Questions tagged [milky-way]
Questions regarding the Milky Way Galaxy, the galaxy that Earth's solar system is in.
255
questions
0
votes
2
answers
101
views
Will the Milky Way galaxy revolve around the Andromeda galaxy or vice versa?
As all of you know, in the Milky Way galaxy, the Solar System revolves around the Milky Way to complete the Galactic year (because we have the supper massive black hole in our Milky Way galaxy) then ...
5
votes
3
answers
180
views
Why does the Milky Way look as though it's lit from one side?
I was reading a good explanation of why we don't see the colors in the Milky Way with the naked eye, while even undoctored photos show some color. (It has to do with our colorblind rods.)
But it got ...
1
vote
2
answers
154
views
Orbital decay of the sun's orbit around Sgr A*: is it likely?
What are the possibilities of the sun orbiting the black hole Sagittarius A* at a very close distance? Is there anything that could possibly alter the solar system's orbit, bringing it much closer to ...
1
vote
1
answer
62
views
Can we see the colorful patches or the strip of milky way galaxy with reflector telescopes?
As reflector telescopes gather light and make dimmer images brighter, so if I viewed through telescope with 1x magnification or viewed the horizon ,would I see the strip of milky way?
3
votes
2
answers
90
views
Does the observed sky change when solar system passes through a spiral arm of Milky way?
According to density wave theorem, some other questions here [and my basic understanding from it] the spiral arms of an spiral galaxy are fixed regions of space around it with higher gravity, where ...
-1
votes
1
answer
94
views
can we fly a rocket past the black hole in the milky way? [closed]
Some information needed is facts about the black hole in a milky way.
2
votes
0
answers
51
views
You find yourself on a random planet in the milky way 2000 years in the future. Can you figure out where/when you are? [duplicate]
Imagine you're on a planet in a distant part of the milky way, 2000 years from now. You don't know where you are or how much time has passed. You have access to modern astronomical data and technology ...
3
votes
1
answer
66
views
Names of the galactic backdrop
I am wondering what are the various names given to the plane of the milky way. I am looking for a specific one I once heard, and will likely recognise when I see it.
If I can explain better with a ...
12
votes
3
answers
3k
views
How much light would be received on a rogue planet close to the galactic center?
I was wondering if anyone has ever attempted to estimate how much solar radiation would be received on a rogue planet floating in between star systems close to the center of the milky way, compared to ...
12
votes
2
answers
4k
views
What happens when the quasar remnants reach Earth in 3 million years?
According to this article, during:
(during) a quasar stage in its evolution (6 million years ago) ... the Milky Way’s central black hole swallowed a huge amount of gas, creating a shock wave that has ...
7
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Is it possible for the Milky Way and Andromeda to get ejected upon colliding instead of merging?
The Milky Way and Andromeda are destined to collide and merge within the next 4-5 billion years, but I feel like there could be a chance that instead of merging, they could just eject each other. I ...
2
votes
1
answer
133
views
If a supernova explodes all it's comets into space, can they reach a big number of star systems?
If there's DNA life that arises on a warm planet 2 billion years after the big bang, and meteorite collisions on the planet propagate DNA unicellular organisms into millions of icy rocks orbiting the ...
7
votes
1
answer
553
views
Is the Andromeda galaxy larger than the Milky Way or not?
The Wikipedia article on the Milky Way states that it has an estimated 100 to 400 billion stars. The one on the Andromeda states that it has about a trillion stars. With this, we can conclude that the ...
4
votes
1
answer
63
views
What could cause a wind from an SMBH
In this paper, the author tests whether the Milky Way's Fermi bubbles could have been caused by an AGN-type explosion, or by a 'wind'. He comes to the conclusion that the wind may be "the same as ...
4
votes
0
answers
49
views
Are magnetic vortices capable of providing magnetic lensing when observed away from the poles
Magnetic vortices-(ESA cluster mission from observations November 2018)(article, ESA, science & exploration: 'Magnetic Vortices explain mysterious auroral beads'. An observer during Saturn's ...
10
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Where is the barycenter of the Milky Way Galaxy?
Is the barycenter of the Milky Way Galaxy located within the supermassive black hole, or its event horizon, at the center of our galaxy?
1
vote
0
answers
41
views
Curved milky way image [duplicate]
In today's microsoft bing https://www.bing.com/ background image the milky way is seen as curved. How is this possible?
