Origin of the arms of the Milky Way galaxy. Milky Way Galaxy Supermassive Black Hole

    It is a component of the structure of lenticular and spiral galaxies. The Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253) is an example of a galaxy that has a disk. The galactic disk is a plane in which spirals, arms and jumpers are located. In the galactic... ... Wikipedia

    Galaxy M106. The sleeves are easily distinguishable in the overall structure. The galactic arm is a structural element of a spiral galaxy. The arms contain a significant portion of dust and gas, as well as many star clusters. The matter in them rotates around... ... Wikipedia

    The request for "Orion Arm" redirects here; see also other meanings. Structure of the Milky Way. Location of the Sun ... Wikipedia

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    Structure of the Milky Way. The location of the Solar System is indicated by a large yellow dot... Wikipedia

Before we look at the formation of the Spiral Arms of the galaxy, let's see how our theoretical reasoning agrees with the results of astronomical observations. Analysis of astronomical observations Let's see how such theoretical reasoning agrees with the results of astronomical observations. The visible radiation from the central regions of the Galaxy is completely hidden from us by thick layers of absorbing matter. Therefore, let's turn to the neighboring spiral galaxy M31 in the Andromeda Nebula, which is very similar to ours. Several years ago, Hubble discovered two point nuclei at its center. One of them looked brighter in visible (green) rays, the other weaker, but when they built a map of the rotation rates and velocity dispersion of the stars, it turned out that the dynamic center of the galaxy is a weaker core; it is believed that this is where the supermassive black hole is located. When Hubble photographed the center of the Andromeda Nebula not in green, but in ultraviolet rays, it turned out that the core, which was bright in the visible region of the spectrum, was almost invisible in ultraviolet, and in place of the dynamic center, a compact bright stellar structure was observed. A study of the kinematics of this structure showed that it consists of young stars rotating in almost circular orbits. Thus, in the center of M 31, two circumnuclear stellar disks were found at once: one elliptical, made up of old stars, and the other round, made up of young stars. The planes of the disks coincide, and the stars in them rotate in the same direction. According to Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences O. Silchenko, we can assume that we are seeing the consequences of two star formation bursts, one of which occurred a long time ago, 5-6 billion years ago, and the other quite recently, several million years ago. As can be seen, this is quite consistent with the fact that in the center of the galaxy there can be two centers, one of which belongs to the old spherical subsystem, and the other, younger one, belongs to the disk part. Moreover, this young center, already at the first stages of its development, is formed in the form of a compact disk system, and not only in the M31 galaxy, but also in many other galactic systems. Panoramic spectroscopy, which allows the construction of surface maps of rotation rates and velocity dispersion maps, has made it possible to verify that individual circumnuclear stellar disks can indeed be found in the centers of many galaxies. They are distinguished by their compact size (no more than a hundred parsecs) and the relatively young average age of the stellar population (no older than 1-5 billion years). The bulges in which such perinuclear disks are immersed are noticeably older and rotate more slowly. An analysis of the velocity map of the Sa galaxy NGC 3623 (a member of a group of three spiral galaxies) showed a minimum of stellar velocity dispersion and a sharpened shape of the rotation velocity isolines in the center of the galaxy (see Fig. : Afanasiev V.L., Sil"chenko O.K. Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 429, p. 825, 2005). The pointed shape of the rotation speed isolines means that in the symmetry plane of the galaxy the stars rotate much faster than in the adjacent regions of the spheroidal bulge at fairly close values gravitational potential. That is, the kinematic energy of stars located in the symmetry plane is concentrated in ordered rotation, and not in chaotic movements, like in stars of the spheroidal component. This indicates that in the very center of the galaxy there is a flat, dynamically cold, with a large moment. rotation of the stellar subsystem, i.e. the disk inside the bulge. These observations confirm that in the spherical part of galaxies, where the bulge is its cause body, a younger subsystem arises, belonging to the next level of matter organization. This is the disk part of galaxies, the body of which will be a rapidly rotating circumnuclear disk inside the bulge. Thus, for two subsystems it is possible to establish two bodies of cause, one of which in relation to the other is a body of effect. Let's return to the results of observations of our Galaxy. Despite the fact that the visible radiation from the central regions of the Galaxy is completely hidden from us by thick layers of absorbing matter, after creating infrared and radio radiation receivers, scientists were able to conduct a detailed study of this area. A study of the central part of the Galaxy has shown that in addition to a large number of stars, a circumnuclear gas disk, consisting mainly of molecular hydrogen, is also observed in the central region. Its radius exceeds 1000 light years. Closer to the center, areas of ionized hydrogen and numerous sources of infrared radiation are noted, indicating star formation occurring there. The circumnuclear gas disk is the body of the cause of the disk part of the Galaxy and is at an early stage of evolution because it consists of molecular hydrogen. In relation to its system - the disk, it is a white hole, from where energy is supplied to the development of space and matter in the disk part of the Galaxy. Studies using a system of ultra-long-baseline radio telescopes have shown that in the very center (in the constellation Sagittarius) there is a mysterious object designated as Sagittarius A*, emitting a powerful stream of radio waves. According to estimates, the mass of this cosmic object, located 26 thousand light years away from us, is four million times greater than the mass of the Sun. And in its size it corresponds to the distance between the Earth and the Sun (150 million kilometers). This object is usually considered a possible candidate for a black hole. One of the researchers of this object, Zhi-Qiang Shen from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is convinced that the most convincing confirmation of its compactness and massiveness is now considered to be the nature of the movement of stars close to it. Shen and his group, having carried out observations in a higher frequency radio range (86 GHz instead of 43 GHz), obtained the most accurate estimate of the space object, which led to a halving of the area of ​​interest to them (publication dated November 3, 2005 in Nature). Another study of the central region of the Galaxy concerns the Quintiplet Cluster, recently discovered in the very center of our Galaxy and consisting of five massive stars of unknown nature. Australian astronomers, led by Dr. Peter Tuthill, while studying the object, identified an extremely strange and unparalleled structure. The fact is that the Quintiplet cluster is located in the very center of the Galaxy, where, according to the prevailing cosmological doctrine, a massive black hole should be located, and, therefore, there cannot be any stars in sight. All five stars are relatively old and approaching the final stages of their existence. But the strangest thing was that two of them were rapidly rotating around each other (or rather, around a common center of gravity), scattering dust around them, like the rotating head of a sprinkler spraying water. The dust forms spiral arms. The radius of one of the spirals is about 300 AU. These observations show that in the center of the Galaxy there really is an unimaginably huge massive object, which, however, is not a black hole, since others may well exist near it without falling into its influence star systems. On the other hand, in the center of the Galaxy there is a circumnuclear disk. And also a Quintiplet of mysterious nature. All these observations can be explained from the point of view of the formation of two different subsystems, in which there are two bodies of cause of different natures: one body is emerging, the other is fading. Two rapidly rotating Quintiplet stars can be considered as the rotation of the body of effect around the body of cause at a stage when their masses are approximately the same. Although it is not entirely clear which quadrupole they belong to, because There is not enough data for this yet. Now let's look at the disk part of the Galaxy in more detail.

