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Astronomers find the edge of the Milky Way

83 points8 hoursskyandtelescope.org
layer85 hours ago
dotancohen5 hours ago

Is this a non-sequiter or just poorly phrased?

  > Disk galaxies like the Milky Way form stars “inside-out” — starting from the center and working outwards through the disk. So, as a general rule, the farther out astronomers look, the younger the stars are.
Do they meant looking out from Earth (which is actually nearer to the center of a spiral arm than to either end) or out from the galactic bulge. Either way doesn't make sense.
_factor5 hours ago

Poorly phrased. The most recent stars are on the edges. The inner stars were first, hence the “working outwards”.

malfist4 hours ago

When does "starting in the center" mean anything besides "starting in the center"?

The earth is not the center of the galaxy

assimpleaspossi2 hours ago

He didn't say that. He said earth is nearer to the center of a spiral arm.

ww5203 hours ago

Looking from Earth at the stars closer to the center of a galaxy, they are found to be older. Looking from Earth at the stars closer to the edge of a galaxy, they are found to be younger.

happytoexplain4 hours ago

I actually am not following what the ambiguity is - stars farther out from the center are younger, no?

kadoban3 hours ago

The Earth isn't the center of the galaxy, so this feels confusing/confused:

> So, as a general rule, the farther out astronomers look, the younger the stars are.

colechristensen5 hours ago

It is beyond obvious what they mean.

JumpCrisscross3 hours ago

Try: "the farther out [from the center] astronomers look"

layer85 hours ago

[dead]

neals5 hours ago

Just the daily post that makes me feel small and insignificant.

dylan6045 hours ago

I prefer that feeling much more than the modern sense from social media where everyone is abnormally important

yrcyrc5 hours ago

Great. Next Laniakea