Milky Way — the galaxy — not snack-sized anymore

Associated Press ^ | Jan. 5, 2009 | Seth Borenstein

[decimon]

Take that, Andromeda! For decades, astronomers thought when it came to the major galaxies in Earth's cosmic neighborhood, our Milky Way was a weak sister to the larger Andromeda. Not anymore.

[decimon]

"More important, it's denser, with 50 percent more mass, which is like weight."

[Sudetenland]

"...with 50 percent more mass, which is like weight."

Like really?

News for low I.Q.'s

[Poison Pill]

mass, which is like weight.

Journalists. Is there anything they DON'T know?

[messierhunter]

I’m not saying they’re wrong, but the article seems to indicate that they based their findings on a sampling of 10 stars. That’s obviously a small sampling of a galaxy containing hundreds of billions of stars. How can the researchers be confident that their results are not skewed by having a small sample size? What if those 10 stars are moving abnormally fast for unrelated reasons? I don’t see how you can rule out “localized” inconsistencies unless these stars were each selected from vastly different parts of the galaxy with a very low standard deviation.

[decimon]

"...with 50 percent more mass, which is like weight."

Like really?

Yeah, like you could carry it. ;-)

[messierhunter]

Nevermind, I can’t read. Ten radio telescopes, not necessarily one star for each.

[decimon]

What if those 10 stars are moving abnormally fast for unrelated reasons?

You might be starstruck. That's even worse than being sunspotted.

[philsfan24]

when andromeda comes to take us on a few billion from now, we’ll be ready. bring it.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

You are aware that mass and weight are technically not the same, aren’t you?

A lead ball in space can have a lot of mass, but zero weight.

[AFreeBird]

A History Channel show on The Universe, said the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are headed for a collision, which will create a super galaxy.

Somebody page Algore about this. We need a plan to combat this galactic change.

[decimon]

when andromeda comes to take us on a few billion from now, we’ll be ready.

Now that we've put on some weight.

[willgolfforfood]

That sounds like Yogi Berra on an Aflac commercial saying, "...and they give you cash, which is just as good as money."

Technically though, mass and weight are NOT the same thing.

[Sudetenland]

I don't know, sounds like we're asking for intergalactic war. Democrats will probably want to play it down just to suck up to the Andromedans.

Maybe we should ask the Scientologists, they know all about intergalactic war, their founder wrote about it. :D

[MarineBrat]

...mass, which is like weight.

ROFL! Actually, it's missing some punctuation according to my "Valley Girl Official Thesarus." Shouldn't it be like this?

...mass, which is, like, weight.

[samtheman]

So the long-forecast collision between the neighboring galaxies is likely to happen sooner and less likely to be a glancing blow, Reid said.

But don't worry that's at 2 to 3 billion years away, he said.

Interesting. What was the previously-predicted time-frame? Anybody know?

[allmendream]

Mass is universal. Something 100 grams will be 100 grams on Earth, the moon, or in space.

Weight is conditional. Something 100 lbs on earth will be 1,000 lbs in 10 Gravities and 10 lbs at 1/10th Gravity.

[js1138]

You are aware that mass and weight are technically not the same, aren’t you?

You seriously expect FReepers to understand this?

[decimon]

Technically though, mass and weight are NOT the same thing.

I may use 'normal force' as an excuse for not moving my butt, but I do remember that much of physics.

[mikrofon]

"...with 50 percent more mass, which is like weight."

Likely written by a "science" reporter, who is a lightweight...

[willgolfforfood]

You know, as I age as gracefully as possible, I do admit that sometimes my butt seems to be stuck in a “greater than” 1 G gravity field on occasion. But I don’t think I remember enough physics to be able to express that thought as an equation.