Galactic Collision
<div class="IPBDescription">but its not 2012 yet.</div><!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>Dark galaxy crashing into the Milky Way </b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
22 November 2009
THE Milky Way's neighbourhood may be teeming with invisible galaxies, one of which appears to be crashing into our own.
In 2008, a cloud of hydrogen with a mass then estimated at about 1 million suns was found to be colliding with our galaxy. Now it appears the object is massive enough to be a galaxy itself.
Called Smith's cloud, it has managed to avoid disintegrating during its smash-up with our own, much bigger galaxy. What's more, its trajectory suggests it punched through the disc of our galaxy once before, about 70 million years ago.
To have survived, it must contain much more matter than previously thought, in order to provide enough gravity to hold it together. Calculations by Matthew Nichols and Joss Bland-Hawthorn of the University of Sydney, Australia, indicate that it has about 100 times the previously estimated mass (arxiv.org/abs/0911.0684).
Many more such dark galaxies may be out there, says Leo Blitz of the University of California, Berkeley. Simulations of galaxy formation suggest a galaxy the size of the Milky Way should feature about 1000 dwarf galaxies, but only a few dozen have been found so far. Some of the missing dwarfs may be dark galaxies that are all but invisible, he says.
<a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427354.200-dark-galaxy-crashing-into-the-milky-way.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news" target="_blank">http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2042...ref=online-news</a>
22 November 2009
THE Milky Way's neighbourhood may be teeming with invisible galaxies, one of which appears to be crashing into our own.
In 2008, a cloud of hydrogen with a mass then estimated at about 1 million suns was found to be colliding with our galaxy. Now it appears the object is massive enough to be a galaxy itself.
Called Smith's cloud, it has managed to avoid disintegrating during its smash-up with our own, much bigger galaxy. What's more, its trajectory suggests it punched through the disc of our galaxy once before, about 70 million years ago.
To have survived, it must contain much more matter than previously thought, in order to provide enough gravity to hold it together. Calculations by Matthew Nichols and Joss Bland-Hawthorn of the University of Sydney, Australia, indicate that it has about 100 times the previously estimated mass (arxiv.org/abs/0911.0684).
Many more such dark galaxies may be out there, says Leo Blitz of the University of California, Berkeley. Simulations of galaxy formation suggest a galaxy the size of the Milky Way should feature about 1000 dwarf galaxies, but only a few dozen have been found so far. Some of the missing dwarfs may be dark galaxies that are all but invisible, he says.
<a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427354.200-dark-galaxy-crashing-into-the-milky-way.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news" target="_blank">http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2042...ref=online-news</a>
Comments
The story says this happened before about 70 million years ago, the Dinosaurs died about 70 million years ago. Just saying.
OH NO, THIS HAPPENED 70 MILLION YEARS AGO AND FIVE MILLION YEARS LATER THE DINOSAURS DIED OUT! COINCIDENCE?!?!
Call me when nuclear war breaks out and we have 40 minutes left to live. A five million year deadline doesn't scare me.
I guess we're all dead then. And there is literally nothing we can do about it, absolutely nothing.
How very depressing.
One, I think 5 million years is probably within the margin of error for this kind of thing.
Two, you guys suck at jokes.
Yeah you don't drive. You just crash very carefully.
And anyway, the damage buffed right out of the car.
And anyway, the damage buffed right out of the car.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You can't buff out inertia stickman.
<img src="http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/9954/inertia.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
I killed him.
But captain, Klingons stole our anomaly powered cannon
You're within the margin of error for this kind of thing.
BUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRNNNNNNN