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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."
The Galaxy's dimensions are 100,000 light years in diameter and approximately 2,000 light years thick And it is ever-expanding, so perhaps at the beginning it was perfectly flat, but without knowing the acceleration of each dimension how can you say it's not expanding vertically? And then how do you know it's not horizontal or which way is up in space in relation to no valid point of reference? To say it is flat is simply another way weak minded people cope with what they see. You believe it is flat, just like you believe the basic laws of physics to be true. I don't consider it to be flat. Without actual organization and measurement of where every planetary body is located in the 2,000 light years of thickness, you can't really say it's flat unless they all line up exactly IMO. I would consider the area to be 'bumpy' as a compromise, but not flat. :)