In their latest work, experts took the average statistical value of different methods and came up with what can be called the best value for the mass of our galaxy.
Using various measurement methods, scientists have learned the approximate mass of the Milky Way. Phys.
So, according to experts, one way is to study the movement of stars in our galaxy.
Most of the stars in the Milky Way move roughly in a circle around the galactic center. Therefore, by taking the velocity of the star and its distance from the center of the galaxy, it is possible to determine the mass within its orbit. And for known stars, you can plot the dependence of the speed on the distance from the center and get the so-called rotation curve. Measurements of this curve in the Milky Way and other galaxies provided the first evidence that galaxies have more mass than can be explained by visible stars, leading to the idea of dark matter.
Scientists now know that most of the mass of our galaxy is not concentrated at the center, but instead spreads out into the galactic halo. Its mass can be calculated from the rotation curve, but also from observations of globular star clusters.
Also, to calculate the mass of the outer part of the galactic halo, you can observe the movement of the satellite galaxies of the Milky Way.
“Not all of them orbit our galaxy, but many of them do. Since they are outside our galactic halo, their orbital motions are determined by the entire mass of our galaxy. The only drawback of this approach is that , with only a few dozen galaxies in orbits, the result is not particularly accurate,” the scientists said.
There are several methods that do not rely on orbital motion. One is to study the tidal plume of dwarf galaxies that are very close to the Milky Way and are torn apart.
The remnants of these galaxies form stellar streams such as the Sagittarius stream. By calculating the motion of these streams, researchers can estimate the mass of the galaxy.
In addition, according to scientists, each of these methods has its own advantages and disadvantages, including that they can show a different value of the mass of the Milky Way.
The study shows that the mass of the Milky Way is 1 trillion solar masses, plus or minus a few hundred billion solar masses.
Earlier it was reported that the scientists made a new study in which they proved that life could exist on about 30% of the exoplanets in the Milky Way.
Source: korrespondent
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