Para aqueles que estão preocupados com as consequências de um possível impacto da nossa vizinha, a galáxia de Andrômeda, com a Via Láctea em um futuro distante, aqui vai uma notícia para que possas colocar as coisas em perspectiva: nossa galáxia ainda está a recuperar de um duro golpe que sofreu há 100 milhões de anos.
Cientistas do Fermilab analisaram cerca de 300 mil estrelas catalogadas pelo Sloan Digital Sky Survey, que já mapeou pelo menos 35% das áreas conhecidas da galáxia, e notaram algo pouco comum: algumas estrelas próximas, nas partes norte e sul da Via Láctea, estão fora de sincronia umas com as outras.
Causas e consequências
As estrelas giram ao redor do disco achatado da Via Láctea a cerca de 220 km/s, com pequenos movimentos de cima para baixo a cerca de 20 a 30 km/s. O movimento dessas estrelas deveria ser simétrico, mas não foi isso que os cientistas perceberam.
Para eles, a explicação é que a Via Láctea teria sofrido um forte impacto há pelo menos 100 milhões de anos e esses movimentos não sincronizados nada mais são do que uma reverberação desse impacto. Embora ainda não se saiba quais são as causas da colisão, a descoberta leva os pesquisadores a duas constatações.
A primeira delas é a de que somos capazes de sobreviver a um impacto, mesmo que ele venha a acontecer somente daqui a 4 bilhões de anos. Já a segunda, e muito mais interessante para a ciência, é a possibilidade de estudar na actualidade o que um impacto como esse pode causar nos planetas envolvidos.
For those who are concerned about the consequences of a possible impact of our neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, the Milky Way in the distant future, here's a story so you can put things in perspective: our galaxy is still recovering from suffered a blow that 100 million years ago.
Scientists at Fermilab have analyzed nearly 300 000 stars cataloged by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which has already mapped at least 35% of known areas of the galaxy, and noticed something unusual: some nearby stars, in the northern and southern parts of the Milky Way, are out synchrony with each other.
Causes and consequences
The stars revolve around the flattened disk of the Milky Way at about 220 km / s, with small movements up and down to about 20-30 km / s. The motion of these stars should be symmetrical, but that's not what scientists have realized.
For them, the explanation is that the Milky Way would have suffered a strong impact for at least 100 million years, and these movements are not synchronized nothing more than a reverberation of that impact. Although no one yet knows what the causes of the collision, the discovery leads researchers to two observations.
The first is that we are able to survive an impact, even if it should happen only after a four billion years. The second and more interesting to science, is the possibility to study at the present time that such an impact could cause the planets involved.
Scientists at Fermilab have analyzed nearly 300 000 stars cataloged by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which has already mapped at least 35% of known areas of the galaxy, and noticed something unusual: some nearby stars, in the northern and southern parts of the Milky Way, are out synchrony with each other.
Causes and consequences
The stars revolve around the flattened disk of the Milky Way at about 220 km / s, with small movements up and down to about 20-30 km / s. The motion of these stars should be symmetrical, but that's not what scientists have realized.
For them, the explanation is that the Milky Way would have suffered a strong impact for at least 100 million years, and these movements are not synchronized nothing more than a reverberation of that impact. Although no one yet knows what the causes of the collision, the discovery leads researchers to two observations.
The first is that we are able to survive an impact, even if it should happen only after a four billion years. The second and more interesting to science, is the possibility to study at the present time that such an impact could cause the planets involved.
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