Spiral arms of galaxies

One of the main phenomena of our Galaxy is the formation of spiral branches (or arms). This is the most prominent structure in the disks of galaxies like ours, giving the galaxies the name spiral. The spiral arms of the Milky Way are largely hidden from us by absorbing matter. Their detailed study began after the advent of radio telescopes. They made it possible to study the structure of the Galaxy by observing the radio emission of interstellar hydrogen atoms concentrated along the Long Spirals. According to modern concepts, spiral arms are associated with compression waves propagating across the galactic disk. This theory of density waves describes the observed facts quite well and is due to Chia Chiao Lin and Frank Shu of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. According to scientists, passing through areas of compression, the matter of the disk becomes denser, and the formation of stars from gas becomes more intense. Although the nature and reasons for the appearance of such a unique wave structure in the disks of spiral galaxies are still not understood. Energy structure of the Galaxy disk. Let's see how the formation of spiral arms can be explained from the standpoint of self-organization of matter. The disk part of the Galaxy, as shown above, is formed due to the toroidal topology of the space of the first module. As a result of the quantization of this space, many subspaces were formed, each of which also has a toroidal topology. All of them are nested inside the first torus in a matryoshka type. In the center of each torus, incoming energy circulates along a circle of large radius, which goes to create the space and matter of stars and stellar systems. Such a system of tori gives rise to a material flat disk consisting of many star systems rotating in the same direction. All matter formed in the disk part of the Galaxy acquires a single plane and direction of rotation. At the center of the Galaxy there are two central bodies, one of which is the cause body of the halo subsystem (black hole), the other is the cause body of the disk subsystem (white hole), which also rotate relative to each other. In the disk part of the Galaxy, chronoshells of internal subsystems are formed, which are subspaces of consequences. In each of these subspaces, its own body of effect is formed, which is a star or stellar system revolving around the body of cause, i.e. the center of the Galaxy, where the white hole is located. The orbits of the stars closest to the white hole are circles, because the energy entering the chronoshells of these stars circulates in circles (Fig. 14). Fig. 14.

