KOMPAS.com – The Milky Way Galaxy is the home of various objects in outer space, ranging from stars, planets, one of which is Earth, to black holes.
Unfortunately, due to various limitations we know very little about the galaxy in which Earth is located, while many other aspects remain a mystery.
Interesting facts about the Milky Way galaxy
So what are the interesting facts that we at least know so far, here are some of them as quoted from Live Science, Wednesday (5/7/2023).
The origin of the name for the Milky Way galaxy
An interesting fact about this galaxy is its name. The ancients gave different names to this cloud-like structure of the Milky Way galaxy.
However, the name of the Milky Way or in English is known as the Milky Way, the name comes from the Greeks.
The Greeks had a myth about the baby Hercules being brought to the goddess Hera who nursed him while he slept. But when Hera woke up and pulled away, her milk spilled into the sky.
Also read: Interesting Facts about Jupiter, the Largest Planet in the Solar System
“The source of the Greek name itself has been lost over the centuries. It is one of those very old terms, so its origins are generally forgotten,” said Matthew Stanley, professor of history of science at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University.
The number of stars in the Milky Way
Astronomers are still debating the best way to find out how many stars are in the Milky Way.
One technique for estimating the Milky Way’s star population is by looking at how fast the stars are orbiting within it, which gives an indication of the gravitational pull, and mass of the galaxy.
However, the figures obtained are all approximations. Star sizes vary widely, and many assumptions are used to estimate the number of stars in the Milky Way.
For example, the European Space Agency’s Gaia Satellite has mapped the locations of 1 billion stars in our galaxy, and its scientists believe this represents 1 percent of the total, so perhaps the interesting fact is that the Milky Way galaxy contains about 100 billion stars.
Also read: Interesting Facts about Mars, the Red Planet Near Earth
KRISTIANTO PURNOMO
The Milky Way galaxy cluster seen from the top of Mount Tambora, Dompu, West Nusa Tenggara, Sunday (22/3/2015). Two centuries of commemoration of the eruption of Mount Tambora which shook the world are commemorated in April 2015. KOMPAS IMAGES/KRISTIANTO PURNOMO
Another interesting fact about the Milky Way galaxy is about its weight. Astronomers are still not sure exactly how much our galaxy weighs, which is estimated to be between 700 billion and 2 trillion times the mass of the Sun.
Moreover, according to astronomer Ekta Patel of the University of Arizona in Tucson, most of the Milky Way’s mass (perhaps 85 percent) is in the form of dark matter, which does not emit light and is therefore impossible to observe directly.
The Milky Way is likely a large, empty place in the universe.
Several studies have shown that the Milky Way is far from the large-scale structure of the universe that looks like a colossal cosmic web.
Also read: Interesting Facts about Saturn, the Ringed Planet in the Solar System
So that scientists call the Milky Way galaxy seems to be an inhabitant of an empty region known as the Keenan, Barger, and Cowie (KBC) void.
The region is named after the three astronomers who identified the area.
The black hole at the center of the Milky Way
There is an interesting fact that is no less surprising, that is, at the center of the Milky Way galaxy there is a giant hole weighing 4 million suns.
Scientists know this because they can track the path of a star at the center of the Milky Way and see what appears to be a star orbiting a supermassive object that cannot be seen.
In recent years, astronomers have combined observations from several radio telescopes to try to get a glimpse of the environment around a black hole.
The project to observe the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy is called the Event Horizon Telescope.
Also read: Interesting Facts about the Deepest Places in Earth’s Oceans
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2023-07-05 13:30:00
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