Telescope spies a galactic satellite. (Astronomy).A huge gas cloud once considered a remnant from when the Milky Way Milky Way, the galaxy of which the sun and solar system are a part, seen as a broad band of light arching across the night sky from horizon to horizon; if not blocked by the horizon, it would be seen as a circle around the entire sky. or nearby galaxies formed is, in fact, a satellite of our galaxy, new radio telescope radio telescope: see radio astronomy. radio telescope Combination of radio receiver and antenna, used for observation in radio and radar astronomy. observations indicate. Unlike most satellites of the Milky Way, the body is orbiting in the direction opposite that of the galaxy's rotation. The object, known as Complex H, is crashing through the outer parts of the galaxy, reports Felix J. Lockman of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), federal observatory for radio astronomy, founded in 1956 and operated under contract with the National Science Foundation by Associated Universities, Inc., a group of major universities. in Green Bank, W. Va., in the July 1 Astrophysical Journal The Astrophysical Journal, often abbreviated to ApJ, is a scientific journal covering astronomy and astrophysics. It was founded in 1895 by George Ellery Hale and James E. Keeler. It currently (October 2006) publishes three issues per month, with 500 pages per issue. Letters. Previous studies of Complex H were limited because the cloud is passing behind the galaxy's outer disk, where gas and dust block visible light emitted by the cloud. Astronomers had assumed the body was a so-called high-velocity cloud, a type of fast-moving mass of atomic hydrogen commonly found far from the galaxy. Such objects may ultimately be incorporated into the galaxy. Complex H's radio emissions show that the object is much closer than high-velocity clouds and that its motion is tied to that of the Milky Way. Observations with the Green Bank Telescope The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) is the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope. It is part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) site at Green Bank, West Virginia (USA). The telescope honors the name of Senator Robert C. Byrd. reveal that a diffuse tail trails Complex H's core. This structure supports a model in which the cloud is a Milky Way satellite whose outermost out·er·most adj. Most distant from the center or inside; outmost. outermost Adjective furthest from the centre or middle Adj. 1. layers are being torn apart by our galaxy's gravity, says Lockman. Complex H lies about 108,000 light-years from the Milky Way's core, stretches 33,000 light-year across, and contains 6 million suns' worth of hydrogen gas.--R.C. |
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