Cover Image: January 2004 Scientific American Magazine See Inside

Our Growing, Breathing Galaxy: Conscious of Streams [Preview]















Share on Tumblr

Milky Way

Image: RON MILLER

Most of the Milky Way is as thoroughly mixed as a well-stirred gravy. Two stars that originated in the same region may be located in completely different parts of the sky today. But during the past few years, astronomers have found groups of stars that move in unison, forming what they call stellar streams. They are like lumps that a cook has just thrown into a pot but that have not had time to mix in.

The streams are believed to be the remnants of satellite galaxies of the Milky Way that were torn apart by tides, the same process that formed some of the high-velocity clouds. The streams thus trace a flow of stars from dwarf galaxies to the Milky Way. They differ from the Magellanic Stream, which consists of gas rather than stars. They represent independent evidence for the ongoing growth of our galaxy.


Subscribe     Buy This Issue

Already a Digital subscriber? Sign-in Now
If your institution has site license access, enter here.

1 Comments

Add Comment
View
  1. 1. carl1210 03:40 AM 9/14/08

    i have learnt a lot

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
Leave this field empty

Add a Comment

You must sign in or register as a ScientificAmerican.com member to submit a comment.
Click one of the buttons below to register using an existing Social Account.

More from Scientific American

See what we're tweeting about

Scientific American Editors

More »

Free Newsletters


Get the best from Scientific American in your inbox

Solve Innovation Challenges

Powered By: Innocentive

  SA Digital

Latest from SA Blog Network

  SA Digital

Science Jobs of the Week

Email this Article

Our Growing, Breathing Galaxy: Conscious of Streams: Scientific American Magazine

X
Scientific American Magazine

Subscribe Today

Save 66% off the cover price and get a free gift!

Learn More >>

X

Please Log In

Forgot: Password

X

Account Linking

Welcome, . Do you have an existing ScientificAmerican.com account?

Yes, please link my existing account with for quick, secure access.



Forgot Password?

No, I would like to create a new account with my profile information.

Create Account
X

Report Abuse

Are you sure?

X

Institutional Access

It has been identified that the institution you are trying to access this article from has institutional site license access to Scientific American on nature.com. To access this article in its entirety through site license access, click below.

Site license access
X

Error

X

Share this Article

X