If the chronoshells of the first module are located outside the rotation boundary of the white hole body around the black hole, then the energy will circulate not in a circle, but in an ellipse, in one of the focuses there is a body of cause (black hole), in the other - a body of effect (white hole). Accordingly, the topology of space will change, the torus will take on a more complex shape, and instead of the circle that the large radius of the torus describes, we will have an ellipse.

Looking at our disk from above, we will see that the circulation of energy in different tori describes different ellipses. In general, the ellipses of rotation are presented in the figure, from which it can be seen that the further away the orbit of energy rotation is, the more the shape of the orbit will approach a circle. Let me emphasize once again that the figures depict trajectories of energy circulation, which relate to the structure of spaces, and not material bodies. Therefore, in this system, the black and white holes represent a sink and a source of energy that are stationary.

Since the disk subsystem of the Galaxy is immersed in the spherical subsystem, additional interaction occurs between them through time. The influence of one subsystem on another leads to the fact that the rotational torque present in the spherical part is superimposed on the circulation of energy in the disk subsystem. Although this is not a very intense torque, it still contributes to the overall picture, as a result of which the tori rotate at a small angle relative to each other. Accordingly, the energy rotation ellipses will also shift by the same rotation angle relative to each other, forming a spiral structure.

The speed of movement of any star around the center of the Galaxy will not coincide with the speed of movement of the spiral pattern. The circulation of energy flows in space will remain unchanged throughout the life of the Galaxy. Because the energy entering the system through time transfers torque, changing the total energy, but does not transfer momentum. Therefore, the torque that time brings into the system depends solely on the properties of the cause point and remains constant throughout the entire period of the disk's existence.

The bodies of consequences, and in this case these are stars, during their formation receive an angular momentum that sets their rotation around the center of the Galaxy. Therefore, the motion of stars formed in toroidal chronoshells will be influenced by many factors. Among these factors, the determining factors will be the amount of matter formed, the degree of evolutionary development of the star itself, the gravitational influence of other stars, as well as a number of other reasons.

The rotation of energy in ellipses is an exclusive property of space itself. When the ellipses are rotated at a certain angle as shown in the figure, the points of contact of the ellipses will have the highest energy density. Therefore, the amount of energy released in these places will be summed up. In this case, an energy structure again appears in space. Just as in the chronoshells of the zero module we got an energy model of a dodecahedron, so in the chronoshells of the first module we get a spiral picture. In accordance with the fact that the release of energy along the spiral arms occurs with a greater amplitude, it is in these places that the process of star formation will occur most intensely.

I would like to emphasize once again that the formation of a rotating disk and the formation of spiral arms are structures of completely different natures. A rotating disk is a system of material bodies formed during the transformation of time. And spiral arms are the energy structure of space, showing in which area the release of energy occurs most intensely. Therefore, the main property of the wave spiral pattern is its uniform rotation, as a single system of spaces formed by tori. Consequently, the pattern of the spiral pattern rotates as a whole with a constant angular velocity. Although the galactic disk rotates differentially, because it was formed under different conditions and each part of it is at its own stage of evolution. But the disk itself is secondary in relation to the spiral arms; it is the energy structure of the spirals that is primary, which sets the pace for the entire star formation process of the disk. It is for this reason that the spiral pattern is defined so clearly and clearly and maintains complete regularity throughout the entire disk of the galaxy, in no way distorted by the differential rotation of the disk.

Density of stars in spiral arms.

