The ILOA 2012 Galaxy Poster is a powerful resource representing the next dimension beyond maps of the World and Solar System. Distributed free by the non-profit ILOA to Galaxy Forum participants and associated institutions around the world, the Poster includes a Milky Way schematic based on the latest research and insets outlining dimensional and compositional features. (c) SARAO (c) NASA/JPL-Caltech (c) European Southern Observatory 2 May 2019 (c) Event Horizon Telescope collaboration, et al; 10 Apr 2019 This stellar piece of work, Plains Milky Way created by Randy Halverson – Dakotalapse, provides an excellent view of our galaxy as seen from here on Earth. Gazing up at the sky can prove truly inspirational under the right conditions. On most parts of the Big Island, here in Hawaii, a combination of factors including low levels of light pollution and consistent ocean winds usually provide us with spectacular star gazing opportunities. Some of the best views can be had during night trips to the summit of Mauna Kea. (c) John Wilson (University of Virginia) (c) NASA, ESA
A new study on the color of our Galaxy by Prof. Jeffrey Newman of University of Pittsburgh and Timothy Licquia, a PhD student, was presented at the 219th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in January 2012. The team used data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to find galaxies similar to the Milky Way in terms of number of stars and rate of star formation. Comparing these characteristics to the observable colors of the respective galaxies allowed researchers to calculate the expected color of our Galaxy, as it would appear from the outside. Newman’s poetic and more objective descriptions of the expected average color of our Milky Way are as follows: “fine-grained new spring snow seen in the early morning light, about an hour after dawn” “D48.4 standard illuminant (i.e., a color temperature of 4840 K)” “a light bulb with a color temperature of 4700-5000K and color rendering index (CRI) above 90 would be a good approximation” Newman made an interesting point that the SDSS Telescope at the Apache Point Observatory, New Mexico, despite its small size of 2.5 meters, has been “one of the most scientifically productive in history.”
The research group including Professor Lucio Mayer of University of Zurich and astronomers from University of California created the galaxy formation simulation using supercomputer resources of the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre and the NASA Colombia Cluster. Their work represents a significant breakthrough in our understanding of the dynamic formation of barred spiral galaxies much like the Milky Way. Between Switzerland and California the project took 2 years of dedicated work and 5,000,000 CPU hours. That means it would have taken your average PC many hundreds of years to calculate. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQBzdcFkB7w] In a separate video during an interview by Michele De Lorenzi, Mayer describes the process of creating the simulation and some of the difficulties that held back decades of attempts to successfully simulate formation of large complex galaxies. Outer Section Of Galaxy Arm Found, Leads To Wide-View Re-Evaluation Of Galaxy Plane The often overlooked regions askew to the galactic plane are coming into new focus. Because the galaxy was thought to be relatively flat apart from the central bulge, very little observation of areas outside the plane has been conducted. However scientists are now uncovering a pronounced warp in the disk of the Galaxy, with the help of this new found section of the Scutum-Centaurus Arm. Looking forward this will lead to new approaches within galactic science and observation, as well as exciting new discoveries. Our understanding of the Galaxy continues to improve with a recent discovery, 49,000 light-years from the center of our Galaxy, by Thomas Dame and Patrick Thaddeus of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Data indicate that the galactic region they have observed and studied is the outer extension of the Scutum-Centaurus spiral arm, which extends from the bar-shaped star cluster at the center of the Galaxy. This section of the arm had never before been cataloged. Scrutiny of 21cm wavelength radio emissions allowed Dame to track the arm structure through the sky and he then was able to follow-up looking for evidence of molecular clouds on a CfA 1.2m radio telescope at Harvard. “One can now trace the Scutum-Centaurus Arm nearly 360 degrees around the galactic system.” said Thaddeus. The team was able to find and identify this new section of the Scutum-Centaurus formation despite that it warps out of the galactic plane into less-studied vectors. A close symmetry is established as the Perseus arm extends from the opposite side of the galactic center. The new information bolsters the concept that our galaxy has only these 2 major arms. With the recent search for habitable planets based on observations by Kepler, and other instruments, we would like to pose the following question to the Galaxy Forum Community. [polldaddy poll=”5129075″] This stunning image (Photo Release ESO1118) of the NGC 6744 Galaxy, from the European