Geochronometer – Are we at the center of the universe? As mentioned previously, within our galaxy neighborhood, there are two other galaxies that are in orbit around our galaxy – the two Megellanic clouds. Within our galaxy are groups of starts called galactic clusters, and within the galactic halo around our galaxy are groups of stars called globular clusters. Our Milky Way galaxy has about 150 of these globular clusters. Now consider, our galaxy has approximately 200 billion stars, not counting the two Megellanic Galaxies and the various clusters that are in orbit around our galaxy. The large Megellanic Galaxy consists of about 10 billion solar masses – but there are a lot of giant and super giant stars of class O and Class B. The Small Megelannic Galaxy consists of 7 billion solar masses. The Milky Way Galaxy (and it’s attendant galaxies and clusters, along with the Andromeda galaxy, and the Triangulum galaxy all form the local galaxy cluster. As we examine our local intergalactic space, we also find that there are groups of clusters all in a circle around us. And these groups of clusters of galaxies all form super clusters (such as the Hydra, Virgo, Hercules super clusters). In other words, our universe is described by scientists who have studied the stars as being homogenous and isotropic in principle. What this means is that the universe is pretty much evenly distributed with galaxies and looks about the same no matter what our point of view may be. This is important as we examine the red shift seen in the universe today. More on this tomorrow, so stay tuned.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 13:52:28 +0000
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