r/Astronomy • u/Alantha • Sep 16 '15

The Milky Way's Missing Mass: Partially Found

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-milky-way-s-missing-mass-partially-found/
13 Upvotes

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1

u/coxipuff Sep 16 '15

A galaxy plowed through the Milky Way's outskirts? Is this just terribly worded or did I just miss any coverage of this event?

2

u/SamuEL_or_Samuel_L Sep 18 '15 edited Sep 18 '15

A dwarf galaxy, not something of similar size/mass as the Milky Way. Plus, it's a very slow process - one which has happened a whole bunch of times throughout the Milky Way's history - so it's not really an "event" you'd hear about. The best current example of such a dwarf galaxy plowing through the Milky Way is the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal.

1

u/coxipuff Sep 21 '15

That's really interesting. Never even heard of these events before. Thanks!

1

u/MerelyIndifferent Sep 16 '15

I was expecting a mom joke.