Unlike the typical spiral galaxies, our Milky Way has a horizontal bar stretching across its center, composed of numerous stars, according to new findings from the scientific community regarding the universe.
With the aid of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have examined nearly the entire structural analysis of the Milky Way. They discovered that our galaxy possesses a horizontal bar at its center, distinguishing it from other spiral galaxies.
“This bar, referred to as the center of the spiral arms of the Milky Way, crosses through its core, where a massive black hole exists,” stated Professor Ed Churchwell from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the lead researcher of the study.
The research also revealed that this bar is longer than previously thought and is positioned at a noticeable angle relative to the entire galaxy. It consists of many old, moderately sized red stars and extends across the Milky Way’s central region approximately 27,000 light-years in length, which is over 7,000 light-years longer than earlier estimates. It further indicates that this bar is tilted about 45 degrees eastward from the straight line drawn from the Sun to the center of the Milky Way.
Astronomers had long debated whether the characteristic of the central region of the Milky Way is a bar or an ellipse, or possibly both. This new study clearly shows that the structure of the Milky Way’s central region is indeed a horizontal bar.
