The orbit of the solar system in the galaxy. How our solar system moves. Movement in a microcosm

A galaxy is a large formation of stars, gas, and dust that is held together by gravity. These largest compounds in the Universe can vary in shape and size. Most space objects are part of a particular galaxy. These are stars, planets, satellites, nebulae, black holes and asteroids. Some of the galaxies have large amounts of invisible dark energy. Due to the fact that galaxies are separated by empty space, they are figuratively called oases in the cosmic desert.

	Elliptical galaxy	Spiral galaxy	Wrong galaxy
Spheroidal component	The entire galaxy	Eat	Very weak
Star disk	None or weakly expressed	Main component	Main component
Gas and dust disk	No	Eat	Eat
Spiral branches	No or only near the core	Eat	No
Active cores	Meet	Meet	No
	20%	55%	5%

Our galaxy

The closest star to us, the Sun, is one of the billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Looking at the starry night sky, it’s hard not to notice a wide strip strewn with stars. The ancient Greeks called the cluster of these stars the Galaxy.

If we had the opportunity to look at this star system from the outside, we would notice an oblate ball in which there are over 150 billion stars. Our galaxy has dimensions that are hard to imagine. A ray of light travels from one side to the other for hundreds of thousands of Earth years! The center of our Galaxy is occupied by a core, from which huge spiral branches filled with stars extend. The distance from the Sun to the core of the Galaxy is 30 thousand light years. The solar system is located on the outskirts of the Milky Way.

Stars in the Galaxy, despite the huge accumulation of cosmic bodies, are rare. For example, the distance between the nearest stars is tens of millions of times greater than their diameters. It cannot be said that stars are scattered randomly in the Universe. Their location depends on the gravitational forces that hold the celestial body in a certain plane. Stellar systems with their own gravitational fields are called galaxies. In addition to stars, the galaxy includes gas and interstellar dust.

Composition of galaxies.

The Universe is also made up of many other galaxies. The closest ones to us are distant at a distance of 150 thousand light years. They can be seen in the sky of the southern hemisphere in the form of small foggy spots. They were first described by Pigafett, a member of the Magellanic expedition around the world. They entered science under the name of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.

The closest galaxy to us is the Andromeda Nebula. It is very large in size, so it is visible from Earth with ordinary binoculars, and in clear weather, even with the naked eye.

The very structure of the galaxy resembles a giant spiral convex in space. On one of the spiral arms, ¾ of the distance from the center, is the Solar System. Everything in the galaxy revolves around the central core and is subject to the force of its gravity. In 1962, astronomer Edwin Hubble classified galaxies depending on their shape. The scientist divided all galaxies into elliptical, spiral, irregular and barred galaxies.

In the part of the Universe accessible to astronomical research, there are billions of galaxies. Collectively, astronomers call them the Metagalaxy.

Galaxies of the Universe

Galaxies are represented by large groups of stars, gas, and dust held together by gravity. They can vary significantly in shape and size. Most space objects belong to some galaxy. These are black holes, asteroids, stars with satellites and planets, nebulae, neutron satellites.

Most galaxies in the Universe contain enormous amounts of invisible dark energy. Since the space between different galaxies is considered empty, they are often called oases in the void of space. For example, a star called the Sun is one of the billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy located in our Universe. The Solar System is located ¾ of the distance from the center of this spiral. In this galaxy, everything constantly moves around the central core, which obeys its gravity. However, the core also moves with the galaxy. At the same time, all galaxies move at super speeds.
Astronomer Edwin Hubble in 1962 carried out a logical classification of the galaxies of the Universe, taking into account their shape. Now galaxies are divided into 4 main groups: elliptical, spiral, barred and irregular galaxies.
What is the largest galaxy in our Universe?
The largest galaxy in the Universe is a supergiant lenticular galaxy located in the Abell 2029 cluster.

Spiral galaxies

They are galaxies whose shape resembles a flat spiral disk with a bright center (core). The Milky Way is a typical spiral galaxy. Spiral galaxies are usually called with the letter S; they are divided into 4 subgroups: Sa, So, Sc and Sb. Galaxies belonging to the So group are distinguished by bright nuclei that do not have spiral arms. As for the Sa galaxies, they are distinguished by dense spiral arms tightly wound around the central core. The arms of Sc and Sb galaxies rarely surround the core.

