UCB: New technique could pinpoint Galaxy X

[bystander]

Forget Planet X! New technique could pinpoint Galaxy X
University of California, Berkeley | 2011 Jan 13

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Planet X, an often-sought 10th planet, is so far a no-show, but Sukanya Chakrabarti has high hopes for finding what might be called Galaxy X – a dwarf galaxy that she predicts orbits our Milky Way Galaxy.

Many large galaxies, such as the Milky Way, are thought to have lots of satellite galaxies too dim to see. They are dominated by “dark matter,” which astronomers say makes up 85 percent of all matter in the universe but so far remains undetected.

Chakrabarti, a post-doctoral fellow and theoretical astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley, has developed a way to find “dark” satellite galaxies by analyzing the ripples in the hydrogen gas distribution in spiral galaxies. Planet X was predicted – erroneously – more than 100 years ago based on perturbations in the orbit of Neptune.

Earlier this year, Chakrabarti used her mathematical method to predict that a dwarf galaxy sits on the opposite side of the Milky Way from Earth, and that it has been unseen to date because it is obscured by the intervening gas and dust in the galaxy’s disk. One astronomer has already applied for time on the Spitzer Space Telescope to look in infrared wavelengths for this hypothetical Galaxy X.

“My hope is that this method can serve as a probe of mass distribution and of dark matter in galaxies, in the way that gravitational lensing today has become a probe for distant galaxies,” Chakrabarti said.

Since her prediction for the Milky Way, Chakrabarti has gained confidence in her method after successfully testing it on two galaxies with known, faint satellites. She will report the details of these tests during an oral presentation at 2 p.m. PST Thursday, Jan. 13, during a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, Wash. She also will discuss her findings at a 9 a.m. PST press conference on Thursday.

Mysterious 'Galaxy X' Around Milky Way May Soon be Found
Live Science | Space | 2011 Jan 13

A dwarf galaxy that is too dim to see but is suspected to orbit our own Milky Way may soon be revealed using a new mathematical technique that analyzes the ripples of gas in spiral galaxies.

The new method was developed by Sukanya Chakrabarti, a postdoctoral fellow and theoretical astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley. She thinks it can be used to detect the hypothetical so-called "Galaxy X" near the Milky Way.

The model may also have applications for detecting mysterious and as-yet-inexplicable dark matter, which is thought to make up the bulk of the universe.

"My hope is that this method can serve as a probe of mass distribution and of dark matter in galaxies, in the way that gravitational lensing today has become a probe for distant galaxies," Chakrabarti said in a statement.

Chakrabarti will present the details and findings of these tests at a presentation at the 217th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle.

[neufer]

Forget Planet X! New technique could pinpoint Galaxy X
University of California, Berkeley | 2011 Jan 13

Planet X, an often-sought 10th planet, is so far a no-show, but Sukanya Chakrabarti has high hopes for finding what might be called Galaxy X – a dwarf galaxy that she predicts orbits our Milky Way Galaxy. Earlier this year, Chakrabarti used her mathematical method to predict that a dwarf galaxy sits on the opposite side of the Milky Way from Earth, and that it has been unseen to date because it is obscured by the intervening gas and dust in the galaxy’s disk. One astronomer has already applied for time on the Spitzer Space Telescope to look in infrared wavelengths for this hypothetical Galaxy X.

Don't touch my Lucky Charms

<<The first boxes of Lucky Charms cereal contained marshmallows in the shapes of pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers. The lineup has changed occasionally over the years, beginning with the introduction of blue diamonds in 1975. Purple horseshoes joined the roster in 1984, followed by red balloons in 1989, rainbows in 1992, pots of gold in 1994, leprechaun hats in 1996 and shooting stars in 1998.

The first shapes to be phased out were the yellow moons and blue diamonds, as General Mills introduced their "Pot of Gold" marshmallow, and the moon marshmallows became blue. In 2006, the assortment had changed to purple horseshoes; red balloons; blue half-moons; orange and white shooting stars; yellow and orange pots of gold; pink, yellow, and blue rainbows; two-tone green leprechaun hats; pink hearts (the only shape to survive since the beginning); with the most recent addition being the return of the clovers in 2004. The marshmallows also grew in size in 2004.

Recent changes to the marshmallows include: the star shape took more of a "shooting star" design, the orange 5 pointed star being added together with a white "trail". More recently, in late 2005 another different kind of marshmallow was added, the "Hidden Key". It is a solid yellow marshmallow that resembles the shape of an arched door (similar to the shape of a tombstone; flat at the bottom, flat sides with a round top). When liquid is added to the cereal, the sugar inside the marshmallow dissolves and the shape of a skeleton key "appears" as if "by magic". The new tagline for this is "Unlock the door with milk!" In early June 2006, General Mills introduced a new Lucky Charms marshmallow, Magic Mirror marshmallows. In 2008, yellow and orange hourglass marshmallows were introduced with the marketing tagline of "The Hourglass Charm has the power to Stop Time * Speed Up Time * Reverse Time". As of 2010, there are swirled marshmallows.>>