Astronomers: a 9,000-light-year-long stream of gas and dust ripples like a wave due to the Milky Way’s gravity
According to an analysis of data from the space telescope Gaia, astronomers now believe that a 9,000-light- year-long stream of gas and dust that is only 500 light years away from the Sun at its nearest point ripples up and down like a wave, due to the Milky Way’s gravity.
Dubbed the Radcliffe Wave after the institute in which the astronomers were based who first discovered it, the scientists determined its wavelike behavior by mapping the motions of the star clusters along its length. Apparently, over time they are moving up and down, not unlike fans at a stadium doing the wave.
The data also includes these intriguing results:
“It turns out that no significant dark matter is needed to explain the motion we observe,” Konietzka said. “The gravity of ordinary matter alone is enough to drive the waving of the Wave.”
In addition, the discovery of the oscillation raises new questions about the preponderance of these waves both across the Milky Way and other galaxies. Since the Radcliffe Wave appears to form the backbone of the nearest spiral arm in the Milky Way, the waving of the Wave could imply that spiral arms of galaxies oscillate in general, making galaxies even more dynamic than previously thought. “The question is, what caused the displacement giving rise to the waving we see?,” Goodman said. “And does it happen all over the galaxy? In all galaxies? Does it happen occasionally? Does it happen all the time?”
That no dark matter is involved causes a lot of problems for the hypothesis that such material exists, causing the motions of stars in the outer regions all galaxies to orbit the galaxy faster than they should. Why would dark matter cause that increased rotation, but have no impact on this wave? It is a paradox that is not easily resolved.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
According to an analysis of data from the space telescope Gaia, astronomers now believe that a 9,000-light- year-long stream of gas and dust that is only 500 light years away from the Sun at its nearest point ripples up and down like a wave, due to the Milky Way’s gravity.
Dubbed the Radcliffe Wave after the institute in which the astronomers were based who first discovered it, the scientists determined its wavelike behavior by mapping the motions of the star clusters along its length. Apparently, over time they are moving up and down, not unlike fans at a stadium doing the wave.
The data also includes these intriguing results:
“It turns out that no significant dark matter is needed to explain the motion we observe,” Konietzka said. “The gravity of ordinary matter alone is enough to drive the waving of the Wave.”
In addition, the discovery of the oscillation raises new questions about the preponderance of these waves both across the Milky Way and other galaxies. Since the Radcliffe Wave appears to form the backbone of the nearest spiral arm in the Milky Way, the waving of the Wave could imply that spiral arms of galaxies oscillate in general, making galaxies even more dynamic than previously thought. “The question is, what caused the displacement giving rise to the waving we see?,” Goodman said. “And does it happen all over the galaxy? In all galaxies? Does it happen occasionally? Does it happen all the time?”
That no dark matter is involved causes a lot of problems for the hypothesis that such material exists, causing the motions of stars in the outer regions all galaxies to orbit the galaxy faster than they should. Why would dark matter cause that increased rotation, but have no impact on this wave? It is a paradox that is not easily resolved.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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