Star formation occurs approximately equally throughout the disk, so the density of stars will depend on how densely the chronosheaths are located between each other. Despite the fact that star formation occurs more intensely in the arms, the density of stars here should not differ much from other regions of the disk, although the increased energy amplitude causes the initiation of chronosheaths that are in less favorable conditions. Astronomical observations show that the density of stars in the spiral arms is not so high; they are located there only a little denser than the average across the disk - only 10 percent, no more.

Such a weak contrast would never be seen in photographs of distant galaxies if the stars in the spiral arm were the same as those in the entire disk. The thing is that together with the stars in the spiral arms, intensive formation of interstellar gas occurs, which then condenses into stars. At the initial stage of their evolution, these stars are very bright and stand out strongly among other stars in the disk. Observations of neutral hydrogen in the disk of our Galaxy (based on its radio emission at a wavelength of 21 cm) show that the gas does indeed form spiral arms.

In order for the arms to be clearly outlined by young stars, a sufficiently high rate of transformation of gas into stars is required and, in addition, the duration of the evolution of the star at its initial bright stage is not too long. Both are true for real physical conditions in galaxies, due to the increased intensity of the time flow released in the arms. The duration of the initial phase of the evolution of bright massive stars is less than the time during which the arm will noticeably shift during its overall rotation. These stars shine for about ten million years, which is only five percent of the galactic rotation period. But as the stars lining the spiral arm burn out, new stars and associated nebulae form in their wake, keeping the spiral pattern intact. The stars that outline the arms do not survive even one revolution of the Galaxy; Only the spiral pattern is stable.

The increased intensity of energy release along the arms of the Galaxy affects the fact that the youngest stars, many open star clusters and associations, as well as chains of dense clouds of interstellar gas in which stars continue to form are mainly concentrated here. The spiral arms contain a large number of variable and flare stars, and explosions of some types of supernovae are most often observed in them. Unlike a halo, where any manifestations of stellar activity are extremely rare, vigorous life continues in the spiral arms, associated with the continuous transition of matter from interstellar space to stars and back. Because the zero module, which is a halo, is at the final stage of its evolution. While the first module, which is a disk, is at the very peak of its evolutionary development.

conclusions

Let us formulate the main conclusions obtained from the analysis of the galactic space.

1. From the point of view of the systemic self-organization of matter, the two subsystems that make up the Galaxy belong to different modules of the integral structure of the universe (ISM). The first - the spherical part - is the zero spatial module. The second disk part of the Galaxy belongs to the first ISM module. According to cause-and-effect relationships, the first module or disk part of the Galaxy is the effect, while the zero module or halo is considered the cause.

2. Any space is created from a chronoshell, which at the moment of energy entry is a fan dipole. At one end of such a dipole there is matter, and at the other there is a sphere of expanding space. One pole of the dipole has the properties of gravitating masses and represents a material point, and the other pole has the anti-gravitating properties of expanding space and represents a sphere surrounding the material point. Thus, any fan dipole has a physical body and a three-dimensional physical space. Therefore, each cause-and-effect link will consist of four elements: the body of the cause and the space of the cause, the body of the effect and the space of the effect.

3. The main features of the halo are determined by the properties of the chronoshell of the zero module. Let's list them.

1). The halo boundary is a membrane with anti-gravitational properties, which limits the expanding vacuum sphere of the fan dipole. It is represented by a layer of hydrogen plasma surrounding the outside of the halo, in the form of a corona. A corona is formed due to the inhibitory effect of the membrane on hydrogen ions. The topology of the halo space is spherical.

2). In its evolutionary transformation, the halo went through the stage of inflation, during which the halo chronoshell was fragmented into 256 small chronoshells, each of which is now one of the globular clusters of the Galaxy. During inflation, the space of the Galaxy exponentially increased in size. The formed system was called a cellular-honeycomb halo structure.

3). The chronoshells of globular clusters of stars continued to fragment further. Stars and stellar systems become the limiting level of galaxy quantization. The limiting level of quantization is the new structural organization of matter.

4). The relative location of the chronoshells of stars located in the cellular-honeycomb structure of the halo is extremely unequal. Some of them are located closer to the center of the Galaxy, others closer to the periphery. As a result of this inequality, star formation in each chronoshell has its own characteristics, which affect the density of matter or the nature of their movement.

5). Dwarf systems discovered within our Galaxy belong to the chronoshells of quadrupoles of the second or third level, which are also closed self-organizing subsystems belonging to the Galaxy.

