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Milky Way Is Square(ish), According To New Map
KentuckyFC writes "The structure of the Milky Way is notoriously difficult to work out because we see our galaxy edge on. That means nearer clouds and stars are superimposed on more distant ones and telling them apart is hard. However, astronomers have unveiled a new map based on velocity measurements made on 870 clouds of carbon monosulphide. This has revealed a number of new features of the Milky Way including a previously unknown spiral arm, some 30,000 light years from the galactic core. But the most surprising finding is that some of our galaxy's spiral arms are straight rather than curved, giving the Milky Way a distinctly square look. That's not quite as outrageous as it sounds. Astronomers know of a number of other galaxies with straight arms, such as the pinwheel galaxy M101. So ours probably looks something like this."
I figured voyager took that shot....
"All great things are simple & expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Churchill
But hey, I am not 100,000 light years away to make that kind of judgment.
I am. It is why I can never get first post.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Sadly, this was pretty much along the lines of my first thoughts when I read the headline as well.
welcome our new nazi galactic overlords.
Nah. Nazi makes more sense. For his "chosen people", god sure did fuck around with the Jews.
Kind of like when a house cat finds a grasshopper--instead of just indulging its predatory instincts by eating it and ending its misery, the cat better enjoys bringing it inside, picking off its legs, batting it around, etc.
They already think that space is a large chunk of fabric with giant marbles on it...
Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
I've never had the motivation to put someone on my 'foes' list on Slashdot before. This however, has come very close to changing that. I will have this god-awful rubbish stuck in my head all day thanks to you. Now please excuse me while I try to get it out of my brain using a belt sander and a turkey baster....
Motorcycles, Robots, Space Gossip and More!
The article has a picture of a galaxy with no caption. A casual reader will assume the picture is of our own galaxy, but it is actually a picture of M101.
M101 is my own galaxy!
Your roaming charges must be astronomical!
Ok, you wait there while I go to snap a picture of the milky way from a distance.
Pictures of our galaxy would be prohibited in Germany then, I guess.
All the cool galaxies staying way the hell away from us and all.
For conscience is the wound, and there's naught to staunch it
Be there and be square!
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.