Spiral galaxies of the Messier catalog

Barred galaxies

Bar galaxies are similar to spiral galaxies, but have one difference. In such galaxies, spirals begin not from the core, but from the bridges. About 1/3 of all galaxies fall into this category. They are usually designated by the letters SB. In turn, they are divided into 3 subgroups Sbc, SBb, SBa. The difference between these three groups is determined by the shape and length of the jumpers, where, in fact, the arms of the spirals begin.

Spiral galaxies with the Messier catalog bar

Elliptical galaxies

The shape of galaxies can vary from perfectly round to elongated oval. Their distinguishing feature is the absence of a central bright core. They are designated by the letter E and are divided into 6 subgroups (according to shape). Such forms are designated from E0 to E7. The former have an almost round shape, while the E7 are characterized by an extremely elongated shape.

Elliptical galaxies of the Messier catalog

Irregular galaxies

They do not have any distinct structure or shape. Irregular galaxies are usually divided into 2 classes: IO and Im. The most common is the Im class of galaxies (it has only a slight hint of structure). In some cases, helical residues are visible. IO belongs to the class of galaxies that are chaotic in shape. The Small and Large Magellanic Clouds are a prime example of the Im class.

Irregular galaxies of the Messier catalog

Table of characteristics of the main types of galaxies

	Elliptical galaxy	Spiral galaxy	Wrong galaxy
Spheroidal component	The entire galaxy	Eat	Very weak
Star disk	None or weakly expressed	Main component	Main component
Gas and dust disk	No	Eat	Eat
Spiral branches	No or only near the core	Eat	No
Active cores	Meet	Meet	No
Percentage of total galaxies	20%	55%	5%

Large portrait of galaxies

Not long ago, astronomers began working on a joint project to identify the location of galaxies throughout the Universe. Their goal is to obtain a more detailed picture of the overall structure and shape of the Universe on large scales. Unfortunately, the scale of the universe is difficult for many people to comprehend. Take our galaxy, which consists of more than a hundred billion stars. There are billions more galaxies in the Universe. Distant galaxies have been discovered, but we see their light as it was almost 9 billion years ago (we are separated by such a great distance).

Astronomers learned that most galaxies belong to a certain group (it became known as a “cluster”). The Milky Way is part of a cluster, which in turn consists of forty known galaxies. Typically, most of these clusters are part of an even larger grouping called superclusters.

Our cluster is part of a supercluster, which is commonly called the Virgo cluster. Such a massive cluster consists of more than 2 thousand galaxies. At the time when astronomers created a map of the location of these galaxies, superclusters began to take a concrete form. Large superclusters have gathered around what appear to be giant bubbles or voids. What kind of structure this is, no one yet knows. We don't understand what might be inside these voids. According to the assumption, they may be filled with a certain type of dark matter unknown to scientists or have empty space inside. It will be a long time before we know the nature of such voids.

Galactic Computing

Edwin Hubble is the founder of galactic exploration. He is the first to determine how to calculate the exact distance to a galaxy. In his research, he relied on the method of pulsating stars, which are better known as Cepheids. The scientist was able to notice a connection between the period needed to complete one pulsation of brightness and the energy that the star releases. The results of his research became a major breakthrough in the field of galactic research. In addition, he discovered that there is a correlation between the red spectrum emitted by a galaxy and its distance (the Hubble constant).

Nowadays, astronomers can measure the distance and speed of a galaxy by measuring the amount of redshift in the spectrum. It is known that all galaxies in the Universe are moving away from each other. The farther a galaxy is from Earth, the greater its speed of movement.

To visualize this theory, just imagine yourself driving a car moving at a speed of 50 km per hour. The car in front of you is driving 50 km per hour faster, which means that its speed is 100 km per hour. There is another car in front of him, which is moving faster by another 50 km per hour. Even though the speed of all 3 cars will be different by 50 km per hour, the first car is actually moving away from you 100 km per hour faster. Since the red spectrum speaks about the speed of the galaxy moving away from us, the following is obtained: the greater the red shift, the faster the galaxy moves and the greater its distance from us.

We now have new tools to help scientists search for new galaxies. Thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists were able to see what they could only dream of before. The high power of this telescope provides good visibility of even small details in nearby galaxies and allows you to study more distant ones that have not yet been known to anyone. Currently, new space observation instruments are under development, and in the near future they will help to gain a deeper understanding of the structure of the Universe.

