KOMPAS.com – The Milky Way Galaxy is only one of many galaxies in the universe. This galaxy is the place where Earth, the planet we live in, is located.
The exact number of galaxies in the universe is unknown, but it is estimated that there are 100 billion to 200 billion galaxies in the universe.
But before going far into understanding about other galaxies, let’s start first from the Milky Way galaxy which is home to Earth.
Interesting facts about the Milky Way galaxy
This galaxy holds many things that are still a mystery and many things we need to understand. The following are interesting facts from the Milky Way galaxy, where Earth is located, as quoted from Live Science, Wednesday (5/7/2023).
Small galaxy orbiting the Milky Way
It turns out that there is a small galaxy orbiting the Milky Way, just like planets orbiting a star.
Also read: Interesting Facts about the Deepest Places in Earth’s Oceans
These small galaxies are called the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. An interesting fact is that small galaxies sometimes crash into the Milky Way, causing them to merge with ours.
Full of poisonous oil
A study shows other facts about our galaxy. The researchers found that the oil-like substance accounts for between a quarter and a half of the Milky Way’s interstellar carbon.
Oily organic molecules known as aliphatic carbon compounds are produced in certain types of stars and then leak into interstellar space.
The substance then swirls around in most of the empty space between the stars in our galaxy.
Although strange, this finding raises optimism because carbon is an essential building block of life, finding it in abundance throughout the galaxy could indicate that other star systems harbor life.
Also read: Interesting Facts about Saturn, the Ringed Planet in the Solar System
SHUTTERSTOCK/FlashMovie
Illustration of the birth of the first star. Astronomers find the first star in the universe. The star AS0039 is known to be poorer in metals, found in the dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way galaxy.
Collision with a neighboring galaxy
The Milky Way will collide with a neighboring galaxy in another 4 billion years.
Astronomers already know that the Milky Way is speeding toward our neighboring galaxy called Andromeda.
Most studies indicate that the even more massive Andromeda galaxy will engulf our galaxy. But the results of this study are still an open question, whether Andromeda will eventually swallow the Milky Way.
Mysterious bubbles appear in the Milky Way
In 2010, scientists discovered another interesting fact about the Milky Way galaxy. They discovered a never-before-seen giant structure stretching 25,000 light-years above and below the galaxy.
Also read: Interesting Facts about Mars, the Red Planet Near Earth
These are called Fermi bubbles.
A team that collected evidence showed that the bubbles are the result of an energetic event 6 to 9 million years ago, when the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy engulfed a huge plume of gas and dust and expelled a glowing gas giant.
A strange signal from the other side of the universe
Over the last decade, astronomers have continued to detect strange flashes of light coming from the distant cosmos.
These strange flashes of light are known as fast radio bursts (FRBs).
While they still don’t know the origin of these strange flashes, the team suggests that the light has traveled several billion light years, suggesting that FRBs originate on the other side of the universe, far away.
Also read: Interesting Facts about Venus, the Planet Called Earth’s Brother
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2023-07-07 01:00:00
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