6). The current state of the halo belongs to the final stage of evolution. The expansion of its space ended due to the finiteness of the released energy. Nothing resists the forces of gravity. Therefore, the last stage of halo evolution is due to decay processes. Gravity becomes the main force in the system, forcing material bodies to move towards the center of the Galaxy in an increasing gravitational field. An attractive attractor is formed in the center of the Galaxy.

4. The main features of the disk are determined by the properties of the chronoshell of the first module, which is a consequence of the zero module. Let's list them.

1). Since the disk part of the Galaxy is a consequence, therefore the gravitational fan dipole will be an axial vector M=1 rotating around the axial vector M=0.

2). The space formed by one of the poles of the fan dipole is created in the form of an expanding sphere rotating around the M=0 axis. Therefore, the topology of the space of the first module is described by a torus embedded in the spherical space of the zero module. The torus is formed by two axial vectors M=0 and M=1, where M=0 represents the major radius of the torus, and M=1 is the minor radius of the torus.

3). The inflation stage of the chronoshell of the first module gave rise to many new subsystems - smaller internal chronoshells. All of them are located in a nesting doll type inside the chronoshell of the first module. All of them also have a toroidal topology. Structure appears in the space of the disk part of the Galaxy.

4). The substance formed by the other pole of the fan dipole is concentrated in the center of the sphere, which describes the small radius of the torus M=1. Since this center, in turn, describes a circle along the radius of a large torus, all matter is formed along this circle in a plane perpendicular to the M=0 axis.

5). Matter formed in new subsystems is also created in the centers of spheres of small radius of the torus. Therefore, all matter is formed along circles located in a plane perpendicular to the M=0 axis. This is how the disk part of the Galaxy is formed.

5. In the central region of the Galaxy there are two bodies of cause. One of them is the halo cause body (bulge), the other is the disk cause body (circumnuclear gas disk). The cause body of the disk, in turn, is the effect body in relation to the halo. Therefore, one body rotates around another.

6. The bulge, like the halo, is at the final stage of evolution, therefore it becomes an attractor towards which all the matter previously scattered throughout the entire volume of the halo gravitates. Accumulating in its center, it forms powerful gravitational fields that gradually compress matter into a black hole.

7. The circumnuclear gas disk is the body of the cause of the disk part of the Galaxy and is at an early stage of evolution. In relation to its system - the disk, it is a white hole, from where energy is supplied to the development of space and matter in the disk part of the Galaxy.

8. Spiral arms are the energy structure of space, showing in which area the release of energy occurs most intensely. This structure is formed due to the circulation of energy inside the torus. In most tori, energy circulates not in a circle, but in an ellipse, in one of the focuses of which there is a body of cause (a black hole), in the other - a body of effect (a white hole). Accordingly, the topology of space changes, the torus takes on a more complex shape, and instead of the circle that the large radius of the torus describes, we have an ellipse.

9. Since the disk subsystem of the Galaxy is immersed in the spherical subsystem, additional interaction occurs between them through time. The influence of one subsystem on another leads to the fact that the rotational moment present in the spherical part is superimposed on the circulation of energy in the disk subsystem, as a result of which the tori rotate at a small angle relative to each other. When the ellipses rotate through a certain angle, the energy will have the greatest density at the points of contact of the ellipses. The star formation process will be most intense in these places. Therefore, the main property of the wave spiral pattern is its uniform rotation, as a single system of spaces formed by tori.

Literature

1. Boer K., Savage B. Galaxies and their crowns. Jl Scentific American. Translation from English - Alex Moiseev, Far Eastern Astronomy website.

2. Vernadsky V.I. Biosphere and noosphere. M.: Iris-Press, 2004.

3. Kapitsa S.P., Kurdyumov S.P., Malinetsky G.G. Synergetics and future forecasts. M.: URSS, 2003

4. Mandelbrot B. Fractals, chance and finance. M., 2004.

5. Novikov I.D. Evolution of the Universe. M.: Nauka, 1983. 190 p.

6. Prigogine I., Stengers I. Time, chaos, quantum. M.: Progress, 1999. 6th ed. M.: KomKniga, 2005.

7. Prigogine K., Stengers I. Order out of chaos. A new dialogue between man and nature. M.: URSS, 2001. 5th ed. M.: KomKniga, 2005.