Types of galaxies

• Spiral galaxies. The shape resembles a flat spiral disk with a pronounced center, the so-called core. Our Milky Way galaxy falls into this category. In this section of the portal site you will find many different articles describing space objects of our Galaxy.
• Barred galaxies. They resemble spiral ones, only they differ from them in one significant difference. The spirals do not extend from the core, but from the so-called jumpers. One third of all galaxies in the Universe can be attributed to this category.
• Elliptical galaxies have different shapes: from perfectly round to oval elongated. Compared to spiral ones, they lack a central, pronounced core.
• Irregular galaxies do not have a characteristic shape or structure. They cannot be classified into any of the types listed above. There are much fewer irregular galaxies in the vastness of the Universe.

Astronomers have recently launched a joint project to identify the location of all the galaxies in the Universe. Scientists hope to get a clearer picture of its structure on a large scale. The size of the Universe is difficult for human thought and understanding to estimate. Our galaxy alone is a collection of hundreds of billions of stars. And there are billions of such galaxies. We can see light from discovered distant galaxies, but not even imply that we are looking into the past, because the light beam reaches us over tens of billions of years, such a great distance separates us.

Astronomers also associate most galaxies with certain groups called clusters. Our Milky Way belongs to a cluster that consists of 40 explored galaxies. Such clusters are combined into large groups called superclusters. The cluster with our galaxy is part of the Virgo supercluster. This giant cluster contains more than 2 thousand galaxies. After scientists began to draw a map of the location of these galaxies, superclusters acquired certain shapes. Most galactic superclusters were surrounded by giant voids. No one knows what could be inside these voids: outer space like interplanetary space or a new form of matter. It will take a long time to solve this mystery.

Interaction of galaxies

No less interesting for scientists is the question of the interaction of galaxies as components of cosmic systems. It's no secret that space objects are in constant motion. Galaxies are no exception to this rule. Some types of galaxies could cause a collision or merger of two cosmic systems. If you understand how these space objects appear, large-scale changes as a result of their interaction become more understandable. During the collision of two space systems, a gigantic amount of energy splashes out. The meeting of two galaxies in the vastness of the Universe is an even more probable event than the collision of two stars. Collisions of galaxies do not always end with an explosion. A small space system can freely pass by its larger counterpart, changing its structure only slightly.

Thus, the formation of formations occurs, similar in appearance to elongated corridors. They contain stars and gaseous zones, and new stars are often formed. There are times when galaxies do not collide, but only lightly touch each other. However, even such an interaction triggers a chain of irreversible processes that lead to huge changes in the structure of both galaxies.

What future awaits our galaxy?

As scientists suggest, it is possible that in the distant future the Milky Way will be able to absorb a tiny cosmic-sized satellite system, which is located at a distance of 50 light years from us. Research shows that this satellite has a long life potential, but if it collides with its giant neighbor, it will most likely end its separate existence. Astronomers also predict a collision between the Milky Way and the Andromeda Nebula. Galaxies move towards each other at the speed of light. The wait for a probable collision is approximately three billion Earth years. However, whether it will actually happen now is difficult to speculate due to the lack of data on the movement of both space systems.

Description of galaxies onKvant. Space

The portal site will take you to the world of interesting and fascinating space. You will learn the nature of the structure of the Universe, become familiar with the structure of famous large galaxies and their components. By reading articles about our galaxy, we become more clear about some of the phenomena that can be observed in the night sky.

All galaxies are at a great distance from Earth. Only three galaxies can be seen with the naked eye: the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds and the Andromeda Nebula. It is impossible to count all the galaxies. Scientists estimate that their number is about 100 billion. The spatial distribution of galaxies is uneven - one region may contain a huge number of them, while the second will not contain even a single small galaxy. Astronomers were unable to separate images of galaxies from individual stars until the early 90s. At this time, there were about 30 galaxies with individual stars. All of them were assigned to the Local Group. In 1990, a majestic event took place in the development of astronomy as a science - the Hubble Telescope was launched into Earth orbit. It was this technique, as well as new ground-based 10-meter telescopes, that made it possible to see a significantly larger number of resolved galaxies.

Today, the “astronomical minds” of the world are scratching their heads about the role of dark matter in the construction of galaxies, which manifests itself only in gravitational interaction. For example, in some large galaxies it makes up about 90% of the total mass, while dwarf galaxies may not contain it at all.

