A giant wave 9,000 light-years across has been detected in our Milky Way

several years ago, Astronomy scientistsAstronomy scientists the Harvard Radcliffe Institute (United States) observed, for the first time, a strange and massive structure of gas and dust at the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy. Well, strictly speaking, not quite ” In the heart “. Which the researchers quickly named WaveWave Radcliffe, in fact, is developing in our Hungarian neighbourhood. It is only up to 500 light-years from our solar system at our closest point. It is like a ribbon, about 9,000 light-years long and about 400 light-years wide, in which clusters of stars are born.

Researchers in Harvard Radcliffe Institute I have just made a surprising new discovery regarding this structure. They say in the magazine nature Not only does the Radcliffe wave clearly define wave ripples above and below the Milky Way, but it actually moves. It's as if the stars making it thought they were fans on the field and just went for it!

The Radcliffe wave oscillates up and down

This discovery was made possible thanks to new data sent back by the Gaia satellite. Astronomers were able to extract the positions and movements of the star clusters present in the Radcliffe wave. We conclude that the massive structure moves like this PhysicistsPhysicists It's called a traveling wave Understand that groups of stars along a Radcliffe wave move up and down. “In the same way that fans in the stadium are returned to their seats through… gravitygravity Earth, the Radcliffe wave oscillates due to the gravity of the Milky Way Galaxy »Explanation of astronomers Harvard Radcliffe Institute.

This discovery will allow researchers to test the various theories they have put forward so far regarding the origin of the Radcliffe wave. From massive star explosions to turmoil outside galaxygalaxyLike a dwarf galaxy colliding with our Milky Way.

This Radcliffe wave movement raises questions

The work published today also raises the question of the influence of dark matter on the newly observed oscillatory motion of the Radcliffe wave. But researchers are clear about this. The seriousness of the ThemeTheme Ordinary alone is enough to cause the movement of Al-Ula.

It is enough to raise new questions. Are such waves rare, or are they, on the contrary, common elsewhere in our Milky Way Galaxy? in'beingbeing? What caused the movement that led to the disturbances observed by astronomers? Does this happen from time to time? All time ? Since a Radcliffe wave appears to form the backbone of our galaxy's spiral arm, the undulation of this structure could indicate that the spiral arms of galaxies tend to oscillate. Enough to make galaxies more dynamic than astronomers previously thought.