The Galactic Mosh Pit

[Waspie_Dwarf]

The Galactic Mosh Pit

22 October 2013. Astronomers have discovered that our Galaxy wobbles. An international team of astronomers around Mary Williams from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) detected and examined this phenomenon with the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE), a survey of almost half a million stars around the Sun. In addition to the regular Galactic rotation the scientists found the Milky Way moving perpendicular to the Galactic plane.

It is common knowledge that our Galaxy is permanently in motion. Being a barred spiral galaxy it rotates around the Galactic centre. It has now been discovered that our Galaxy, the Milky Way, also makes small wobbling or squishing movements. It acts like a Galactic mosh pit or a huge flag fluttering in the wind, north to south, from the Galactic plane with forces coming from multiple directions, creating a chaotic wave pattern. The source of the forces is still not understood however: possible causes include spiral arms stirring things up or ripples caused by the passage of a smaller galaxy through our own.

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[kannin]

oh wow i did not know this and am now facinated

[Taun]

That is interesting...

I looked at the diagram they included that showed the 'flow'... It reminded me of a convection current... Everything above the "0" X axis flowing 'clockwise' to the center and everything below flowing counter...

I know it's not a convection current, but it does resemble one...