Evolution of galaxies

Scientists believe that the emergence of galaxies is a natural stage in the evolution of the Universe, which took place under the influence of gravitational forces. Approximately 14 billion years ago, the formation of protoclusters in the primary substance began. Further, under the influence of various dynamic processes, the separation of galactic groups took place. The abundance of galaxy shapes is explained by the diversity of initial conditions in their formation.

The contraction of the galaxy takes about 3 billion years. Over a given period of time, the gas cloud turns into a star system. Star formation occurs under the influence of gravitational compression of gas clouds. After reaching a certain temperature and density in the center of the cloud, sufficient for the start of thermonuclear reactions, a new star is formed. Massive stars are formed from thermonuclear chemical elements that are more massive than helium. These elements create the primary helium-hydrogen environment. During enormous supernova explosions, elements heavier than iron are formed. It follows from this that the galaxy consists of two generations of stars. The first generation is the oldest stars, consisting of helium, hydrogen and very small amounts of heavy elements. Second-generation stars have a more noticeable admixture of heavy elements because they form from primordial gas enriched in heavy elements.

In modern astronomy, galaxies as cosmic structures are given a special place. The types of galaxies, the features of their interaction, similarities and differences are studied in detail, and a forecast of their future is made. This area still contains a lot of unknowns that require additional study. Modern science has resolved many questions regarding the types of construction of galaxies, but there are also many blank spots associated with the formation of these cosmic systems. The current pace of modernization of research equipment and the development of new methodologies for studying cosmic bodies give hope for a significant breakthrough in the future. One way or another, galaxies will always be at the center of scientific research. And this is based not only on human curiosity. Having received data on the patterns of development of cosmic systems, we will be able to predict the future of our galaxy called the Milky Way.

The most interesting news, scientific, and original articles about the study of galaxies will be provided to you by the website portal. Here you can find exciting videos, high-quality images from satellites and telescopes that will not leave you indifferent. Dive into the world of unknown space with us!

Any person, even lying on the couch or sitting near the computer, is in constant motion. This continuous movement in outer space has a variety of directions and enormous speeds. First of all, the Earth moves around its axis. In addition, the planet rotates around the Sun. But that's not all. We cover much more impressive distances together with the Solar System.

The Sun is one of the stars located in the plane of the Milky Way, or simply the Galaxy. It is distant from the center by 8 kpc, and the distance from the plane of the Galaxy is 25 pc. The stellar density in our region of the Galaxy is approximately 0.12 stars per 1 pc3. The position of the Solar System is not constant: it is in constant motion relative to nearby stars, interstellar gas, and finally, around the center of the Milky Way. The movement of the Solar System in the Galaxy was first noticed by William Herschel.

Moving relative to nearby stars

The speed of movement of the Sun to the border of the constellations Hercules and Lyra is 4 a.s. per year, or 20 km/s. The velocity vector is directed towards the so-called apex - the point towards which the movement of other nearby stars is also directed. Directions of star velocities, incl. The suns intersect at a point opposite the apex, called the antiapex.

Moving relative to visible stars

The movement of the Sun in relation to bright stars that can be seen without a telescope is measured separately. This is an indicator of the standard movement of the Sun. The speed of such movement is 3 AU. per year or 15 km/s.

Moving relative to interstellar space

In relation to interstellar space, the Solar system is already moving faster, the speed is 22-25 km/s. At the same time, under the influence of the “interstellar wind”, which “blows” from the southern region of the Galaxy, the apex shifts to the constellation Ophiuchus. The shift is estimated to be approximately 50.

Navigating around the center of the Milky Way

The solar system is in motion relative to the center of our Galaxy. It moves towards the constellation Cygnus. The speed is about 40 AU. per year, or 200 km/s. A complete revolution requires 220 million years. It is impossible to determine the exact speed, because the apex (the center of the Galaxy) is hidden from us behind dense clouds of interstellar dust. The apex shifts by 1.5° every million years, and completes a full circle in 250 million years, or 1 galactic year.

Journey to the edge of the Milky Way

Movement of the Galaxy in outer space

Our Galaxy also does not stand still, but is approaching the Andromeda Galaxy at a speed of 100-150 km/s. A group of galaxies, which includes the Milky Way, is moving towards the large Virgo cluster at a speed of 400 km/s. It is difficult to imagine, and even more difficult to calculate, how far we travel every second. These distances are enormous, and the errors in such calculations are still quite large.

