Milky Way image's captured by Fermi space telescope (NASA)Over the years, we thought that the Milky Way galaxy is much smaller than our nearest neighbor the Andromeda. Using new measurement methods, of how our galaxy rotates, a research astrophysicist from the Harvard conclusion that the Milky Way 50 percent larger than previous estimates.
"Now no longer see the Milky Way as a little girl in her group," said Mark Reid, a researcher from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, as quoted by Wired, May 25, 2011. "We may argue that the Milky Way and Andromeda are twins," he said.
Unfortunately, Reid said, we are in the galaxy, so we can not see more clearly what kind of a way home. "The best way to find out is by measuring how fast our galaxy rotates, and the amount of mass that must be present in the structure to generate speed," he said.
Using the Very Large Baseline radio telescope, Reid and his team discovered that the Milky Way rotates at a speed of about 600 thousand miles per hour or 100 thousand miles per hour faster than expected.
"If calculated, it means that there is increase in mass by 50 percent over previous estimates," said Reid. "One consequence of the larger Milky Way, we are likely to collide with the Andromeda galaxy faster," he said.
One question that has not been solved, said Reid, is what the Milky Way we really are.
