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What Exactly Is a Galaxy?

Posted by Soulskill on from the will-smith-will-figure-it-out dept.

sciencehabit writes "Surprising as it may sound, astronomers don't have an answer to this basic question. There's no agreement on when a collection of stars stops being a cluster and starts being something more. Now, in an echo of the recent wrangling over Pluto's status as a planet, a pair of astrophysicists from Australia and Germany want to start a debate on the issue — and they have even set up a Web site for people to cast their votes." While we're on the subject of galaxies, reader mvar pointed out that astronomers using data from Hubble have spotted what could be a new record holder for the most distant known galaxy, located roughly 13.2 billion light years from Earth.

4 of 225 comments (clear)

  1. Voting? by SilverHatHacker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It doesn't seem like the definition of a scientific term is something that should be left to a democratic vote. Public opinion with regards to science is never a good thing to rely on (creation vs evolution, naturalistic healing, etc).

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    Funny may not give karma, but +5 Informative never made anyone snort coffee out their nose.
    1. Re:Voting? by Daniel_Staal · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Creation vs evolution is a discussion of theories and facts, and facts aren't really subject to public opinion.

      However, this is just definitions. All we really need is some coherent way to draw the line between the two, and it doesn't really matter what the line is. The comparison to Pluto is apt: it didn't really matter whether Pluto was a planet or not, except that science works best with consistent definitions, and either we could use a definition that included Pluto and a couple dozen (at least) other objects in our solar system, or we could use the definition that excluded all of them, including Pluto. Basically the decision was that there would be less public outcry this way, and it made more 'sense'.

      But it'd have been better to have the discussion earlier, which is what these people are trying to do: Hold the discussion early enough that the results will get used before the public at large get emotionally attached to the one or two border cases.

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      'Sensible' is a curse word.
    2. Re:Voting? by Fat+Cow · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It doesn't seem like the definition of a scientific term is something that should be left to a democratic vote. Public opinion with regards to science is never a good thing to rely on (creation vs evolution, naturalistic healing, etc).

      It's not really a scientific term. No theories depend on the definition of a galaxy.

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      stay frosty and alert
  2. Depends on model year by boristdog · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Your older Galaxies had more limited trim packages and slightly smaller engines. After 1969 the engines became larger overall and were available in a wider array of trim.

    The two-door convertible with a 400 cu. inch engine would be my choice.

    Should NOT be confused with an Impala.

    I hope that helps.