of the story: there is always something bigger than you out there.
Your lack of intellectual curiosity about the galaxy and how things work is, thankfully, not shared by most Americans.
Examining the beauty and majesty of God’s creation could never be a waste of time.
Not at all...my post is stark naked reality.
Whereas Columbus could reach across 3000 miles of ocean because his ship could carry enough food & water supplies to reach America, our universe is so spread out, it defies imagination.
For example the nearest star to us in our own milky way galaxy is many light years away. To translate that for scientific novices, it means we will need 100 generations of humans to reach the planets of the NEAREST star to us. Can you imagine humans reproducing inside a cramped space capsule and interbreeding 100 generations? If you have seen how involved child birth is in a hospital, and I saw this first hand having helped in delivery of my both children, it is simply out of question inside a space capsule.
And the 100 generations estimate is based on the most optimistic supersonic speeds our spacecrafts could be capable of.
In summary to compare voyages of Columbus and Vasco De Gama with a spacecraft reaching the NEAREST sun to our solar system is different by exponential orders of magnitude. May be it is the mechanical engineer in me who only has lived in reality and not dreams.
But I will agree learning about other galaxies is very interesting. Keep in mind just to reach a nearby planet like Mars (Mars orbit is right after earth’s orbit) will stretch human capabilities. Then consider that the nearest planet outside of our solar system is Trillion times further than Mars is from Earth during their nearest encounter.
Sorry DP0622 to bust your dreams about inter-solar travel, but sometimes it is best to understand the reality.
I was just joking bro.
If I was in charge of things from the beginning, we’d still be laying in a cave eating grass :)
Sorry if I was out of line
EXAMINING beauty of God’s creation is just fine and dandy.
I just do not want my tax dollars being spent on projects for inter-solar travel. The Mars landing by humans is quite doable and I am all for it. We can never reach Pluto because it will take too long for any human to remain in good health during the spacecraft travel.
Travel to any planet in the NEAREST solar system to us, FUHGGET BOUT it!!!!
Bro, you are never out of line, and I have reached that conclusion after reading hundreds of your posts.
Carl Sagan posited that all heavy atoms that exist in our Milky Way are evidence that a large star imploded in our current galaxy forming an environment where huge gravitational forces and extremely high temperature produce these heavy materials. The imploding star was not large enough to form a black hole, but it reversed itself and blew out the contents into our galaxy. He called this yield "star stuff".
Maybe not out of line.
Short tempered, thin skinned, I type before thinking often, not well in the head and my nephews and nieces think i’m playing with half a deck.
But thanks :)
Big deal. We can never even hope to reach the planets of the nearest star from our sun. What a waste of time to spend on totally useless things. 2020 AD
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Big deal. We can never even hope to reach the shores of the land across the sea from our county. What a waste of time to spend on totally useless things. 1400 AD
Big deal. We can never even hope to reach the land across the other side of our county. What a waste of time to spend on totally useless things. 1700 AD
Whereas Columbus could reach across 3000 miles of ocean because his ship could carry enough food & water supplies to reach America, our universe is so spread out, it defies MY imagination.
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Long on negative rhetoric, short on positive imagination.
You do know that everything we know about the entire electromagnetic spectrum (including light) comes form 4 vector equations converted from 4 field equations? These 4 vector equations where converted by a self-taught guy named Heaviside. The 4 field equations comes from a set of 200 written by theoretical mathematician James Clerk Maxwell in the 19 Century. Heaviside discarded the other 196 because they were abominations in his mind.
You do know that without those equations Einstein would have remained and obscure postal clerk and Tesla would never have discovered AC current?
Just to fill you in: the other 196 postulate not only free energy, but instantaneous transport form any one place in the universe to any other - among many other things. So this is to say that there are many things that are ‘believed to be impossible’ that will become possible.
You're no fun, we don't have to travel all the way there we just have to get to the nearest wormhole and then shazam.
Fine, send your check to NASA. Just let me keep my money in my pocket.
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