8. Sagan K. Cosmos. St. Petersburg: Amphora, 2004.

9. Hwang M.P. The Furious Universe: From the Big Bang to Accelerated Expansion, from Quarks to Superstrings. - M.: LENAND, 2006.

10. Hawking S. A Brief History of Time. St. Petersburg: Amphora, 2000.

11. Hawking S. Black holes and young universes. St. Petersburg: Amphora, 2001.

A biased and scrupulous analysis of the influence of the rotation curve of the Milky Way galaxy on the shape of its arms leads to unexpected conclusions. If the galaxy moved with such a rotation curve, then just two revolutions ago - about 600 million years - its arms were “twisted” in the opposite direction. And, on the contrary, over the next few revolutions it should completely lose its sleeves, which will curl tightly, evenly filling its entire disk. Considering that the age of the galaxy is supposed to be about tens of billions of years, its past looks even more mysterious - the emergence of the arms cannot be explained by purely kinematic contradictions.

It turns out that hypothesis a about dark matter not only does not eliminate the contradictions in the observed rotation curve of our galaxy itself, but, on the contrary, creates new ones.

It is possible that the observed, calculated rotation curve of the galaxy is unstable and does not reflect the long-term evolution of the Milky Way. The measured velocities of stars correspond to the current moment in time and, apparently, say little about their past or future values. Perhaps it is possible to talk about the dynamics of their movement only with a certain degree of reliability. Otherwise, the laws of mechanics give this natural logical result.

It is logical to assume that a different long-term shape of the rotation curve is possible, which over many billions of years allowed the arms of the Milky Way to take the shape that has now become possible to calculate from astronomical observations. But in this case, a logical question arises: what was the galaxy like “at the beginning”? And “when it began, it began”?

Let's make the assumption that the galaxy was formed, say, 3 billion years ago. This period was taken for utilitarian reasons: to make it easier to view the evolution in animation. And the arms could have arisen, for example, as a result of the collapse of two black holes, which ejected their jets in different directions. While rotating, these jets, so to speak, “swept” the surrounding space, collecting gas and stars. Gradually the sleeves curled into their current shape. Why are there two black holes? Because there are four arms, and the jets are formed in pairs.

Credit: Thiago Ize & Chris Johnson, Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute.

Astrophysicists have been unraveling how disk galaxies form their spiral arms for almost as long as they have been observing them. Over time, they came to two conclusions... either their structure is caused by differences in gravity, sculpting gas, dust and into familiar shapes, or a random existence that comes and goes with time.

Now the researchers are starting to translate their findings to findings based on new supercomputer simulations - simulations that include the motion of up to 100 million "star particles" that mimic the gravitational and astrophysical forces that shape them into a natural spiral structure. The research team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics were pleased with these findings and report that the models may contain significant clues about how the spiral arms formed.

"We show for the first time that stellar spiral arms are not transitional features, as has been argued for decades," says astrophysicist Elena D'Onghia of UW-Madison, who led the new study along with Harvard colleagues Mark Vogelsberger and Lars Hernquist.

"The spiral arms are self-preserving, permanent and surprisingly long-lived," adds Vogelsberger.

When a spiral structure appears, it is probably the most widespread of the universe's shapes. Our own is considered, and about 70% of the galaxies around us also have a spiral structure. When we think in a broader sense, how many things acquire this ordinary formation? Sweeping dust with a broom causes particles to spiral into a spiral shape... draining water causes a whirlpool... weather formations are shaped like a spiral. This is a universal case and it happens for a reason. Obviously the cause is gravity, and something is disturbing it. In the case of a galaxy, this is a giant molecular cloud - . The clouds introduced into the simulation, says D'Onghia, a professor of astronomy at UW-Madison, act as "disturbers" and are sufficient not only to trigger the formation of spiral arms, but also to maintain them indefinitely.

"We're learning that they form spiral arms," ​​explains D'Onghia. "Past theory supporting the arms would go away with the removal of the perturbations, but we see that once formed the arms are self-perpetuating even when the perturbations are removed. This proves that once the arms are created through these clouds, they can exist on their own through the influence of gravity." even when there are no more disturbances."

