|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Proportion of stars in our galaxy question
Hi,
I am curious to know what proportion of the points of light that are visible to the naked eye are part of our galaxy ? Thanks, -- Boo |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Proportion of stars in our galaxy question
Wasn't it Boo who wrote:
Hi, I am curious to know what proportion of the points of light that are visible to the naked eye are part of our galaxy ? All except one. The core of M31 is naked eye visible as a point of light. The Magellanic Clouds don't look like points of light, and everything else is too far away. -- Mike Williams Gentleman of Leisure |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Proportion of stars in our galaxy question
Hi,
I am curious to know what proportion of the points of light that are visible to the naked eye are part of our galaxy ? All except one. The core of M31 is naked eye visible as a point of light. The Magellanic Clouds don't look like points of light, and everything else is too far away. Well, I'm astonished to discover that ! So, before the telescope all the known universe was just our own galaxy and Andromeda ? -- Boo |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Proportion of stars in our galaxy question
Boo wrote in
: Hi, I am curious to know what proportion of the points of light that are visible to the naked eye are part of our galaxy ? All except one. The core of M31 is naked eye visible as a point of light. The Magellanic Clouds don't look like points of light, and everything else is too far away. Well, I'm astonished to discover that ! So, before the telescope all the known universe was just our own galaxy and Andromeda ? Even with the discovery of the telescope, the concept of galaxies was not known for a few centuries. While many "nebula" were catalogued, it was not realised that some of them were actually external to the "milky way". There was some argument about this until Edwin Hubble succeeded in resolving individual Cepheid variable stars in M31 and was thus able to determine that its' distance was too great to be a part of the Milky Way. This was in the 1920's so not really all that long ago. By the way, the Magellanic Clouds are external to the Milky Way andt are easily visible to the unaided eye. As another poster said, they don't look like stars. The exception to this was back in 1987 when there was a supernova in the Large MC which was easily naked eye visible a month or two. Klazmon. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Two Exiled Stars Are Leaving Our Galaxy Forever (Forwarded) | Andrew Yee | Astronomy Misc | 5 | February 2nd 06 01:50 PM |
[sci.astro,sci.astro.seti] Welcome! - read this first | [email protected] | Astronomy Misc | 9 | February 2nd 06 02:37 AM |
Daily #4019 | Joe Cooper | Hubble | 0 | January 3rd 06 10:13 PM |
What are Quasars made of? | Paul Hollister | Astronomy Misc | 17 | March 9th 05 05:42 AM |
The Gravitational Instability Theory on the Formation of the Universe | Br Dan Izzo | Policy | 6 | September 7th 04 09:29 PM |