Did you know that whatever the speed that Earth is moving, and beyond its rotation, the whole Milky Way Galaxy is rotating at about 600,000 miles an hour. So much for the 'idea' of standing still.
Now, new measurements of how quickly our galaxy is rotating have led a team of Harvard astrophysicists to conclude that our galaxy is 50 percent more massive than previously thought, and likely does have four arms.
Using the Very Large Baseline Array of radio telescopes, Reid's team found that the Milky Way is rotating at about 600,000 miles an hour, 100,000 miles per hour faster than previous estimates. When you do the math, that translates into the 50 percent mass increase his team reported in a press conference at the American Astronomical Society meeting Monday. One major consequence of a heavier Milky Way is that we're likely to collide with the Andromeda Galaxy sooner, Reid said.
Earth-like planets may in fact be common in the galaxy, increasing the likelihood of extraterrestrial life.
The largest moon in our solar system, Ganymede is an icy rock even bigger than Mercury. The brightest star, at the top of the image, can be seen by the naked eye. |
clipped from blog.wired.com
clipped from blog.wired.com
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