Surely, many of you have seen a gif or watched a video showing the movement of the solar system.

Video clip, released in 2012, went viral and created a lot of buzz. I came across it shortly after its appearance, when I knew much less about space than I do now. And what confused me most of all was the perpendicularity of the plane of the planets’ orbits to the direction of motion. Not that it is impossible, but the solar system can move at any angle to the galactic plane. You may ask, why remember long-forgotten stories? The fact is that right now, if desired and there is good weather, everyone can see in the sky the real angle between the planes of the ecliptic and the Galaxy.

Checking the scientists

Astronomy says that the angle between the planes of the ecliptic and the Galaxy is 63°.

But the figure itself is boring, and even now, when flat Earth adherents are organizing a coven on the sidelines of science, I would like to have a simple and clear illustration. Let's think about how we can see the planes of the Galaxy and the ecliptic in the sky, preferably with the naked eye and without moving too far from the city? The plane of the Galaxy is the Milky Way, but now, with the abundance of light pollution, it is not so easy to see. Is there some line approximately close to the plane of the Galaxy? Yes - this is the constellation Cygnus. It is clearly visible even in the city, and it is easy to find it based on the bright stars: Deneb (alpha Cygnus), Vega (alpha Lyrae) and Altair (alpha Eagle). The “torso” of Cygnus roughly coincides with the galactic plane.

Okay, we have one plane. But how to get a visual ecliptic line? Let's think about what the ecliptic actually is? According to the modern strict definition, the ecliptic is a section of the celestial sphere by the plane of the orbit of the Earth-Moon barycenter (center of mass). On average, the Sun moves along the ecliptic, but we do not have two Suns along which it is convenient to draw a line, and the constellation Cygnus will not be visible in sunlight. But if we remember that the planets of the solar system also move in approximately the same plane, then it turns out that the parade of planets will approximately show us the plane of the ecliptic. And now in the morning sky you can just see Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

As a result, in the coming weeks in the morning before sunrise it will be possible to very clearly see the following picture:

Which, surprisingly, agrees perfectly with astronomy textbooks.

It’s more correct to draw a gif like this:

Source: astronomer Rhys Taylor website rhysy.net

The question may be about the relative position of the planes. Are we flying?<-/ или же <-\ (если смотреть с внешней стороны Галактики, северный полюс вверху)? Астрономия говорит, что Солнечная система движется относительно ближайших звезд в направлении созвездия Геркулеса, в точку, расположенную недалеко от Веги и Альбирео (бета Лебедя), то есть правильное положение <-/.

But this fact, alas, cannot be verified by hand, because even though they did it two hundred and thirty-five years ago, they used the results of many years of astronomical observations and mathematics.

Scattering stars

How can one even determine where the solar system is moving relative to nearby stars? If we can record the movement of a star across the celestial sphere for decades, then the direction of movement of several stars will tell us where we are moving relative to them. Let's call the point to which we are moving the apex. Stars that are close to it, as well as from the opposite point (antiapex), will move weakly because they are flying towards us or away from us. And the farther the star is from the apex and antiapex, the greater its own motion will be. Imagine that you are driving along the road. Traffic lights at intersections ahead and behind will not move too much to the sides. But the lampposts along the road will still flicker (have a lot of their own movement) outside the window.

The gif shows the movement of Barnard's star, which has the largest proper motion. Already in the 18th century, astronomers had records of the positions of stars over an interval of 40-50 years, which made it possible to determine the direction of movement of slower stars. Then the English astronomer William Herschel took star catalogs and, without going to the telescope, began to calculate. Already the first calculations using the Mayer catalog showed that the stars do not move chaotically, and the apex can be determined.

Source: Hoskin, M. Herschel's Determination of the Solar Apex, Journal for the History of Astronomy, Vol. 11, P. 153, 1980

And with the data from the Lalande catalogue, the area was significantly reduced.

From there

Next came normal scientific work - clarification of data, calculations, disputes, but Herschel used the correct principle and was mistaken by only ten degrees. Information is still being collected, for example, just thirty years ago the speed of movement was reduced from 20 to 13 km/s. Important: this speed should not be confused with the speed of the solar system and other nearby stars relative to the center of the Galaxy, which is approximately 220 km/s.

