11/21/2023 0 Comments Spiral galaxy near milky way![]() Does this imply a new nuclear bar component in the innermost Milky Way? And how could all these structures in the inner Milky Way have formed? Recent observations from the VVV survey at the ESO VISTA telescope have now shown that the asymmetries in the distributions of the red clump stars change again within about 2000 light-years from the Galactic centre. ![]() The data even suggested two barred components, an inner elongated bulge, and an outer bar in the disk, with different orientations. With this information, their distribution along the line of sight can be reconstructed.Īsymmetries in the distributions of these stars on both sides of the Galactic centre led astronomers to believe that the stars are arranged in a bar-like structure. These stars have very uniform absolute luminosity and colour, therefore their distances and the residual dimming by dust can be determined from their apparent brightness and colour. Such observations of a certain class of giant stars, the so-called red clump stars, have given us the best information about the Milky Way's inner regions so far. The best view of the inner Galaxy is at near-infrared wavelengths, where the clouds become transparent. Distant stars are therefore often hidden behind gas and dust clouds, particularly in the direction of the galactic centre at a distance of 25 000 light-years (Figure 2). This overall structure of our Galaxy has been known for some time, but it is difficult to measure the spatial distribution and properties of distant stars because our Sun and Earth are located right in the Galaxy's thin disk of gas and dust. In addition, the Milky Way also contains a "bar" as do about two-thirds of all spiral galaxies (see Figure 1). Our Milky Way, like many other spiral galaxies, consists of a disk with spiral arms containing relatively young stars, and an elongated "bulge" in the central region with predominantly old stars.
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