Michael Korotkov
Capstone
Period 2
11/17/14
Planes of satellites in galaxies similar to the Milky Way
A new discovery may have “implications for our theories of gravity”. The Milky Way and Andromeda have planes of satellites. However, these planes should not exist according to the standard theory of how galaxies are formed. It is important to know why these plane of satellites exist exist because it influences our understanding of how the universe works. By using data from astronomical surveys, it is possible to test a large sample of galaxies, and identify which galaxies have planes of satellites around them, possibly yielding the explanation as to why the Milky Way and Andromeda have planes of satellites. If the plane around the Milky Way
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The Milky Way has 20 satellites (dwarf galaxies and globular clusters) that lie on a single plane perpendicular to the Milky Way’s disk. The Milky Way’s galaxies lie on a plane. The Milky Way’s and other large galaxies’ satellite galaxies should be distributed evenly around the large galaxy. However, almost half of Andromeda’s satellite galaxies lie on a single plane, and they all revolve around Andromeda in the same direction. 15/27 of the observable Milky Way satellite galaxies lie on the same plane, and 13/15 of these satellites were orbiting in the same direction. The plane around Andromeda is nearly aligned with Milky Way’s disk. The disk of satellites around Andromeda is 46,000 LY thick, which is 15x thicker than Andromeda’s galactic disk, but is thin compared to a sphere around Andromeda. Andromeda’s spinning plane of satellite galaxies have a 1.4% chance of the spin being formed randomly. Researchers do not know whether or not other galaxies have their satellite galaxies arranged in a disk. Planes of satellites are, in fact widespread. Also, satellites on opposite sides of the host galaxy tend to have opposite velocities. About 50% of Andromeda’s satellite galaxies lie in a plane ~400 kpc in diameter and <14.1 kpc thick. A large number these satellites orbit Andromeda in the same way. The plane is aligned with the Milky Way’s pole. The plane is coplanar to the Andromeda to Milky Way position vector. The chance of …show more content…
After this, the data will be statistically analyzed. Ibata et. al studied galaxies up to 150 kpc away. They used data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and found that planes of galaxies rotating in the same direction are widespread. Martin et. al studied Andromeda and found that it had a plane of satellite galaxies consisting of ~50% of its satellites, ~400 kpc in diameter, and <14.1 kpc thick. Pawlowski, M. S., & McGaugh, S. S. used computer simulations to find whether or not paired galaxies have a higher chance of having satellite planes. They found that there was no significant difference. These studied were different from this experiment because none of them studied galaxies that were specifically like the Milky Way. The method of using survey data and analyzing it using Processing is cost effective and does not use a large amount of time, as opposed to conducting a survey or using a specialized and expensive
There are many theories that all the planets and other space rocks in the solar system orbit around the sun and follow the orbiting route due to the sun’s gravitational force keeping them in course. According to Sir Isaac Newton’s first law “An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force. An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.” This law is often called "the law of inertia". This is why these planets don’t go severely of course due to the consistent gravitational field the sun is providing. The Kuiper belt and the Asteroid belt are where most of the space rocks, also known as asteroids; orbit along and many stay together because they are part of the s...
BookRags and Gale's For Students Series. "The Andromeda Strain Study Guide and Notes." Bookrags.com. Thomson Gale, 2006. Web. 6 June 2012.
Two men named Harlow Shapley and Heber Curtis has a debate in 1920 that is still important today for changing how we think about galaxies. They talked about five important things. The first thing they debated was how big our galaxy, the Milky Way, is. Shapley said that the Milky Way was much bigger than we first thought, 100,000 light-years across, and that, because it was that big, it had to be the only one. Curtis said the the Milky Way was smaller than that, and that other galaxies existed past ours. They were both right and both wrong. Shapley was right about the size of the Milky Way, and Curtis was right about there being many more galaxies in the universe.
We can also prove that dark matter exists in galaxies by examining how they spin. When an object rotates in a circular orbit, the object has a tendency to fly off in a path tangent to the orbit. If the stays within the orbit, it has a radial acceleration which is equal to its velocity squared over the radius of the orbit. The only force which is keeping the body in the orbit is the force of gravity, which is dependent on the mass of the system. Knowing this, physicists can calculate the mass of a galaxy by looking at how fast stars orbiting its center are moving. Physicists can also calculate where the highest percentage of dark matter should be in the galaxy. In most cases, it is located in a ring just outside the galaxy. In the case of the galaxy shown in the photo, dark matter must be present in the dark space between the nucleus of older yellow stars and the outer ring of young, blue stars.
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Comparing this galaxy’s size to are own Milky Way Galaxy, which is estimated to be around 8.5*1011 solar masses large, the Andromeda Galaxy is about 20% bigger then are own. Along with this we also know that both our own galaxy and this galaxy are on a collision course. It is estimated that in around 7.5 billion years that these two galaxies will merge together in a surely violent process. It is suspected that after this a large disc or elliptical galaxy will exist in the place of the once separate galaxies.
By 1936, astronomers had realized that the hazy balls they sometimes saw in their telescopes, which looked like stars obscured by gas, were actually galaxies (Hibbison).
The first person to ever observe the Milky Way was Greek philosopher, Democritus, who said the galaxy may consist of distant stars. In 1610, Galileo Galilei used a telescope to study the Milky Way and came to the conclusion that it was composed of billions and billions of faint stars. Then, in 1750, Thomas Wright c...
Space has always been a pivotal and utmost important subject for many years. In the past, scientists have made monumental advances in this field such as sending people into orbit and landing a man on the moon. Of course, this has only barely been explored and we still have a lot more to see of the ever-vast outer space. One of the most significant topics of all of science has only been touched and there’s still more to come.
“Sheltered as we are by Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field, which deflect lethal radiation from space, we are like coddled children who have never ventured into a tough neighborhood” (Folger 2). Humans have been fascinated with space since the beginning of our time. Just like children and rough neighborhoods, we have tackled obstacle over obstacle to make it home again. In the end, we have a better knowledge and strength than before. The future of space exploration can assist us in answering the everlasting question of how the universe came to be. The more we explore the infinite galaxies, the more we can scientifically discover and create new technologies as science advances. As we continue to discover, we can create new fields and occupations for aspiring young students like myself.
...enith (straight overhead position). Two galaxies which are believed to revolve around our own are the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. Only visible from the Southern Hemisphere, Magellan, the famous European explorer, was the first to describe these galaxies.
The Universe is a collection of millions of galaxies and extends beyond human imagination. After the big bang, the universe was found to be composed of radiation and subatomic particles. Information following big bang is arguable on how galaxies formed, that is whether small particles merged to form clusters and eventually galaxies or whether the universe systematized as immense clumps of matter that later fragmented into galaxies (Nasa World book, 2013). A galaxy is a massive area of empty space full of dust, gases (mainly 75% Hydrogen and 25%Helium), atoms, about 100-200 billion stars, interstellar clouds and planets, attracted to the center by gravitational force of attraction. Based on recent research, 170 billion galaxies have been estimated to exist, with only tens of thousands been discovered (Deutsch, 2011).
The Sun, in turn, is moving in an undulating orbit around the centre of the MIlky Way at 800,000 km/h (ka-boom would be 15 TJ - about a 3.5 kiloton baby nuke), which in turn is moving with the Local Group towards the Virgo Cluster, which in turn...... and so on and so on.