Even further

Well, since we mentioned the speed of movement relative to the center of the Galaxy, we need to figure it out here too. The galactic north pole was chosen in the same way as the earth's - arbitrarily by convention. It is located near the star Arcturus (alpha Boötes), approximately up the wing of the constellation Cygnus. In general, the projection of constellations on the Galaxy map looks like this:

Those. The solar system moves relative to the center of the Galaxy in the direction of the constellation Cygnus, and relative to local stars in the direction of the constellation Hercules, at an angle of 63° to the galactic plane,<-/, если смотреть с внешней стороны Галактики, северный полюс сверху.

Space tail

But the comparison of the solar system with a comet in the video is completely correct. NASA's IBEX apparatus was specially created to determine the interaction between the boundary of the solar system and interstellar space. And according to him

The Earth, together with the planets, revolves around the sun and almost all people on Earth know this. A much smaller number of inhabitants of the planet already know that the Sun revolves around the center of our Milky Way galaxy. But that's not all. Our galaxy revolves around the center of the universe. Let's find out about it and watch interesting video footage.

It turns out that the entire solar system moves along with the Sun through the local interstellar cloud (the unchanging plane remains parallel to itself) at a speed of 25 km/s. This movement is directed almost perpendicular to the unchanging plane.

Perhaps here we need to look for explanations for the noticed differences in the structure of the northern and southern hemispheres of the Sun, the stripes and spots of both hemispheres of Jupiter. In any case, this movement determines possible encounters between the solar system and matter scattered in one form or another in interstellar space. The actual motion of the planets in space occurs along elongated helical lines (for example, the “stroke” of the screw of Jupiter’s orbit is 12 times greater than its diameter).

In 226 million years (galactic year), the solar system makes a complete revolution around the center of the galaxy, moving along an almost circular trajectory at a speed of 220 km/s.

Our Sun is part of a huge star system called the Galaxy (also called the Milky Way). Our Galaxy has the shape of a disk, similar to two plates folded at the edges. In its center is the rounded core of the Galaxy.

Our Galaxy - side view

If you look at our Galaxy from above, it looks like a spiral in which stellar matter is concentrated mainly in its branches, called galactic arms. The arms are located in the plane of the Galaxy's disk.

Our Galaxy - view from above

Our Galaxy contains more than 100 billion stars. The diameter of the Galaxy's disk is about 30 thousand parsecs (100,000 light years), and its thickness is about 1000 light years.

The stars within the disk move in circular paths around the center of the Galaxy, just as the planets in the Solar System orbit the Sun. The rotation of the Galaxy occurs clockwise when looking at the Galaxy from its north pole (located in the constellation Coma Berenices). The speed of rotation of the disk is not the same at different distances from the center: it decreases as it moves away from it.

The closer to the center of the Galaxy, the higher the density of stars. If we lived on a planet near a star located near the core of the Galaxy, then dozens of stars would be visible in the sky, comparable in brightness to the Moon.

However, the Sun is very far from the center of the Galaxy, one might say - on its outskirts, at a distance of about 26 thousand light years (8.5 thousand parsecs), near the plane of the galaxy. It is located in the Orion Arm, connected to two larger arms - the inner Sagittarius Arm and the outer Perseus Arm.

The Sun moves at a speed of about 220-250 kilometers per second around the center of the Galaxy and makes a full revolution around its center, according to various estimates, in 220-250 million years. During its existence, the period of revolution of the Sun together with surrounding stars near the center of our stellar system is called the galactic year. But you need to understand that there is no general period for the Galaxy, since it does not rotate like a rigid body. During its existence, the Sun circled the Galaxy approximately 30 times.

The Sun's revolution around the center of the Galaxy is oscillatory: every 33 million years it crosses the galactic equator, then rises above its plane to a height of 230 light years and descends again to the equator.

Interestingly, the Sun makes a complete revolution around the center of the Galaxy in exactly the same time as the spiral arms. As a result, the Sun does not cross regions of active star formation, in which supernovae often erupt - sources of radiation destructive to life. That is, it is located in the sector of the Galaxy that is most favorable for the origin and maintenance of life.

The solar system is moving through the interstellar medium of our Galaxy much more slowly than previously thought, and no shock wave is forming at its leading edge. This was established by astronomers who analyzed the data collected by the IBEX probe, reports RIA Novosti.

