Galaxies are much larger than initially estimated, extending far into extreme space – so far that the Milky Way probably has interactions with its closest neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy.
You may think it’s a long way to the drug store,” was written by Douglas Adams in his book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “but that’s just peanuts to intergalactic distances.
Earth is situated on a vast body orbiting a star located at a distant corner of a galaxy, which is just one of approximately 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe.
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We are already familiar with the Earth’s size – approximately 12,756 kilometers or 7,926 miles in diameter – and that of our sun, which spans about 1,391,000 kilometers or 864,400 miles in diameter.
How large is the Milky Way? The actual size of galaxies has been a puzzle until now.
Galaxies are found to be significantly larger than previously thought
Research has discovered that galaxies are significantly larger than previously believed, possibly several times larger.
The spiral shape of our galaxy is just the smaller central region, extending to around 100,000 light-years in diameter.
The starlight from stars situated in the spiral arms reaches about 7,800 light-years into the vastness of space, which was previously believed to mark the boundary between a galaxy and the vast expanse of intergalactic space.
The study has demonstrated that expansive “halos” of gas extend far out into space from the visible spiral arms of shining starlight.
Astronomers only now became visible to these gas halos with the use of advanced imaging techniques. The methods have enabled astronomers to detect galaxy gas halos that stretch to over 100,000 light years into deep space, significantly increasing our estimates of galaxy size.
Kissing galaxies
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Researchers’ discoveries imply that our Milky Way galaxy possibly interacts with the nearest galaxy, Andromeda, positioned about 2.5 million light-years away, as leading author Nikole Nielsen and a Swinburne University researcher state.
“We’re now witnessing the point at which the galaxy’s influence ends, marking the transition to the surrounding environment and eventually merging with the larger cosmic web and other galaxies. These boundaries are typically unclear,” said Nielsen in a press statement.
Experts state that this finding will contribute to comprehending one of the most significant questions in astronomy: how galaxies change and develop.
The study of such dead or dying star systems, or the dead remnants of stars that no longer form stars any longer — will aid in understanding how galaxies accumulate mass over time, and the effects galaxies have on one another when interacting.
Edited by: Andreas Illmer
Primary source:
Author: Fred Schwaller