Southern Observatory‘s La Silla Observatory in Chile, represents the best look yet at what our own Milky Way Galaxy may look like. Humans have not been able to reach far enough to image our Galaxy from the outside, although some projects have attempted to generate an image from within, using special optics and calculations. For example, two teams headed by Sean Carey of NASA’s Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology and Edward Churchwell of the University of Wisconsin, used 800,000 pictures from the Spitzer Space Telescope to create an insightful view of the inner Milky Way Galaxy. At the time, this image (Credit: JPL) was billed as the highest resolution infrared picture ever taken of our Galaxy. GLIMPSE, Galactic Legacy Infrared Midplane Extraordinaire, was a more extensive survey conducted by the IRAC instrument on board Spitzer Space Telescope to generate an incredible high-resolution panoramic view of our Galaxy. The best way to explore this captivating picture is the online GLIMPSE Image Viewer, hosted by the Space Science Institute. While the new image from ESO is not actually of the Milky Way, astronomers indicate that it is the best representation currently available. Moreover, we are fortunate that the angles worked out so that we get an ‘over-head’ view. Galaxy Hunter is a great online resource for 21st Century science educators and students. Data from Hubble Deep Field images provide the statistical and graphical backdrop for an extremely informative exploration of galaxy science. Critical analysis and methodological skills are covered in a practical and engaging way. The activity covers statistical and scientific issues related to Bias and Sample Size, while providing a significant amount of information about Galaxies and the Universe. This resource targets students in Highschool, specifically grades 10-12, but could be adapted by the teachers for use at other levels. Teaching tips are available here. These include lesson plans and resource overviews, as well as reference to National Standards. (Credits: Frances Pittelli, Lynnette Roller, Denise Smith) Astronomy Picture of the Day continuously reminds us of how amazing our solar system, galaxy and universe can be. Below are a few recent examples. You can find an archive of the photos and accompanying explanations at the APOD website. (c) Team LegoAces Moonbots 2011 is a Google Lunar X PRIZE LEGO MINDSTORMS Challenge, and it correlates directly with the projects and goals of Galaxy Forums and the International Lunar Observatory Association. “In the MoonBots 2.0 Challenge, students get to produce videos, gain computer programming skills, and learn the latest in technological advances at it relates to space exploration. It is important to inspire this generation with the Google Lunar X PRIZE and help kids understand that Moon exploration is still relevant and exciting,” Chanda Gonzales, Google Lunar X PRIZE Education Manager. This is the second annual Moonbots Challenge. The video below provides a brief explanation of the Challenge by Chanda Gonzales from the X PRIZE Foundation and Steven Canvin from LEGO MINDSTORMS. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCX90_gMKCM&feature=player_embedded] This video provides a brief explanation of the size and scope of our galaxy. (c) Ken Campbell and videojug.com This handout created by the team at Galaxy Forum and ILOA explores some of the many Galaxy focused educational resources available on the island of Hawaii.
(click for full-size image)
Space telescope observations reveal clues to a critical period.
Andrew Masterson, Cosmos Magazine 13 May 2019
Gaia spacecraft, with pinpointing help from VLT Survey Telescope at Paranal Observatory, maps more than one billion stars in galaxy.
Event Horizon Telescope Project captures first-ever black hole as seen in M87
ESA Space in Videos on ‘The Universe of Gaia’
(c) ESA, 13 Dec 2018
Capturing Mesmerizing Milky Way from Across the World,
Chinadaily.com, 11 July 2018
Barred Spiral Milky Way. (c) Illustration Credit: R. Hurt (SSC), JPL-Caltech, NASA
Chasing dark matter with the oldest stars in the Milky Way,
Phys.org, 24 Jan 2018Seeing the whole galaxy with a ‘second eye on the sky’,
Phys.org, Sloan Digital Sky Survey, 29 March 2017
Galactica stellaris: Astronomers Build a Family Tree for the Milky Way’s Stars,
Scientific American, Mara Johnson-Groh, 27 March 2017
New Model Explains the Formation of Supermassive Black Holes in the Very Early Universe,
AAAS / EurekAlert!, Dr. John Regan, et al., University of Helsinki, 14 March 2017
The Milky Way’s black hole is spewing out planet-size ‘spitballs’,
Phys.org, Christine Pulliam, 9 January 2017
See a Virtual Milky Way Map from Europe’s Gaia Spacecraft,
Space.com, Tariq Malik, 16 November 2016 (c) ESA
A Long-Lost Gas Cloud Will Slam into Our Galaxy in 30 Million Years,
Space.com, , 3 November 2016 (c) NASA
This Is the Most Detailed Hydrogen Map of the Milky Way Ever Created,
Gizmodo, 20 October 2016 (c) Benjamin Winkel and the HI4PI collaboration
Upcoming Galaxy Map Could Radically Transform How We See the Milky Way,
Scientific American, 12 September 2016
(Credit: R. Hurt SSC)
(Credit: Axel Mellinger)
21st Century Education
