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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)

Carygrant
08-24-2012, 12:15 PM
Bet the IQ is higher .
Proven because of their refusal to visit .

URF8
08-24-2012, 01:45 PM
Bet the IQ is higher .
Proven because of their refusal to visit .

Are you familiar with Fermi's Paradox? It's a corollary of Drake's Equation.

Imo it's likely that every technological civilization self destructs before it can truly explore the heavens.

Trinnity
08-24-2012, 01:56 PM
They'd likely avoid YOU, CaryGrant. Boy, that frackus in 1776 really did upset your lil tea-cart, no?
And you have a rowdy little prince that gets in the papers all nekkid. HOW embarrassing.

Carygrant
08-24-2012, 04:28 PM
Trinn, , you are doing an American -- disappearing down the toilet .
However much you admire my natural talent , they will pick Kate Bush before me .

Captain Obvious
08-24-2012, 09:07 PM
That's awesome, I love this shit.

Sucks that your thread got trolled by a dimwit.

Goldie Locks
08-24-2012, 09:20 PM
Too bad NASA is now been commissioned to just be a public relations outfit for Muslims.

Goldie Locks
08-24-2012, 09:21 PM
That's awesome, I love this shit.

Sucks that your thread got trolled by a dimwit.

That's an insult to dimwit's.

Captain Obvious
08-24-2012, 09:26 PM
Too bad NASA is now been commissioned to just be a public relations outfit for Muslims.

Exactly.

And how do you say "Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy" in Russian?

Trinnity
08-24-2012, 09:36 PM
This is an ordinary photograph of OUR large and small Magellanic Clouds that can be seen with the naked eye. Pretty darn cool.

http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/photos/3001206.jpg

Captain Obvious
08-24-2012, 09:38 PM
Can they be seen virtually anywhere?

Occasionally we see what appears to be clouds on clear nights up in the stars, I always wondered if that was them.

I'm a shadetree astronomer, btw. Wish I knew more about it.

Trinnity
08-24-2012, 10:05 PM
Yes, as long as you're looking in the right area of the sky. You can see the L/S MC's and you can also see the Andromeda Galaxy with the naked eye.

Here's a pic of the Andromeda Galaxy, our closest galactic neighbor.

http://www.janicestrong.com/PhotoGalleries/2011Night/slide/200_0097andromeda.jpg
Can you spot it?
look above the point of the tree

Here's another I cannot post....see if you can spot it right away!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ironrodart/5189653748/

It's actually on a collision course with us and is already entwined according to some scientists. It was thought that Andromeda was twice the size of the MW. Now they seem to think they're similar. Oh well....

The MWG is about 100K light years across, while the largest Galaxy recorded so far, IC1011 is a whopping 6 million light years across. Our modest galaxy would be but a speck within it. Imagine that~

Captain Obvious
08-24-2012, 10:17 PM
Yeah, it's like the star group is hazy. That's what we see occasionally on clear nights.

Trinnity
08-25-2012, 01:29 AM
You're seeing one of the three. Now if you get curiouser, you find out where they are in relation to the constellations and bigger stars....the archer, pisces, leo, Sirius, Venus, etc....and then you'll know which one it is.