6
votes
1
answer
113
views
How many Milky Way stars in the Andromeda picture?
I am new to Astronomy, I got interested lately thanks to James Webb Space Telescope. I have some questions. In this zoomable picture of Andromeda galaxy, how many of our stars (Milky Way stars) in ...
11
votes
1
answer
819
views
Early Milky Way depictions after Herschel?
We are all familiar with the 1785 drawing of the Galaxy by William Herschel, often quoted as the "First drawing of the Milky Way"
Are there any other such historical drawings after this one?...
1
vote
0
answers
67
views
Does the north pole of the Solar System (with respect to the invariable plane) point towards the galactic center?
How is our Solar System as a whole (not the wobbly Earth) tilted with respect to the invariable plane of the Milky Way?
I understand our Sun's north pole is largely pointing towards our direction of ...
11
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What are those stars that cross the galactic center?
I found this GIF by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in the Wikipedia article on the galactic year, with the following description:
Visualisation of the orbit of the Sun (yellow dot and white ...
6
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Finding Scorpius in the Milky Way panorama
I'm searching for the constellation of Scorpius in this image.
Unfortunately this is a task too hard for a newbie like me, so I would like to have an hand about that.
11
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Depth of gravitational well within our local Virgo supercluster?
For simplicity we could imagine standing at the north pole so we do not have to care about how fast we are moving in relation to the gravitational field of the earth.
Now calculating how much faster ...
4
votes
3
answers
341
views
Great Attractor's gravity vs Universe Expansion
I would like to know if the trajectory of our galaxy has been calculated because it is usually said that the cosmos is emptying due to the expansion of the universe but at the same time there is a ...
2
votes
1
answer
257
views
What is the apparent magnitude of the Milky Way from the viewpoint of the Large Magellanic Cloud?
Wikipedia contains the essentially unsourced claim that
From a viewpoint in the LMC, the Milky Way's total apparent magnitude would be −2.0—over 14 times brighter than the LMC appears to us on Earth—...
10
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Why does a timelapse video of a stationary Milky Way make the horizon appear to move from horizontal to vertical?
In this video, with a rotating camera keeping the Milky Way 'stationary,' the horizon appears to transition form horizontal to nearly vertical.
I understand the Earth ...
-2
votes
1
answer
88
views
how would you explain the motions in the solar system? [closed]
like so i don't get it it does not make sense I'm confused
8
votes
2
answers
996
views
How was the speed of the Sun (around the Milky Way Galaxy) calculated?
The Sun travels around the Milky Way Galaxy with a speed of 220 km/s. The question is: where did this value come from? Is there any article about the calculation?
Reformulated question: What are the ...
9
votes
1
answer
409
views
How many stars are in the Milky Way galaxy?
So, I've always heard that the Milky Way hosts between 100 billion to 400 billion stars.
My problem is very simple: I'm unable to find any research papers on that topic or giving those estimates. I'm ...
1
vote
2
answers
180
views
If all objects move, where do we go?
Yes I know that the sun and planets in the solar system travel fast with an average speed of 448,000 mph.
Are we going to the center of the galaxy? If so, does that mean our galaxy is getting smaller ...
8
votes
1
answer
260
views
How well have we mapped our local neighborhood of stars?
Do we have a reasonable idea of how well we've mapped our local neighborhood of stars? That is, about what fraction we know about vs. what fraction are unseen (too dim, too much dust, not enough ...
4
votes
1
answer
651
views
Are there black holes and neutron stars in satellite dwarf galaxies orbiting around Milky Way?
It is thought that the number of satellite dwarf galaxies orbiting around Milky Way is counted in hundreds.
Are there black holes and neutron stars in satellite dwarf galaxies orbiting around Milky ...
5
votes
2
answers
482
views
What is the (overall) half-mass radius of Milky Way
I am doing some simulation and I need the half-mass radius of Milky Way (total mass: including all objects, dark matter, nebula...), but I cannot find the value and I don't know how to calculate it.
I ...
2
votes
1
answer
114
views
How big is the Lorentz force on the Sun?
The LOFAR observations have made an estimate of the magnetic field of the Milky Way. The value in our region is very small. About 1/1000 of the Earth magnetic field.
The Earth and the Sun move at a ...