So, what about companion galaxies? Could the spiral structure be caused by proximity to them? The new study also allows for this in calculations and models for “lonely” galaxies. However, this is not all research. According to Vogelsberger and Hernquist, the new computer-generated simulations focus on cleaning up the observational data. They take a closer look at high-density molecular clouds and "gravity-induced holes in space" that act as "the mechanisms that drive the formation of the characteristic arms of spiral galaxies."

Until then, we know that the spiral structure is not just an accident, it is probably the most common shape

The starry sky has attracted people's gaze since ancient times. The best minds of all nations tried to comprehend our place in the Universe, imagine and justify its structure. Scientific progress has made it possible to move in the study of the vast expanses of space from romantic and religious constructions to logically verified theories based on numerous factual materials. Now any schoolchild has an idea of ​​what our Galaxy looks like according to the latest research, who, why and when gave it such a poetic name and what its expected future is.

origin of name

The expression “Milky Way Galaxy” is essentially a tautology. Galactikos roughly translated from ancient Greek means “milk”. This is what the inhabitants of the Peloponnese called the cluster of stars in the night sky, attributing its origin to the hot-tempered Hera: the goddess did not want to feed Hercules, the illegitimate son of Zeus, and in anger splashed breast milk. The drops formed a star trail, visible on clear nights. Centuries later, scientists discovered that the observed luminaries are only an insignificant part of existing celestial bodies. They gave the name Galaxy or the Milky Way system to the space of the Universe in which our planet is located. After confirming the assumption of the existence of other similar formations in space, the first term became universal for them.

A look from the inside

Scientific knowledge about the structure of the part of the Universe, including the Solar System, learned little from the ancient Greeks. Understanding of what our Galaxy looks like has evolved from Aristotle's spherical universe to modern theories that include black holes and dark matter.

The fact that Earth is part of the Milky Way system imposes certain limitations on those trying to figure out what shape our Galaxy has. To answer this question unambiguously, a view from the outside is required, and at a great distance from the object of observation. Now science is deprived of such an opportunity. A kind of substitute for an outside observer is the collection of data on the structure of the Galaxy and its correlation with the parameters of other space systems available for study.

The information collected allows us to say with confidence that our Galaxy has the shape of a disk with a thickening (bulge) in the middle and spiral arms diverging from the center. The latter contain the brightest stars in the system. The diameter of the disk is more than 100 thousand light years.

Structure

The center of the Galaxy is hidden by interstellar dust, making it difficult to study the system. Radio astronomy methods help to cope with the problem. Waves of a certain length easily overcome any obstacles and allow you to obtain the much desired image. Our Galaxy, according to the data obtained, has an inhomogeneous structure.

Conventionally, we can distinguish two elements connected with each other: the halo and the disk itself. The first subsystem has the following characteristics:

  • the shape is a sphere;
  • its center is considered to be a bulge;
  • the highest concentration of stars in the halo is characteristic of its middle part; as you approach the edges, the density decreases greatly;
  • The rotation of this zone of the galaxy is quite slow;
  • the halo mainly contains old stars with relatively low mass;
  • a significant space of the subsystem is filled with dark matter.

The density of stars in the galactic disk greatly exceeds the halo. In the sleeves there are young and even just emerging

Center and core

The “heart” of the Milky Way is located in Without studying it, it is difficult to fully understand what our Galaxy is like. The name "core" in scientific writings either refers only to the central region, only a few parsecs in diameter, or includes the bulge and gas ring, considered the birthplace of stars. In what follows, the first version of the term will be used.

Visible light has difficulty penetrating the center of the Milky Way because it encounters a lot of cosmic dust, hiding what our Galaxy looks like. Photos and images taken in the infrared range significantly expand astronomers' knowledge of the nucleus.

Data on the characteristics of radiation in the central part of the Galaxy led scientists to believe that there is a black hole at the core of the nucleus. Its mass is more than 2.5 million times the mass of the Sun. Around this object, according to researchers, another, but less impressive in its parameters, black hole rotates. Modern knowledge about the structural features of space suggests that such objects are located in the central part of most galaxies.

