Gaia Confirms ‘Inside-Out’ Model Of Milky Way
Gaia Confirms ‘Inside-Out’ Model Of Milky Way
January 20, 2014
New research from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Gaia-ESO project has confirmed previous theories on the inside-out development of the Milky Way, with the inner regions of the galaxy’s disc being the first to form.
According to their report in the astronomical database Astro-ph, the study researchers reached their conclusions using observations taken with the 8-meter VLT telescope in Chile. The team looked explicitly at stars in the Milky Way with a broad range of ages and locations to precisely determine the amount of chemical elements other than hydrogen and helium that they contained, also known as their metallicity.
The early Universe consisted almost completely of hydrogen and helium, with amounts of “contaminant metals” increasing over time. Therefore, older stars contain mostly hydrogen and helium – or have a lower metallicity.
“The different chemical elements of which stars – and we – are made are created at different rates – some in massive stars which live fast and die young, and others in sun-like stars with more sedate multi-billion-year lifetimes,” said study author Gerry Gilmore, lead investigator on the Gaia-ESO Project.
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http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1113050383/gaia-confirms-inside-out-model-of-milky-way/#Exk7AUJVSA4vkSMq.99
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