Milky Way Has Surprising Extra Part

Well, last week astronomers found a new discovery in our own backyard they hadn't noticed before. I wonder how many things there are out there we haven't noticed yet.

"May 6, 2004 � A 50-year-old map of the Milky Way will have to be redrawn after Australian astronomers made the astonishing discovery that our spiral galaxy has a huge, outflung arm.

The vast gassy limb comprises an arc of hydrogen 77,000 light-years long and several thousand light-years thick.

It runs along the Milky Way's outermost edge and sweeps around the four main arms that swirl out from the galaxy's core."

Excerpts taken from.
dsc.discovery.com...

I'm suprised it hasn't been discovered sooner! If we just found another arm of our own galaxy then, I too, wonder what we could be missing...

Hi Muaddid/ all!

Thanx for the information and link - very interesting!!

When i read this, and Sterling46's comment ( ), I was reminded of the way our view of the Universe has changed over the years.

For example, I collect Astronomy books, amongst which is Phillips and Steavenson's "Splendour of the Heavens". which was published by Hurchinson's during the mid 1920's as two volumes. This was the "last word" in astronomical knowledge for the time and was considered a "classic" (which it still is, of course, hence the rather high prices asked for it!! )

These volumes, and similar ones of the period, generally suggest that all that was required was "detail" of the Universe to be collated, and that there were no "mysteries" left to be solved etc.

How our view has changed over the past 80 years!!

Thanx again for the link and story - we live in interesting times!!