Trinnity
08-24-2012, 11:27 AM
For those of you who love this stuff like I do and are familiar with the large and small Megallanic clouds, this is very cool, indeed.
Magellanic Clouds-Milky Way System’s Twins Found
(http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/article00543.html)The Milky Way Galaxy is a fairly typical galaxy, but when paired with its close neighbors – the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds – it is very rare.
The team, led by Dr Aaron Robotham of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), and the University of St Andrews in Scotland, searched for groups of galaxies similar to ours in the most detailed map of the local Universe yet, the Galaxy and Mass Assembly survey (GAMA).
“We’ve never found another galaxy system like the Milky Way before, which is not surprising considering how hard they are to spot! It’s only recently become possible to do the type of analysis that lets us find similar groups,” said Dr Robotham.
Sophisticated simulations of how galaxies form don’t produce many examples similar to the Milky Way and its surrounds, predicting them to be quite a rare occurrence. Astronomers haven’t been able to tell just how rare until now, with the discovery of not just one but two exact matches amongst the hundreds of thousands of galaxies surveyed.
The Milky Way Galaxy is locked in a complex cosmic dance with its close companions the Magellanic Clouds, which are clearly visible in the southern hemisphere night sky. Many galaxies have smaller galaxies in orbit around them, but few have two that are as large as the Magellanic Clouds.
The study also found that although companions like the Magellanic Clouds are rare, when they are found they’re usually near a galaxy very like the Milky Way, meaning we’re in just the right place at the right time to have such a great view in our night sky.
Here's a pic:
http://www.sci-news.com/images/2012/08/image_543.jpg
Image shows one of the two ‘exact matches’ to the Milky Way system found by the team. The larger galaxy, known as GAMA202627, which is similar to the Milky Way clearly has two large companions. Bluer colors indicate hotter, younger, stars like many of those that are found in our galaxy (Aaron Robotham / ICRAR / St Andrews / GAMA)
Magellanic Clouds-Milky Way System’s Twins Found
(http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/article00543.html)The Milky Way Galaxy is a fairly typical galaxy, but when paired with its close neighbors – the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds – it is very rare.
The team, led by Dr Aaron Robotham of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), and the University of St Andrews in Scotland, searched for groups of galaxies similar to ours in the most detailed map of the local Universe yet, the Galaxy and Mass Assembly survey (GAMA).
“We’ve never found another galaxy system like the Milky Way before, which is not surprising considering how hard they are to spot! It’s only recently become possible to do the type of analysis that lets us find similar groups,” said Dr Robotham.
Sophisticated simulations of how galaxies form don’t produce many examples similar to the Milky Way and its surrounds, predicting them to be quite a rare occurrence. Astronomers haven’t been able to tell just how rare until now, with the discovery of not just one but two exact matches amongst the hundreds of thousands of galaxies surveyed.
The Milky Way Galaxy is locked in a complex cosmic dance with its close companions the Magellanic Clouds, which are clearly visible in the southern hemisphere night sky. Many galaxies have smaller galaxies in orbit around them, but few have two that are as large as the Magellanic Clouds.
The study also found that although companions like the Magellanic Clouds are rare, when they are found they’re usually near a galaxy very like the Milky Way, meaning we’re in just the right place at the right time to have such a great view in our night sky.
Here's a pic:
http://www.sci-news.com/images/2012/08/image_543.jpg
Image shows one of the two ‘exact matches’ to the Milky Way system found by the team. The larger galaxy, known as GAMA202627, which is similar to the Milky Way clearly has two large companions. Bluer colors indicate hotter, younger, stars like many of those that are found in our galaxy (Aaron Robotham / ICRAR / St Andrews / GAMA)