Milky Way Survey
A massive study that was designed to help astronomers learn about distant galaxies is also revealing quite a bit about our own galaxy, the Milky Way. In particular, it's helping them better understand how the Milky Way formed.
The study is called the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. For about five years, it used a moderate-sized telescope in New Mexico to find and plot millions of astronomical objects. It collected details on hundreds of thousands of galaxies -- details like how far away they are, how fast they're moving, and how old they are.
With this information, astronomers have plotted the most detailed 3-D maps to date of a large swath of the universe beyond the Milky Way. And they have a huge database of information that will help them study galaxies, dark matter, the expansion of the universe, and much more.
At the same time, the Sloan survey compiled similar information about almost a hundred thousand stars inside the Milky Way. And over the next couple of years, it'll gather data on hundreds of thousands more.
Astronomers are using the information about stars to map the structure of the Milky Way. They're learning more about the differences in stars that formed in different parts of the galaxy. And they're learning about how stars evolve over time.
A group that includes some Texas astronomers is also using the information to learn more about how the Milky Way is put together. We'll have more about that tomorrow.
Script by Damond Benningfield, Copyright 2006
For more skywatching tips, astronomy news, and much more, read StarDate magazine.
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