A New Look at the Milky Way’s Central Bar
http://www.dearastronomer.com/
The BRAVA fields are shown in this image montage.
Image Credit: D. Talent, K. Don, P. Marenfeld & NOAO/AURA/NSF and the BRAVA Project
You may have heard about the restaurant at the end of the Universe, but have you heard of the bar in the middle of the Milky Way?
Nearly 80 years ago, astronomers determined that our home, the Milky Way Galaxy, is a large spiral galaxy. Despite being stuck inside and not being able to see what the entire the structure looks like — as we can with the Pinwheel Galaxy, or our nearest neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy — researchers have suspected our galaxy is actually a “barred” spiral galaxy.
Barred spiral galaxies feature an elongated stellar structure , or bar, in the middle which in our case is hidden by dust and gas. There are many galaxies in the Universe that are barred spirals, and yet, there are numerous galaxies which do not feature a central bar.
How do these central bars form, and why are they only present in some, but not all spiral galaxies?
Check out the full article at: Universe Today
Ray Sanders is a Sci-Fi geek, astronomer and blogger. Currently researching variable stars at Arizona State University, he writes for Universe Today, The Planetary Society blog, and his own blog, Dear Astronomer
2012-12-04 08:07:04
Source: http://www.dearastronomer.com/2011/12/21/a-new-look-at-the-milky-ways-central-bar/
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