Light and darkness

The combined influence of black holes on the motion of stars makes its own adjustments to the way our Galaxy looks: it leads to specific changes in orbits that are not typical for cosmic bodies, for example, near the Solar system. The study of these trajectories and the relationship between the speed of movement and the distance from the center of the Galaxy formed the basis of the now actively developing theory of dark matter. Its nature is still shrouded in mystery. The presence of dark matter, which presumably makes up the vast majority of all matter in the Universe, is registered only by the effect of gravity on orbits.

If we dispel all the cosmic dust that the core hides from us, a striking picture will be revealed. Despite the concentration of dark matter, this part of the Universe is full of light emitted by a huge number of stars. There are hundreds of times more of them per unit of space here than near the Sun. About ten billion of them form a galactic bar, also called a bar, of an unusual shape.

Space nut

Studying the center of the system in the long-wavelength range allowed us to obtain a detailed infrared image. Our Galaxy, as it turns out, has a structure at its core that resembles a peanut in a shell. This “nut” is the bridge, which includes more than 20 million red giants (bright, but less hot stars).

The spiral arms of the Milky Way radiate from the ends of the bar.

The work associated with the discovery of the “peanut” at the center of the star system not only shed light on the structure of our Galaxy, but also helped to understand how it developed. Initially, in the space of space there was an ordinary disk, in which a jumper formed over time. Under the influence of internal processes, the bar changed its shape and began to resemble a nut.

Our home on the space map

The activity occurs both in the bar and in the spiral arms that our Galaxy possesses. They were named after the constellations where sections of the branches were discovered: the arms of Perseus, Cygnus, Centaurus, Sagittarius and Orion. Near the latter (at a distance of at least 28 thousand light years from the core) is the Solar System. This area has certain characteristics that, according to experts, made possible the emergence of life on Earth.

The galaxy and our solar system rotate along with it. The patterns of movement of individual components do not coincide. stars are sometimes included in the spiral branches, sometimes separated from them. Only luminaries lying on the boundary of the corotation circle do not make such “travels”. These include the Sun, protected from powerful processes constantly occurring in the arms. Even a slight shift would negate all other benefits for the development of organisms on our planet.

The sky is in diamonds

The Sun is just one of many similar bodies that our Galaxy is full of. Stars, single or grouped, total more than 400 billion according to the latest data. The closest to us, Proxima Centauri, is part of a system of three stars, along with the slightly more distant Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B. The brightest point of the night sky, Sirius A, is located in Its luminosity, according to various sources, exceeds that of the sun by 17-23 times. Sirius is also not alone; he is accompanied by a satellite bearing a similar name, but marked B.

Children often begin to get acquainted with what our Galaxy looks like by searching the sky for the North Star or Alpha Ursa Minor. It owes its popularity to its position above the North Pole of the Earth. In terms of luminosity, Polaris is significantly higher than Sirius (almost two thousand times brighter than the Sun), but it cannot challenge Alpha Canis Majoris for the title of the brightest due to its distance from Earth (estimated from 300 to 465 light years).

Types of luminaries

Stars differ not only in luminosity and distance from the observer. Each is assigned a certain value (the corresponding parameter of the Sun is taken as a unit), the degree of surface heating, and color.

Supergiants have the most impressive sizes. Neutron stars have the highest concentration of matter per unit volume. The color characteristic is inextricably linked with temperature:

  • reds are the coldest;
  • heating the surface to 6,000º, like the Sun, gives rise to a yellow tint;
  • white and blue luminaries have a temperature of more than 10,000º.

May vary and reach a maximum shortly before its collapse. Supernova explosions make a huge contribution to understanding what our Galaxy looks like. Photos of this process taken by telescopes are amazing.
The data collected on their basis helped to reconstruct the process that led to the outbreak and predict the fate of a number of cosmic bodies.

The future of the Milky Way

Our Galaxy and other galaxies are constantly in motion and interacting. Astronomers have found that the Milky Way has repeatedly absorbed its neighbors. Similar processes are expected in the future. Over time, it will include the Magellanic Cloud and a number of other dwarf systems. The most impressive event is expected in 3-5 billion years. This will be a collision with the only neighbor that is visible from Earth with the naked eye. As a result, the Milky Way will become an elliptical galaxy.

The endless expanses of space amaze the imagination. It is difficult for the average person to understand the scale of not only the Milky Way or the entire Universe, but even the Earth. However, thanks to the achievements of science, we can imagine at least approximately what kind of grandiose world we are part of.