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How big is the energy content of the magnetic field of the Milky Way?
Galaxies have associated magnetic fields. So does the Sun and so does the Earth. In the case of the Earth and Sun it seems clear that the energy content of the magnetic fields is much less than their ...
7
votes
1
answer
183
views
Why is the Milky Way's SMBH inactive?
Our galaxy is not an active galactic nucleus (AGN). With so many stars and so much gas orbiting it, as explained here Central kiloparsec of Seyfert and inactive host galaxies: a comparison of two-...
2
votes
2
answers
262
views
Why was it so difficult to figure out the form of the Milky Way?
The exact form of the Milky Way was figured out the in early fifties of the 20-th century. Why did it take so long to see?
Is it because we are in the "middle" of it? In general, it's easier ...
5
votes
1
answer
433
views
How big is the galactic magnetic field in the solar system and how can we measure it?
The Milky Way has an associated magnetic field. But how big is it influence in the solar system and can we measure it? I mean, when measuring, how can we make the distinction between the field of the ...
5
votes
1
answer
688
views
How do astronomers calculate the period about the wave motion of the solar system in the Milky Way?
According to research, excluding the motion of the entire galaxy, astronomers found the motion of the solar system in the Milky Way.
The solar system revolve around the galactic bulge of the Milky ...
-2
votes
1
answer
185
views
Why is the Milky Way called like that? [closed]
From which language is the term milky way is derived and what is the largest star located in it?
3
votes
1
answer
60
views
Is it possible to observe Lyman-continuum emission from extragalactic objects?
Lyman-continuum (LyC) emission is everything blueward of 912 Angstroms (so it includes extreme UV photons, X-rays and gamma rays). There are many low-redshift astrophysical plasmas such as the diffuse ...
6
votes
1
answer
126
views
Does the galaxy look like a Web or a Tree?
Suppose we have a distance cutoff $r_0$.
Let's say that any two stars in the galaxy with a relative distance below $r_0$ have a path between them.
Would the path-connected Milky Way look like a Web in ...
4
votes
1
answer
149
views
How galactic density falls using Oort constants
I am given the observations that Oort constants $A$ and $B$ are, respectively: $14.5 \text{km s}^{-1} \text{kpc}^{-1}$ and $-12 \text{km s}^{-1} \text{kpc}^{-1}$. From these, I am supposed to conclude ...
3
votes
5
answers
437
views
If our galaxy is mostly empty space then why does it look so solid?
This question has probably been asked quite a few times, but I'm having trouble finding anything due to the fact that this question is very specific in nature. So I'm asking again.
We know that outer ...
4
votes
1
answer
127
views
Where can I find a list of retrograde Milky Way stars?
I read in papers that the Milky Way contains some retrograde stars (retrograde to the Milky Way rotation). Does anybody know where I can find a list of them, possibly including data on their distance ...
0
votes
2
answers
166
views
Does this galaxy resemble the Milky Way, and is it relatable as the "template" for the Milky Way?
Taking a look at this photo of comet 2I/Borisov and a background galaxy (2MASX J10500165-0152029):
And compare it to this rendition of the Milky Way:
The two galaxies slightly resemble each other. ...
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Observing the motion of the solar system and galaxy through space?
This is very perplexing.
Conditions:
planets are moving around the sun (solar system)
solar system is moving as part of the galaxy
the galaxy is moving through space on some axis
galaxy is part of a ...
3
votes
1
answer
148
views
Are the bright dots in this image individual stars?
I saw this picture of M51 (Whirlpool galaxy) and noticed many, many bright dots around and in the galaxy. I have freehand-circled a few as examples. Are these individual stars (probably supergiants) ...
2
votes
0
answers
58
views
Can the lensing effect of Sagittarius A* be used to image the stars diametrically opposite to the sun?
The sun can magnify an image of a source 100 ly away nearly 100 billion times, if the ring is captured from the nearest focal point (550AU). According to Christian Ready of Launch Pad Astronomy, we ...
0
votes
1
answer
291
views
How do we estimate the dimensions and mass distribution of a galaxy's dark matter halo, beyond the effective limits of its visible matter?
Current research suggests that the Milky Way's dark matter halo may extend up to about 10 - 15 times the size of the visible galaxy, and is believed to be roughly spherically symmetrical. But I don't ...