Timeline for If our galaxy is mostly empty space then why does it look so solid?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| May 8, 2021 at 2:30 | comment | added | JohnHunt | @PeterIrwin I concede the point, specifically and generally. I did not entirely convey what I meant to initially, in an attempt to keep things simple. I meant to discuss the illusory nature of galactic solidity and tried to use an analogy which is somewhat misleading on its own. And I neglected to differentiate between my analogy and the actual physical effects, hoping that the separation would be inferred. I enjoy and respect your posts here on PSE and appreciate you calling these issues to out. | |
| May 6, 2021 at 14:46 | comment | added | Peter Erwin | @JohnHunt That quote explains why we see dark patches (= fewer stars) when you look in the direction of the bulge, not why the rest of the bulge -- or other galaxies -- appears "solidly" bright. | |
| May 6, 2021 at 4:48 | comment | added | JohnHunt | "The heart of the Milky Way is crammed full of gas, dust, and stars. The bulge is the reason that you can only see a small percentage of the total stars in the galaxy. Dust and gas within it are so thick that you can't even peer into the bulge of the Milky Way, much less see out the other side."space.com/19915-milky-way-galaxy.html | |
| May 4, 2021 at 19:30 | comment | added | user39131 | I assumed that the starlight lightens up the interstellar dust, so that light brightens up the empty space between the stars, giving the galaxy a solid look. Looks like I'm somewhat correct. | |
| May 4, 2021 at 19:27 | vote | accept | user39131 | ||
| May 4, 2021 at 19:26 | comment | added | user39131 | This is an excellent answer. | |
| S May 3, 2021 at 15:20 | history | edited | WarpPrime | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
fixed number of stars
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| S May 3, 2021 at 15:20 | history | suggested | Jason Goemaat | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
fixed number of stars
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| May 3, 2021 at 14:50 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S May 3, 2021 at 15:20 | |||||
| May 3, 2021 at 8:32 | comment | added | Peter Erwin | This is in general a very minor effect, and doesn’t explain why things like elliptical galaxies, which have very little gas and dust, also look “solid”. | |
| May 3, 2021 at 6:23 | history | answered | JohnHunt | CC BY-SA 4.0 |