Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is around 50% larger than previously thought, as confirmed by a new study led by Heidi Jo Newberg of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and whose findings have been published in the Astrophysical Journal .
The researchers reanalyzed data stored in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey that revealed in 2002 the presence of a bulging ring of stars in an area farther from the known plane of the Milky Way. According to the study, this galactic ring or disk is not flat but is made up of several concentric waves . Analyzing the brightness and distance of the stars at the edge of the galaxy, they discovered that the edge of the disk is full of ridges and grooves of stars, similar to a crumpled cardboard.
“In essence, what we find is that the disk of the Milky Way is not just a disk of stars in a plane – it is wavy. As it radiates outward from the Sun, we see at least four ripples in the disk of the Milky Way. Although we can only see part of the galaxy with this data, it is assumed that this pattern is going to be found throughout the disk ”, clarifies Newberg.
The new results therefore reflect that the rings beyond the known plane of the Milky Way are part of the galactic disk, which would increase its diameter to 150,000 light years (if we take into account that 1 light year = 9,460,730,472,580 kilometers, this new data makes us feel even smaller and more fascinated by the mysteries that we still have to solve).
“Starting the investigation, astronomers had observed that the number of stars in the Milky Way decreases rapidly to about 50,000 light years from the center of the galaxy, and then a ring of stars appears about 60,000 light years from the center. What we see now is that this apparent ring is actually a ripple on the disk. And it is very possible that there are more waves further away that we have not seen yet, ”the authors explain.
