Oh oh … more unexplained plasma filaments …

Post a reply


This question is a means of preventing automated form submissions by spambots.
Smilies
:D :) ;) :( :o :shock: :? 8-) :lol: :x :P :oops: :cry: :evil: :twisted: :roll: :!: :?: :idea: :arrow: :| :mrgreen: :geek: :ugeek:

BBCode is ON
[img] is ON
[url] is ON
Smilies are ON

Topic review
   

Expand view Topic review: Oh oh … more unexplained plasma filaments …

Re: Oh oh … more unexplained plasma filaments …

by Michael Mozina » Wed Dec 22, 2021 4:44 am

BeAChooser wrote: Tue Dec 21, 2021 7:46 pm https://www.physics-astronomy.org/2021/ ... -been.html
Colossal 'Fossil' Structures Have Been Detected Lurking on The Outskirts of Our Galaxy

A new set of such enormous structures has now been unveiled at the outer regions of the Milky Way disk: massive, spinning filaments with unclear provenance. Astronomers will be conducting follow-up surveys to try and solve the mystery.

… snip …

The new structures were identified by a team led by astronomer Chervin Laporte of the University of Barcelona in Spain in data from the latest release, made in December of last year, with improved parallax precisions. The same data also showed previously known structures with much higher clarity than we'd seen before.

"We report the discovery of multiple previously undetected new filaments embedded in the outer disk in highly extincted regions," the researchers wrote in their paper.

"Some of these structures are interpreted as excited outer disk material, kicked up by satellite impacts and currently undergoing phase-mixing ('feathers'). Due to the long timescale in the outer disk regions, these structures can stay coherent in configuration space over several billion years."

Such spinning filaments at the galaxy's outskirts are not unexpected. According to simulations, interactions between the Milky Way and its satellite galaxies could produce such structures. The Milky Way has a swarm of satellites currently in orbit (maybe).

But there's a problem: the sheer number of the filaments found by Laporte and his colleagues vastly supersedes those seen in such simulations, which means we need another explanation.

One possibility is that the filaments are remnants of tidal spiral arms that were excited at various times by interactions with satellites; galactic fossils, in other words.

Another possibility is that they are the crests of distortions of the Milky Way disk which occurred due to collisions with other galaxies. The Milky Way has a history of collisions with other galaxies, which can cause perturbations in the galactic disk, so it's not an unreasonable supposition.

Such collisions, the researchers believe, could send disturbances propagating through the galactic disk like ripples on a pond.
Here’s an edge-on depiction of the filaments they discovered …

https://i2.wp.com/www.sciencealert.com/ ... s_1024.jpg

I can think of a third explanation … but it will, sadly, probably NEVER occur to these *scientists*.

Just saying …
Unfortunate the concept of a "Birkeland current" requires persistent current and astrologers, er "astronomers" are allergic to empirical physics. :)

Re: Oh oh … more unexplained plasma filaments …

by jacmac » Wed Dec 22, 2021 2:08 am

One possibility is that the filaments are remnants of tidal spiral arms
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Oh, my bad, It's a real thing.
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha......................
For a moment there It could have been a density wave,
You know, one of those density things that make stuff more dense
ha ha ha ha ha

Oh oh … more unexplained plasma filaments …

by BeAChooser » Tue Dec 21, 2021 7:46 pm

https://www.physics-astronomy.org/2021/ ... -been.html
Colossal 'Fossil' Structures Have Been Detected Lurking on The Outskirts of Our Galaxy

A new set of such enormous structures has now been unveiled at the outer regions of the Milky Way disk: massive, spinning filaments with unclear provenance. Astronomers will be conducting follow-up surveys to try and solve the mystery.

… snip …

The new structures were identified by a team led by astronomer Chervin Laporte of the University of Barcelona in Spain in data from the latest release, made in December of last year, with improved parallax precisions. The same data also showed previously known structures with much higher clarity than we'd seen before.

"We report the discovery of multiple previously undetected new filaments embedded in the outer disk in highly extincted regions," the researchers wrote in their paper.

"Some of these structures are interpreted as excited outer disk material, kicked up by satellite impacts and currently undergoing phase-mixing ('feathers'). Due to the long timescale in the outer disk regions, these structures can stay coherent in configuration space over several billion years."

Such spinning filaments at the galaxy's outskirts are not unexpected. According to simulations, interactions between the Milky Way and its satellite galaxies could produce such structures. The Milky Way has a swarm of satellites currently in orbit (maybe).

But there's a problem: the sheer number of the filaments found by Laporte and his colleagues vastly supersedes those seen in such simulations, which means we need another explanation.

One possibility is that the filaments are remnants of tidal spiral arms that were excited at various times by interactions with satellites; galactic fossils, in other words.

Another possibility is that they are the crests of distortions of the Milky Way disk which occurred due to collisions with other galaxies. The Milky Way has a history of collisions with other galaxies, which can cause perturbations in the galactic disk, so it's not an unreasonable supposition.

Such collisions, the researchers believe, could send disturbances propagating through the galactic disk like ripples on a pond.
Here’s an edge-on depiction of the filaments they discovered …

https://i2.wp.com/www.sciencealert.com/ ... s_1024.jpg

I can think of a third explanation … but it will, sadly, probably NEVER occur to these *scientists*.

Just saying …

Top