The outlines of the galaxy seem to vary as you go deeper into it: researchers have created an animation to model the dust that inhabits the Milky Way. Their results are the subject of a study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. On the video, we venture from Earth up to 13,000 light years away, towards the galactic center. In total, this represents only slightly more than 10% of the distance to be traveled to leave the galaxy.
To achieve this technical feat, the researchers combined photometric data from the new Gaia mission data catalog and those of the 2MASS statement. Thanks to project Explore which develops algorithms for machine learning to exploit gigantic datasets, they have thus produced the largest 3D cartography ever made of the Milky Way.
Dust is the precursor to stars
If no phenomenon is really discovered in this study, it remains nonetheless useful for the future. Because these are in clouds of dust called nebulae that the stars are forming. Thus, the comparison of the stellar distribution and the cartography of the dusts would make it possible to “understand what mergers or internal disturbances shaped the Galaxy within the first three kiloparsecs (about 10 light-years away)”explains the study.
“Dust clouds are linked to the formation and death of starsso their distribution tells how structures formed in the galaxy and how the galaxy evolves.”said Nick Cox, co-author of the study and coordinator of the Explore project. “Maps are also important for cosmologists by revealing regions where there is no dust and we can have a clear, unobstructed view of the Milky Way to study the Universe beyond, such as making observations in deep field with Hubble or James-Webb. »
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