“It can be said almost certainly that there is no shock wave in front of the heliosphere (the bubble that limits the Solar System from the interstellar medium), and that its interaction with the interstellar medium is much weaker and more dependent on magnetic fields than previously thought,” the scientists write in the article. published in the journal Science.
NASA's IBEX (Interstellar Boundary Explorer), launched in June 2008, is designed to explore the boundary of the solar system and interstellar space - the heliosphere, located at a distance of approximately 16 billion kilometers from the Sun.

At this distance, the flow of charged particles from the solar wind and the strength of the Sun's magnetic field weaken so much that they can no longer overcome the pressure of the discharged interstellar matter and ionized gas. As a result, a heliosphere “bubble” is formed, filled with solar wind inside and surrounded by interstellar gas outside.

The Sun's magnetic field deflects the trajectory of charged interstellar particles, but has no effect on the neutral atoms of hydrogen, oxygen and helium, which freely penetrate into the central regions of the Solar System. The detectors of the IBEX satellite “catch” such neutral atoms. Their study allows astronomers to draw conclusions about the features of the solar system's border zone.

A group of scientists from the USA, Germany, Poland and Russia presented a new analysis of data from the IBEX satellite, according to which the speed of the solar system was lower than previously thought. At the same time, as new data indicate, a shock wave does not arise in the front part of the heliosphere.

“The sonic boom that occurs when a jet plane breaks the sound barrier can serve as an terrestrial example for a shock wave. When a plane reaches supersonic speed, the air in front of it can't get out of its way fast enough, resulting in a shock wave,” said study lead author David McComas, according to a Southwest Research Institute press release ( USA).

For about a quarter of a century, scientists believed that the heliosphere was moving through interstellar space at a speed high enough for such a shock wave to form in front of it. However, new IBEX data showed that the solar system is actually moving through a local cloud of interstellar gas at a speed of 23.25 kilometers per second, which is 3.13 kilometers per second slower than previously thought. And this speed is below the limit at which a shock wave occurs.

"Although a shock wave exists in front of the bubbles surrounding many other stars, we found that our Sun's interaction with its environment does not reach the threshold at which a shock wave forms," ​​McComas said.

Previously, the IBEX probe was engaged in mapping the boundary of the heliosphere and discovered a mysterious strip on the heliosphere with increased fluxes of energetic particles, which surrounded the “bubble” of the heliosphere. Also, with the help of IBEX, it was established that the speed of movement of the Solar system over the past 15 years, for inexplicable reasons, has decreased by more than 10%.

The universe is spinning like a spinning top. Astronomers have discovered traces of the rotation of the universe.

Until now, most researchers were inclined to believe that our universe is static. Or if it moves, it’s only a little. Imagine the surprise of a team of scientists from the University of Michigan (USA), led by Professor Michael Longo, when they discovered clear traces of the rotation of our universe in space. It turns out that from the very beginning, even during the Big Bang, when the Universe was just born, it was already rotating. It was as if someone had launched it like a spinning top. And she is still spinning and spinning.

The research was carried out as part of the international project “Sloan Digital Sky Survey”. And scientists discovered this phenomenon by cataloging the direction of rotation of about 16,000 spiral galaxies from the north pole of the Milky Way. At first, scientists tried to find evidence that the Universe has the properties of mirror symmetry. In this case, they reasoned, the number of galaxies that rotate clockwise and those that “spin” in the opposite direction would be the same, pravda.ru reports.

But it turned out that towards the north pole of the Milky Way, among spiral galaxies, counterclockwise rotation predominates, that is, they are oriented to the right. This trend is visible even at a distance of more than 600 million light years.

The symmetry violation is small, only about seven percent, but the probability that this is such a cosmic accident is somewhere around one in a million,” commented Professor Longo. “Our results are very important because they seem to contradict the almost universal belief that if you take a large enough scale, the Universe will be isotropic, that is, it will not have a clear direction.

According to experts, a symmetrical and isotropic Universe should have arisen from a spherically symmetrical explosion, which should have been shaped like a basketball. However, if at birth the Universe rotated around its axis in a certain direction, then the galaxies would maintain this direction of rotation. But, since they rotate in different directions, it follows that the Big Bang had a diversified direction. However, the Universe is most likely still spinning.

In general, astrophysicists had previously guessed about the violation of symmetry and isotropy. Their guesses were based on observations of other giant anomalies. These include traces of cosmic strings - incredibly extended defects of space-time of zero thickness, hypothetically born in the first moments after the Big Bang. The appearance of “bruises” on the body of the Universe - the so-called imprints from its past collisions with other universes. And also the movement of the “Dark Stream” - a huge stream of galactic clusters rushing at enormous speed in one direction.

