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The Milky Way is twice the size we thought it was

usyd.edu.au — Astrophysicist Professor Bryan Gaensler led a team that has found that our galaxy - a flattened spiral about 100,000 light years across - is 12,000 light years thick, not the 6,000 light years that had been previously thought.Proving not all science requires big, expensive apparatus, Professor Gaensler and colleagues. . .

Who dugg this? Made popular Feb 22, 2008

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  • TrojanGuy, on 02/22/2008, -1/+202It's like thinking you have a fun size Milky Way, and realizing you actually have a king size Milky Way!
  • DaviDTC, on 02/22/2008, -5/+126When we turned around and looked the other way we found the other 6,000 light years.
  • inactive, on 02/22/2008, -23/+128American forgot to convert into metric again?
  • DaviDTC, on 02/22/2008, -2/+46It is called a joke.
  • Azerael, on 02/22/2008, -4/+47That's the whole point of science; that we refine our ideas until we reach the truth, or, at least, get as close as we can.

    It's unfortunate that some individuals feel inclined to use examples of this process, a process fundamental to scientific progress no less, to support their opposition to scientific conclusions that conflict with their own ideologies.
  • mugicha, on 02/22/2008, -2/+42I thought size doesn't matter.
  • inactive, on 02/22/2008, -1/+276 months later they probably find that it isn't flat...
  • inactive, on 02/22/2008, -2/+27Based on what? The fact that YOU just cant imagine that the earth came along 9 billion years later?
  • scootscr15, on 02/22/2008, -1/+26He used the internet...
    The thickness isn't continuous throughout the galaxy. It is thicker in the center (the bulge). The debate has been between 10 and 20 x10^3 light years for quite some time.
  • inactive, on 02/22/2008, -0/+24Yeah, can't trust those bought and paid for Big Astronomy shills
  • Taikun, on 02/22/2008, -5/+26Twice the thickness =/= Twice the size

    The title is kind of misleading.
  • d0onut, on 02/22/2008, -2/+22Ever since I saw Men In Black, I've seen the world differently.
  • inactive, on 02/22/2008, -2/+21Wow, I cant even imagine the size of the Milky Way, now twice that size? ...
  • Apokalyps2547, on 02/22/2008, -0/+18This is why Science rules. It is completely open to error-checking and revision brought on by re-calculation and re-observation.
  • DivineMonkey, on 02/22/2008, -0/+17Women just say that to be nice. Good thing we can laugh at their tiny boobs =)
  • KaJuN4, on 02/22/2008, -0/+17Half of science is gaining new knowledge. The other half is challenging that which we already know.
  • Larz0rz, on 02/22/2008, -3/+19Or:
    Our galaxy and the others are actually what we call electrons, neutrons and protons etc. of an atom.
    Our entire universe is a single atom of some element on a HUGE planet inhabited by gigantic beings.
    And we are gigantic beings to the life that inhabits the universes that are the atoms of all the elements in our universe.
    Just fun to think about...
  • mustang460, on 02/22/2008, -0/+16you must be boring at parties
  • theycallmebubba, on 02/22/2008, -0/+15You're absolutely right; it's how we USE... the information... that counts.
  • dafragsta, on 02/22/2008, -1/+16In parallel universes made of dark matter, is it called The Milky Way Dark?
  • KaJuN4, on 02/22/2008, -0/+15That's what she said!!
  • mnmleon, on 02/22/2008, -2/+16i got it
  • OHiggins, on 02/22/2008, -3/+17Why is this being dug down? He's absolutely right.
  • Myztry, on 02/22/2008, -2/+15Of course it's flat, just like the Earth...
  • Echomote, on 02/22/2008, -0/+13Who's Rolf?
  • Gerbil_Juice, on 02/22/2008, -2/+14Don't put any money on them rejecting over a century's worth of evidence in favor of God-did-it.
  • Slavidskis, on 02/22/2008, -2/+14It is gravitationally bound just like the rest of our local group. Therefore it does not expand like the rest of our universe which needs vast distances in order to expand.
  • inactive, on 02/22/2008, -3/+14Actually, the last time I had one, they seemed to be getting smaller. Still bigger than a Snickers bar, but smaller than it used to be.
  • inactive, on 02/22/2008, -1/+12yeah..spamming comments for your submissions is the BEST way to get to the front page! (or get banned...take your pick.)
  • edebolt, on 02/22/2008, -1/+12if the galaxy is so large then why can't I find a parking space?
  • Lister169, on 02/22/2008, -0/+11Did your comment get buried then too?
  • tschau, on 02/22/2008, -2/+13Are you serious? It's hard to tell. I hope you're joking.
  • craighoxton, on 02/22/2008, -2/+12Does this mean more downloadable content for Mass Effect?
  • musicmanryan, on 02/22/2008, -1/+11About twenty years ago I was messing around with a couple of my drinking buddies and we deeloped the concept of the internet. I invented the internet. I AM NOT JOKING.

