Warped and twisted !

That’s how our Milky Way is and not flat as previously thought

The Milky Way is “warped and twisted” and not flat as previously thoughts, according to researchers who have developed a large-scale three dimensional (3D) map of our galaxy. By measuring the distance from the Sun to thousands of individual pulsating stars scattered across the Milky Way. The researchers have charted the galaxy on a  larger scale than ever before.

Their  new  three-dimensional map, published in the journal Science, provides a broad view of our place among the stars. The map reveals the S-like structure of the Milky Way’s warped stellar disc. “Our map shows the Milky Way disk is not flat . It is warped and twisted”, said Przemek Mroz , from the University of Warsaw in Poland. “This is the first time we can use individual objects to show this in three dimensions”. Mroz said.

Much of the current understanding of the spiral shape and structure of our galaxy is built upon indirect measurements to celestial landmarks and inference based on other galaxies in the universe. However, the galactic map drafted by those limited observations remains incomplete, researchers said.

Like so many lighthouses on distant foggy shores, classical Cepheid variable stars –massive young stellar bodies that burn hundreds, if not thousands of times brighter than our own Sun pulsate at regular intervals and  are visible through the vast clouds of interstellar dust that often obscure dimmer stellar bodies. –PTI

Courtesy – Free press Journal