World Report: October 3, 2003 Vol. 9 Iss.4
- This Issue:
- Table of Contents
- Cover Story
- Cover Story - Spanish Version
- Mini-Lesson
- Comprehension Quiz
- Teacher's Guide and Worksheets
A Galaxy Fades Away...
In 1994, scientists in Britain discovered a new galaxy, or collection of stars, called Sagittarius. But now it seems Sagittarius is breaking apart, or dying. It is about 10,000 times smaller than our galaxy, the Milky Way, which includes 100 billion stars and is 14 billion years old. Scientists say that new pictures from space show the Milky Way swallowing up Sagittarius, the smaller star collection.
"It's clear who's the bully," says Steven Majewski, a professor of astronomy at the University of Virginia. He and other scientists used a new map of space to see groupings of stars they had never seen before.
Scientists used to believe that galaxies formed a long time ago. But astrophysicist David Spergel says galaxy formation "is not an event but an ongoing process."
