![]() A paper describing this study was published February 4 in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Astronomy. The work led them to create a 3D map of what they said is the “real” shape of our Milky Way. The astronomers used data on these stars from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Thus these stars have been used as classic distance indicators. They are stars that brighten and dim in a way that changes according to the stars’ true luminosities. Instead it’s warped and twisted.Īstronomers from Macquarie University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences used 1,339 classical Cepheid variable stars for this study. They said our home galaxy, the Milky Way, isn’t flat. But nature can be intricate, and, this week (February 4, 2019), astronomers made a surprising announcement. You often hear the disk of our galaxy described as “flat as a pancake.” The large spiral galaxy next door – the Andromeda galaxy – looks flat through a telescope. We think of spiral galaxies as being flat. In fact, the pole is moving so quickly that scientists responsible for mapping the Earth’s magnetic field were recently forced to update their model much earlier than expected. Although GPS does work, it can sometimes be unreliable in the polar regions. Computer models of where the north magnetic pole might be in the future have become seriously outdated, making accurate compass-based navigation difficult. This rapid wandering of the north magnetic pole has caused some problems for scientists and navigators alike. The south magnetic pole is also moving, though at a much slower rate (6-9 miles, or 10-15 km a year). But since the turn of the century, this speed has increased to 30 miles (50 km) a year. This wandering has generally been quite slow, around 9km (6 mi) a year, allowing scientists to easily keep track of its position. In fact, since its first formal discovery in 1831, the north magnetic pole has travelled over 1,240 miles (2,000 km) from the Boothia Peninsula in the far north of Canada to high in the Arctic Sea. Since Earth’s magnetic field is created by its moving, molten iron core, its poles aren’t stationary and they wander independently of one another. As it is then funneled into the poles by the field, it results in the spectacular displays of the northern lights. This protective magnetic bubble isn’t perfect though, and some solar matter and energy can transfer into our magnetosphere. This magnetosphere helps to deflect solar radiation and cosmic rays, preventing the destruction of our atmosphere. But, more importantly than that, our geomagnetic field helps protect all life on Earth.Įarth’s magnetic field extends hundreds of thousands of kilometers out from the center of our planet – stretching right out into interplanetary space, forming what scientists call a “magnetosphere”. Some animals even seem to be able to find their way thanks to the magnetic field. For over 2,000 years, travellers have been able to use it to navigate across the globe. Our planetary magnetic field has many advantages. Now a new study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, has come up with an answer. However, with reports that the magnetic north pole has started moving swiftly at 50km (31 miles) per year – and may soon be over Siberia – it has long been unclear whether the northern lights will move too. This field protects our planet from radiation and is responsible for creating the northern and southern lights – spectacular events that are only visible near the magnetic poles. It has a north and south magnetic pole, separate from the geographic poles, with a field connecting the two. Thanks to its largely molten iron core, our planet is in fact a bit like a bar magnet. Like most planets in our solar system, the Earth has its own magnetic field.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |