Scientists used data from the European Space Agency Gaia mission to create animations to simulate the distribution of dust inside the Milky Way as part of the EXPLORE project. The created animation shows the contours of our galaxy, which takes shape when we look at the galaxy from Earth.
“Dust clouds are associated with the formation and death of stars, so their distribution tells us a story about the evolution of galaxies. Maps are also important for cosmologists in detecting regions where there is no dust, revealing to us an unobstructed view of the Universe beyond the Milky Way, for example, to conduct deep observations using Hubble or the new James Webb,” explained Nick Cox, coordinator of the EXPLORE project.
The animation depicts the gradual accumulation of dust from the Earth at a distance of up to 13 thousand light-years towards the galactic center, or about 10% of the total distance through the Milky Way. The animation makes it easy to see how much interstellar dust is concentrated along the galactic plane. In addition, two “windows” to the universe are shown – one above and one below the galactic plane.
To create this animation, the researchers used tools that are part of a set of programs designed to support the exploration of stars, galaxies and the exploration of the Moon. These tools combine data from the Gaia mission and the 2MASS All Sky Survey.
“The most advanced machine learning and visual analytics can significantly increase scientific returns and discovery for space science missions. But their use is still relatively new in the field of astronomy. With a constant stream of new data, such as the recent third release of Gaia in June 2022, we have more and more information to study that people will not be able to process in their entire lives,” explained Albert Zijlstra from the University of Manchester and the EXPLORE project.
Earlier we reported on how four evil civilizations can exist in the Milky Way.
According to Royal Astronomical Society
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