DAVID: Cosmology: milky way has a twin (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, May 24, 2021, 20:04 (1069 days ago) @ David Turell

The thick and thin discs are similar:

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-milky-unusual-astronomers.html

"The first detailed cross-section of a galaxy broadly similar to the Milky Way, published today, reveals that our galaxy evolved gradually, instead of being the result of a violent mash-up. The finding throws the origin story of our home into doubt.

"The galaxy, dubbed UGC 10738, turns out to have distinct 'thick' and 'thin' discs similar to those of the Milky Way. This suggests, contrary to previous theories, that such structures are not the result of a rare long-ago collision with a smaller galaxy. They appear to be the product of more peaceful change.

"And that is a game-changer. It means that our spiral galaxy home isn't the product of a freak accident. Instead, it is typical.

***

"'Our observations indicate that the Milky Way's thin and thick discs didn't come about because of a gigantic mash-up, but a sort-of 'default' path of galaxy formation and evolution," said Dr. Scott.

"'From these results we think galaxies with the Milky Way's particular structures and properties could be described as the 'normal' ones."

"This conclusion—published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters—has two profound implications.

"'It was thought that the Milky Way's thin and thick discs formed after a rare violent merger, and so probably wouldn't be found in other spiral galaxies," said Dr. Scott.

"'Our research shows that's probably wrong, and it evolved 'naturally' without catastrophic interventions. This means Milky Way-type galaxies are probably very common.

"'It also means we can use existing very detailed observations of the Milky Way as tools to better analyze much more distant galaxies which, for obvious reasons, we can't see as well."

"The research shows that UGC 10738, like the Milky Way, has a thick disc consisting mainly of ancient stars—identified by their low ratio of iron to hydrogen and helium. Its thin disc stars are more recent and contain more metal.

"(The sun is a thin-disc star and comprises about 1.5% elements heavier than helium. Thick disc stars have three to 10 times less.)

"Although such discs have been previously observed in other galaxies, it was impossible to tell whether they hosted the same type of star distribution—and therefore similar origins.Scott, van de Sande and colleagues solved this problem by using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile to observe UGC 10738, situated 320 million light years away."

Comment: This tells us a galaxy like ours exist s and there must be others, and they could contain Earths. It doesn't disturb me if God is sponsoring life/humans in many places.