You sit, stand or lie reading this article and do not feel that the Earth is spinning on its axis at a breakneck speed - approximately 1,700 km/h at the equator. However, the rotation speed does not seem that fast when converted to km/s. The result is 0.5 km/s - a barely noticeable blip on the radar, compared to other speeds around us.

Just like other planets in the solar system, the Earth revolves around the Sun. And in order to stay in its orbit, it moves at a speed of 30 km/s. Venus and Mercury, which are closer to the Sun, move faster, Mars, whose orbit passes behind the Earth’s orbit, moves much slower.

But even the Sun does not stand in one place. Our Milky Way galaxy is huge, massive and also mobile! All stars, planets, gas clouds, dust particles, black holes, dark matter - all of this moves relative to a common center of mass.

According to scientists, the Sun is located at a distance of 25,000 light years from the center of our galaxy and moves in an elliptical orbit, making a full revolution every 220–250 million years. It turns out that the speed of the Sun is about 200–220 km/s, which is hundreds of times higher than the speed of the Earth around its axis and tens of times higher than the speed of its movement around the Sun. This is what the movement of our solar system looks like.

Is the galaxy stationary? Not again. Giant space objects have a large mass, and therefore create strong gravitational fields. Give the Universe some time (and we've had it for about 13.8 billion years), and everything will start moving in the direction of greatest gravity. That is why the Universe is not homogeneous, but consists of galaxies and groups of galaxies.

What does this mean for us?

This means that the Milky Way is pulled towards it by other galaxies and groups of galaxies located nearby. This means that massive objects dominate the process. And this means that not only our galaxy, but also everyone around us is influenced by these “tractors”. We are getting closer to understanding what happens to us in outer space, but we still lack facts, for example:

• what were the initial conditions under which the Universe began;
• how the different masses in the galaxy move and change over time;
• how the Milky Way and surrounding galaxies and clusters were formed;
• and how it is happening now.

However, there is a trick that will help us figure it out.

The Universe is filled with cosmic microwave background radiation with a temperature of 2.725 K, which has been preserved since the Big Bang. Here and there there are tiny deviations - about 100 μK, but the overall temperature background is constant.

This is because the universe was formed by the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago and is still expanding and cooling.

380,000 years after the Big Bang, the Universe cooled to such a temperature that the formation of hydrogen atoms became possible. Before this, photons constantly interacted with other plasma particles: they collided with them and exchanged energy. As the Universe cooled, there were fewer charged particles and more space between them. Photons were able to move freely in space. CMB radiation is photons that were emitted by the plasma towards the future location of the Earth, but escaped scattering because recombination had already begun. They reach the Earth through the space of the Universe, which continues to expand.

You can “see” this radiation yourself. The interference that occurs on a blank TV channel if you use a simple antenna that looks like a rabbit's ears is 1% caused by the CMB.

Still, the temperature of the relict background is not the same in all directions. According to the results of research by the Planck mission, the temperature differs slightly in the opposite hemispheres of the celestial sphere: it is slightly higher in parts of the sky south of the ecliptic - about 2.728 K, and lower in the other half - about 2.722 K.

Map of the microwave background made with the Planck telescope.

This difference is almost 100 times larger than other observed temperature variations in the CMB, and is misleading. Why is this happening? The answer is obvious - this difference is not due to fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background radiation, it appears because there is movement!

When you approach a light source or it approaches you, the spectral lines in the source's spectrum shift towards short waves (violet shift), when you move away from it or it moves away from you, the spectral lines shift towards long waves (red shift).

CMB radiation cannot be more or less energetic, which means we are moving through space. The Doppler effect helps determine that our Solar System is moving relative to the CMB at a speed of 368 ± 2 km/s, and the local group of galaxies, including the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy and the Triangulum Galaxy, is moving at a speed of 627 ± 22 km/s relative to the CMB. These are the so-called peculiar velocities of galaxies, which amount to several hundred km/s. In addition to them, there are also cosmological velocities due to the expansion of the Universe and calculated according to Hubble’s law.

Thanks to residual radiation from the Big Bang, we can observe that everything in the Universe is constantly moving and changing. And our galaxy is only part of this process.