    Sincerely,
    ~Al Gore
  • SteveMax, on 02/22/2008, -1/+10The very fact that some people believe that terrifies me. Heck, we've already proven Einstein wrong countless times. Newton, Galileo, Copernicus, EVERY single scientific figurehead has been proven wrong as science advances. Why the hell would we cover up if there was something wrong in what Darwin wrote?
    Scientists are "skeptically iconoclasts". We would LOVE to be among the first to shatter the status quo, if only to get a name for ourselves like Schrödinger, Bohr, Heisenberg and the rest of the people who developed a theory that redefined our very perception of reality 100 years ago. But we don't challenge the status quo just for the challenge: we actually calculate and develop anything before publication, and we make sure it makes sense (as those guys did here). However, the rest of the community has to act skeptical towards it, to make sure it passes all tests.
    This has been working for centuries. Some theories resist the test of time for some time (Einstein's general relativity has been going strong for almost a century), some don't (Einstein's theories of "hidden variables" behind the quantum mechanic's probabilistic approach are very buried). Some of Darwin's ideas hold (the environment and the search for the best possible partners select the individuals with the best features in a population, eventually leading to an evolution of a given species for a given environment), some don't (he thought mass extinctions couldn't be caused by geological causes). There is no "cover-up". We just use what works best, the simplest theory that explain every data we have; and as for the current diversity of life forms in our planet, the current world view draws a lot from Darwin, corrected by genetics and all of the knowledge we gained over the last century.
  • RonBurgundy76, on 02/22/2008, -0/+9The piano-playing dog from the Muppets.
  • PaxImperium, on 02/22/2008, -0/+9Weren't you suppose to be playing the "tolerant" and very "rational" Creationist? Gave up on that fascade huh?

    Please clearly give credible references and citations on the evidence concerning this so called cover up.
  • Mootabolife, on 02/22/2008, -0/+8And now with more caramel!
  • Richandler, on 02/22/2008, -0/+8What do you mean "we?" I thought it always was the size it is.
  • d0onut, on 02/22/2008, -0/+8it just got edited really fast
  • RonBurgundy76, on 02/22/2008, -0/+7Nor should it be.
  • Jektal, on 02/22/2008, -4/+11Yeah? That's the whole point. It wouldn't be science if we claimed we knew everything and were unwilling to make changes, it'd be religion.
  • Iconoclast314, on 02/22/2008, -1/+8Telescopes don't grow on trees and telescope time is limited. Astronomers must compete for telescope time, and they have to demonstrate that their proposed research is more important than everyone else who wants to use the telescope. Your article says, "They more or less agree that Prof Arp's ideas are interesting, but since the establishment cut off his telescope time so that he couldn't continue his research, nobody wants to talk about his ideas." Exactly what is "the establishment"? Did he apply for a grant and get turned down? That's nothing unusual.
  • oojamaflip2006, on 02/22/2008, -0/+7Yeah but our android relatives will be the only ones around to see it.
  • Azerael, on 02/22/2008, -3/+9I'm waiting for them to develop time travel so we can convince your parents having you is a mistake.
  • Iconoclast314, on 02/22/2008, -0/+6The Milky Way is twice as THICK as was previously thought, not as WIDE.
  • cococooky, on 02/22/2008, -0/+6If he think the universe is a 100 times smaller than himself, he's a nut...
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