Text | Willing
Edit | Willing
Move your fingers, click on it, and good fortune will come naturally! Like and comment, good luck every day!
The galaxy has a long way to explore the starlight path of the origin of the galaxy
The picture comes from the Internet
The vast universe and the bright stars have stimulated the endless imagination and desire of human beings to explore since ancient times. What is the magnificent past of our galaxy?
Astronomers have also been searching for answers to these questions, like cosmic archaeologists, using a variety of advanced observation equipment, trying to piece together pieces of the origin and evolution of the Milky Way, this puzzle seems to have found new clues - the Gaia Space Telescope from the European Space Agency, revealing for us two ancient and mysterious galaxy streams hidden deep in the Milky Way, and naming them "Shiva" and "Shakti" after the gods of creation and destruction in India mythology
The picture comes from the Internet
From ancient times, the River of Stars tells the memories of the Milky Way's childhood
"Shiva" and "Shakti" are not brilliant stars that we can see with the naked eye, but a huge stream of billions of stars, like two rushing rivers, passing through the Milky Way, and their existence is like a "fossil" left by the universe, recording the early evolution of the Milky Way
The picture comes from the Internet
So, how did astronomers discover these two "rivers of stars"? This is thanks to the Gaia Space Telescope's powerful observational capabilities, which can accurately measure the position, trajectory and chemical composition of billions of stars, helping astronomers reconstruct a three-dimensional map of the Milky Way and trace its long evolutionary history
By analyzing the data provided by the Gaia telescope, astronomers noticed that near the central region of the Milky Way, there is a group of stars that move in a significantly different way from other stars, and they seem to follow similar orbits, revolving around the center of the Milky Way, like two intertwined rivers, flowing slowly in a sea of stars
The picture comes from the Internet
The "metal" in the starlight reveals the secret of the age of the universe
Why is the discovery of the "Shiva" and "Shakti" galaxy streams so exciting for astronomers? This is because the ages of these two galaxies are estimated to be between 12 billion and 13 billion years old, almost the same age as the universe itself! This means that they were most likely formed at the dawn of the universe, witnessing the "infancy" of the Milky Way
The picture comes from the Internet
To determine the age of galaxies, astronomers rely mainly on a special "clock" - the "metallic" content of starlight, but this is not what we call gold, silver, copper and iron in our daily life, but all elements heavier than hydrogen and helium
At the beginning of the universe, only hydrogen and helium, the lightest elements, with the birth, evolution and death of the first generation of stars, they gradually produced heavier elements through nuclear fusion reactions, which are what we call "metals", and these "metal" elements are thrown into interstellar space with the explosion of supernovae and become the "raw materials" of the next generation of stars
The picture comes from the Internet
Therefore, the more "metallic" elements a star contains, the later it formed; Conversely, if a star has a very low "metal" content, it means that it was born in the early days of the universe and is a veritable "elder of the universe"
The stars in the Shiva and Shakti streams belong to these ancient stars with very low levels of "metal", which means that they probably formed in the early days of the Milky Way, and may even come from dwarf galaxies that have long been swallowed up by the Milky Way
The picture comes from the Internet
The puzzle of galaxy evolution is still on the way to explore
The discovery of the "Shiva" and "Shakti" galaxy streams is undoubtedly a major breakthrough in the field of astronomy, providing valuable clues to our understanding of the formation and evolution of the Milky Way, as well as a glimpse into the mysteries of the early universe
The picture comes from the Internet
The mysteries of the universe go far beyond that, there are still many unsolved mysteries about the "Shiva" and "Shakti" galaxy flows, as well as the formation process of the Milky Way, waiting for us to explore how these two galaxy streams were formed. What is the connection between them and the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way?
It is believed that with the continuous progress of observation technology and the deepening of research, we will uncover more mysteries of the universe and have a clearer understanding of our place in the universe and the significance of human civilization in the long history of the universe
Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to share your views and insights on space exploration
This article shares positive content, no infringement, if there is any infringement, please contact to delete.