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This 'corrugated' view of the Milky Way just made our home galaxy a LOT bigger


Stashed in: The Universe, Awesome, space, Stars!, Space!, SETI

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The Milky Way is twice as big as previously thought! Most of the extra volume is in corrugated ripples at the edges.

How is this on the Weather Channel?

And how can they not estimate the number of stars in the Milky Way to within 100 billion?!

The Milky Way is a pretty big place to live, right? Estimates have put it at around 100,000-120,000 light years across, with Earth located about two-thirds of the way out from the centre, and it's home to some 300 billion stars (give or take a 100 billion). That's big!

Well, not big enough, it seems. Based on some of the latest research, those estimates are actually way off!

According to an international team of scientists, after sorting and sifting through galactic data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, they figured out that the Milky Way is actually 50 per cent larger than we thought.

How did all the extra 'space' get missed? Apparently, it was hidden from us by the shape of the galaxy, which appears to be corrugated, like a cardboard box.

On average every star in the Milky Way has at least one planet that could support liquid water.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a14619/every-star-could-have-at-least-one-planet-that-could-support-liquid-water/

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